--- title: Trump Revokes Security Clearance From CIA's John Brennan description: President Donald Trump is revoking the security clearance of former CIA Director John Brennan, who has been a vocal critic of the President canonical: https://time.com/5368352/donald-trump-john-brennan-cia-security-clearance/ author: Katie Reilly article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-08-15T19:19:18.000Z article:modified_time: 2023-12-12T18:11:03.000Z article:section: Politics og:title: President Trump Revokes John Brennan's Security Clearance og:description: Brennan has been increasingly critical of Trump og:url: https://time.com/5368352/donald-trump-john-brennan-cia-security-clearance/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt706bfe5529beaa0a/698937d3fb4eac5a16897620/john-brennan-security-clearance.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: John Brennan Security Clearance og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: President Trump Revokes John Brennan's Security Clearance twitter:description: Brennan has been increasingly critical of Trump twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt706bfe5529beaa0a/698937d3fb4eac5a16897620/john-brennan-security-clearance.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # President Trump Revokes Security Clearance of Former CIA Director John Brennan > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=3fcccb50-19c1-42e6-a06e-4d010b732d68&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Trump Revoking Security Clearance of Former CIA Director Brennan, Mulling Others [Watch (HLS stream): Trump Revoking Security Clearance of Former CIA Director Brennan, Mulling Others](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/eaxgZ3fP.m3u8) (1:42)  _Published 2018-08-15. Trump Revoking Security Clearance of Former CIA Director Brennan, Mulling Others_  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Updated: Dec 12, 2023 6:11 PM UTCPublished: Aug 15, 2018 7:19 PM UTC Trump Revoking Security Clearance of Former CIA Director Brennan, Mulling Others  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Updated: Dec 12, 2023 6:11 PM UTCPublished: Aug 15, 2018 7:19 PM UTC The White House announced Wednesday that President Donald Trump is [revoking the security clearance](http://time.com/5347363/donald-trump-security-clearances-explainer/) of former Central Intelligence Agency Director [John Brennan](http://time.com/5285480/donald-trump-john-brennan-cia-twitter/), who has been a harsh critic of Trump’s rhetoric and policies. “Historically, former heads of intelligence and law enforcement agencies have been allowed to retain access to classified information after their government service, so that they can consult with their successors regarding matters about which they may have special insights and as a professional courtesy. Neither of these justifications supports Mr. Brennan’s continued access to classified information,” Trump said in a statement read aloud by White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders at Wednesday’s press briefing. “At this point in my administration, any benefits that senior officials might glean from consultations with Mr. Brennan are now outweighed by the risks posed by his erratic conduct and behavior,” the statement continued. The announcement came after Brennan, who served as CIA director from 2013 to 2017, most recently criticized Trump for calling former White House aide [Omarosa Manigault Newman](http://time.com/5367615/omarosa-trump-will-not-silence-her/) a “dog” and a “crazed, crying lowlife.” “It’s astounding how often you fail to live up to minimum standards of decency, civility, & probity. Seems like you will never understand what it means to be president, nor what it takes to be a good, decent, & honest person. So disheartening, so dangerous for our Nation,” Brennan said in a [tweet](https://twitter.com/JohnBrennan/status/1029369165843517440) about Trump on Tuesday. > [](https://twitter.com/JohnBrennan/status/1029369165843517440) Brennan responded to the revocation on Wednesday afternoon, calling it “part of a broader effort by Mr. Trump to suppress freedom of speech and punish critics.” “It should gravely worry all Americans, including intelligence professionals, about the cost of speaking out,” Brennan said on Twitter. “My principles are worth far more than clearances. I will not relent.” > [](https://twitter.com/JohnBrennan/status/1029830514230865920) Trump said last month that he was [considering revoking the security clearances](http://time.com/5346297/donald-trump-security-clearances/) of several former intelligence and national security officials who have criticized him, but had not yet taken such action. Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan had dismissed the threat as an [example of Trump “trolling” his critics](http://time.com/5347239/paul-ryan-donald-trump-trolling-security-clearance/). Sanders also said that Trump is reviewing the security clearances of several other former officials, all of whom have been critical of Trump, including former FBI Director James Comey, former Acting Attorney General Sally Yates, former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, and former Deputy FBI Director Andrew McCabe. “It’s unprecedented. I don’t know of a case where this has ever been done in the past,” Clapper said in a [CNN interview](https://twitter.com/CNNPolitics/status/1029809639108554753) after the announcement, adding that typically the CIA would handle decisions to revoke security clearances, rather than the White House or the President directly. “Will the Republic stand or fall on whether John retains his access to classified information — or mine or any others that were named? Of course not,” Clapper [told CNN](https://twitter.com/CNN/status/1029811168985141248). “The larger issue here, to me, throughout, has been infringement on First Amendment rights. And I think people ought to think seriously about that.” When asked why the list included only former officials who have publicly criticized Trump, Sanders said, “if we deemed it necessary, we would certainly look into” others. ## Transcript [00:00] I'd like to begin by reading a statement from the President. [00:04] As the head of the executive branch and Commander in [00:07] Chief, I've a unique constitutional responsibility to [00:11] protect the nation's classified information including by [00:15] controlling access to it. Today in fulfilling that responsibility [00:19] I've decided to revoke the security clearance of John [00:22] Brennan. Former director of the Central Intelligence [00:24] Agency. Historically former heads of intelligence and law [00:28] enforcement agencies have been allowed to retain access [00:31] to classified information after their government service. So [00:35] that they can consult with their successors regarding [00:38] matters about which they may have special insights and as [00:41] a professional courtesy. Neither of these justifications [00:45] supports Mr. Brennan's continued access to classified [00:48] information. More broadly, the issue of Mr. Brennan's [00:51] security clearance raises larger questions about the [00:54] practice of former officials maintaining access to our [00:57] nation's most sensitive secrets long after their time in [01:00] government has ended. Such access is particularly [01:03] inappropriate when former officials have transitioned into [01:06] highly partisan positions, and seek to use real or perceived [01:09] access to sensitive information to validate their political [01:13] attacks. Any access granted to our nation's secrets should [01:17] be in furtherance of national, not personal interests. For this [01:20] reason I've also begun to review the more general [01:23] question of the access to classified information by [01:26] government officials. As part of this review I'm evaluating [01:30] action with respect to the following individuals. James [01:33] Clapper, James Comey, Michael Hayden, Sally Yates, [01:37] Susan Rice, Andrew McCabe, Peter Struck, Lisa Paige, [01:41] and Bruce Orr. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5368352/donald-trump-john-brennan-cia-security-clearance/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5368352/donald-trump-john-brennan-cia-security-clearance/"},"headline":"President Trump Revokes Security Clearance of Former CIA Director John Brennan","datePublished":"2018-08-15T19:19:18.000Z","dateModified":"2023-12-12T18:11:03.000Z","description":"Brennan has been increasingly critical of Trump","url":"https://time.com/5368352/donald-trump-john-brennan-cia-security-clearance/","keywords":["White House","Donald Trump","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt706bfe5529beaa0a/698937d3fb4eac5a16897620/john-brennan-security-clearance.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Katie Reilly","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt706bfe5529beaa0a/698937d3fb4eac5a16897620/john-brennan-security-clearance.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"John Brennan Security Clearance","caption":"John Brennan Security Clearance","creditText":"Win McNamee—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/white-house/","name":"White House"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5368352/donald-trump-john-brennan-cia-security-clearance/","name":"President Trump Revokes Security Clearance of Former CIA Director John Brennan"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Trump Revoking Security Clearance of Former CIA Director Brennan, Mulling Others","description":"Trump Revoking Security Clearance of Former CIA Director Brennan, Mulling Others","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/eaxgZ3fP/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2018-08-15T19:13:00.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/eaxgZ3fP.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/5368352/donald-trump-john-brennan-cia-security-clearance/","duration":"PT1M42S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/5368352/donald-trump-john-brennan-cia-security-clearance/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```