President Donald Trump has revoked the security clearance of former CIA director John Brennan and threatened those of other former top national security officials almost all of whom have been critical of him online and on cable and broadcast news shows.
The move comes the day before many news outlets are participating in a day of protest against the President's efforts to marginalize reports critical of his Administration by branding them 'fake news.'
The President said in a statement emailed to B&C and other news outlets that the clearance revocation was because of Brennan's erratic behavior, including "wild outbursts on the internet and television about the Administration.
Brennan tweeted:
[embed]https://twitter.com/JohnBrennan/status/1029830514230865920[/embed]
The President also said that he was reviewing the security clearances of James Clapper, James Comey, Michael Hayden and others.
The President tied that review to a larger issue of "former officials maintaining access to our Nation's most sensitive secrets long after their time in Government [CQ] has ended. Such access is particularly inappropriate when former officials have transitioned into highly partisan positions and seek to use real or perceived access to sensitive to validate their political attacks."
Asked at the daily White House briefing if the President was going after his political opponents, press secretary Sarah Sanders said "no."
Hayden, who has been critical of the Administration in commentary on CNN, told the cable news outlet (one of Trump's favorite targets), that the threat would not keep him from speaking the truth as he sees it .
Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, tweeted the following:
[embed]https://twitter.com/MarkWarner/status/1029809988695470082[/embed]
