Trump rescinds security clearances, classified info access for more than a dozen of his political enemies
A number of high-level officials from the past two Democratic administrations, the 2016 Clinton campaign, and certain Democrat-led states engaged in politically motivated lawfare and other plots against President Donald Trump over the prior decade.
On Saturday, Trump finally imposed justified consequences on several of his self-declared partisan enemies by rescinding their security clearances and cutting off their access to classified information, Breitbart reported.
The move fulfills an earlier vow and will negatively impact former President Joe Biden, former Vice President Kamala Harris, 2016 rival Hillary Clinton, and more than a dozen others who sought to use the nation's legal and political systems to undermine and destroy Trump.
Security clearances and classified information access revoked
President Trump issued a presidential memorandum on Saturday to notify the heads of all executive branch departments and agencies that they were to rescind the security clearances and access to classified information of several "specified individuals" who had all first engaged him with underhanded tactics.
"I have determined that it is no longer in the national interest for the following individuals to access classified information: Antony Blinken, Jacob Sullivan, Lisa Monaco, Mark Zaid, Norman Eisen, Letitia James, Alvin Bragg, Andrew Weissmann, Hillary Clinton, Elizabeth Cheney, Kamala Harris, Adam Kinzinger, Fiona Hill, Alexander Vindman, Joseph R. Biden Jr., and any other member of Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s family," Trump declared.
"Therefore, I hereby direct every executive department and agency head to take all additional action as necessary and consistent with existing law to revoke any active security clearances held by the aforementioned individuals and to immediately rescind their access to classified information," he continued. "I also direct all executive department and agency heads to revoke unescorted access to secure United States Government facilities from these individuals."
"This action includes, but is not limited to, receipt of classified briefings, such as the President’s Daily Brief, and access to classified information held by any member of the Intelligence Community by virtue of the named individuals’ previous tenure in the Congress," Trump added. "In the event that any of the named individuals received a security clearance by virtue of their employment with a private entity, the United States Government entity that granted the security clearance should inform the private entity that these individuals’ ability to access classified information has been revoked."
Biden cut off from classified briefings
While some of the targeted individuals and their allies in the Democratic Party and media may feign shock at President Trump's move, it should come as no surprise to anybody, as he loudly telegraphed his intentions more than a month ago.
In a Feb. 7 Truth Social post, Trump wrote, "There is no need for Joe Biden to continue receiving access to classified information. Therefore, we are immediately revoking Joe Biden’s Security Clearances, and stopping his daily Intelligence Briefings."
"He set this precedent in 2021, when he instructed the Intelligence Community (IC) to stop the 45th President of the United States (ME!) from accessing details on National Security, a courtesy provided to former Presidents," he added. "The Hur Report revealed that Biden suffers from 'poor memory' and, even in his 'prime,' could not be trusted with sensitive information. I will always protect our National Security -- JOE, YOU’RE FIRED. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!"
Trump already named most of the individuals he just stripped
Just one day after that was posted online, the New York Post reported that President Trump confirmed his intention to strip the security clearances and access to classified information for several of his political "antagonists," beyond just his predecessor.
In addition to the 51 current and former intelligence community officials who signed the bogus letter during the 2020 election that falsely attributed information from Hunter Biden's laptop to Russian disinformation, Trump set his sights on former Secretary of State Blinken, who led the charge on that letter, as well as Biden's National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, who also played a key role in the Clinton campaign's Trump-Russia collusion hoax.
On the lawfare front, Trump took aim at former Justice Department officials like Lisa Monaco and Andrew Weissman, along with Democratic impeachment-related attorneys Norm Eisen and Mark Zaid -- not to mention other impeachment-related former officials like Fiona Hill and Alexander Vindman -- as well as New York Attorney General Letitia James and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.
Trump's move was described to the Post as "largely symbolic" and "hard to enforce," and it will almost certainly be challenged in court by some of the targeted individuals, but if it holds up will prove quite impactful for those who rely upon holding a security clearance to access classified information for their current jobs -- to say nothing of current and future plots against the sitting president.