Donald Trump continues his spree of taking away security clearances from prominent Democrats, this time revoking status of his 2016 election opponent Hillary Clinton and 2024 foe Kamala Harris.Â
The president has taken away security clearance for several prominent Democrats since taking office, including Joe Biden and several of his aides in one fell swoop.Â
He also took it away from national security officials who claimed Hunter Biden‘s emails were Russian ‘disinformation,’ a law firm linked to the 2016 election investigation into his ties to Russia, former Secretary of State Antony Blinken, as well as New York AG Letitia James and Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg.Â
The Republican president defeated Clinton in the 2016 presidential election and Harris in last year’s election.
‘I have determined that it is no longer in the national interest for the following individuals to access classified information,’ Trump said in a late Friday memorandum.
While the revocations may not have immediate impacts, it is another sign of the growing political rift in Washington as Trump seeks revenge on his perceived enemies.
The memorandum was issued hours after Trump arrived at his Bedminster, New Jersey, golf property for the weekend.
Trump also targeted Republican former Representative Liz Cheney, a sharp Trump critic, former Biden White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan and Fiona Hill, a Russia expert who served on his National Security Council during his first term.
Donald Trump continues his spree of taking away security clearances from prominent Democrats
His 2024 electoral foe and former Vice President Kamala Harris lost her security clearance
Mark Zaid, a national security lawyer in Washington who represents whistleblowers, and Adam Kinzinger, a former Republican lawmaker who is a sharp Trump critic, were among several others who had their security clearances revoked.
He had already revoked the security clearance for Biden, denying the former president to the traditional access to U.S. intelligence.
Former U.S. presidents have traditionally received intelligence briefings so they can advise incumbent presidents on national security and foreign policy.
In 2021, Biden revoked the security clearance for Trump, who was then a former president.
Trump also pulled Biden’s access to daily intelligence briefings.
Former presidents can continue to get intelligence briefings but only at the discretion of the current commander in chief. Â
Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama get occasional briefings.Â
The action has been described as ‘largely symbolic’ by former Trump attorney Tim Parlatore.
Ex-Secretary of State and 2016 electoral opponent Hillary Clinton has also lost her clearance
The president has taken away security clearance for several prominent Democrats since taking office, including Joe Biden
However, those targeted may be unable to enter federal buildings including courthouses, prisons and law enforcement facilities, hampering their ability to carry out their official duties.
Many of those targeted by Trump have something in common: they have targeted the president in some way or form.Â
Many on this and past lists were ‘the 51 signers of the Hunter Biden “disinformation” letter.’
In October 2020, a month before the Biden-Trump presidential election, 51 former national security officials signed a public letter about the salacious material found on the abandoned laptop of Hunter Biden.
The officials wrote they believed the contents of the laptop – which contained photos of Hunter doing drugs and information on foreign business deals he conducted – were part of a Russian disinformation campaign aimed at influencing the election.
Ultimately, there was no evidence of a Russian disinformation campaign. And many contents of the laptop have been authenticated.Â
But Biden used the letter in his campaign against Trump. In a presidential debate shortly after the letter was published, he said of Trump: ‘there are 50 former national intelligence folks who said that what he’s accusing me of is a Russian plan.’
Republicans claimed the officials deliberately released the letter as a ploy to help Biden win the election.