On Friday night, President Trump annulled the security clearances of former Vice President Kamala Harris, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, numerous members of the Biden administration, and other significant Democrats.
This decision follows Mr. Trump’s previous announcement last month regarding the revocation of former President Joe Biden’s security clearance. In a memorandum issued on Friday, he stated that he is also rescinding the security clearances for the entire Biden family.
Among those who will also lose their access to classified information and security clearances are former Secretary of State Antony Blinken, former Representative Adam Kinzinger, retired Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, New York Attorney General Letitia James, Manhattan Attorney General Alvin Bragg, former White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, former Representative Elizabeth Cheney, former White House Russia expert Fiona Hill, former Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco, former U.S. Ambassador to the Czech Republic Norman Eisen, and attorney Mark Zaid, who served as a lawyer for the whistleblower who raised concerns about Mr. Trump’s dealings with Ukraine during his first term in office.
Several individuals mentioned, such as James and Bragg, already had their clearances revoked earlier this month by Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, part of a broader purge affecting dozens of clearances for current and former officials.
The memo indicates that those affected will not receive “classified briefings, including the President’s Daily Brief, nor access to classified information maintained by any member of the Intelligence Community based on the named individuals’ former positions in Congress.”
Since taking office in January, the president has revoked the clearances of various former officials whom he accuses of having “weaponized” the intelligence community or legal systems against him.
Cheney and Kinzinger were prominent figures in the House select committee that investigated the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection. Bragg initiated the New York “hush money” case, which ultimately led to a felony conviction for Mr. Trump on 34 state counts of falsifying business records.
James filed a lawsuit against Mr. Trump and the Trump organization, alleging extensive fraud that resulted in a judge’s $453 million verdict.
This list also includes retired Gen. Mark Milley, former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff during both the Trump and Biden administrations, who experienced a public dispute in the closing months of Mr. Trump’s first term regarding the photo op outside St. John’s Church in June 2020, after federal officers cleared protesters from Lafayette Park to facilitate Mr. Trump’s walk to the church.
Mr. Trump criticized Milley for disclosing that he had participated in two phone conversations—with Chinese General Li Zuocheng of the People’s Liberation Army—on Oct. 30, 2020, and Jan. 8, 2021, shortly after the Capitol insurrection, to reassure him that the U.S. would not attack China and that the nation was stable.
Additionally, Mr. Trump revoked the clearances of many former intelligence officials who endorsed a 2020 letter asserting that the emails discovered on Hunter Biden’s laptop were indicative of a Russian disinformation effort.
John Bolton, who held the position of national security adviser during Mr. Trump’s initial term, also had his clearance revoked due to a book he wrote detailing his experiences in that role.
The president accused Bolton of leaking sensitive information and claimed that the publication of the book “created a severe risk of public exposure for classified materials.”
