President Donald Trump has rescinded security clearances previously held by his Democratic election opponents, Kamala Harris and Hillary Clinton, along with several other prominent former officials.
This action comes on the heels of Trump announcing in February that he would revoke the security clearance of his predecessor, Joe Biden. In his latest statement, he affirmed this decision and revealed he would also be stripping security clearance from “any other member” of the Biden family.
Trump’s memorandum stated, “I have concluded that it is no longer in the national interest for the following individuals to access classified information.”
Typically, former presidents and high-ranking security officials retain their security clearances as a matter of courtesy.
Additionally, former Secretary of State Antony Blinken and former Republican legislators Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger were included in the list of those stripped of their security clearances. Fiona Hill, who served as a Russian affairs adviser during the first Trump administration, was also among them.
Others affected include: Jake Sullivan, Lisa Monaco, Mark Zaid, Norman Eisen, Letitia James, Alvin Bragg, Andrew Weissmann, and Alexander Vindman.
Previously, Trump had revoked the security clearances of over forty former intelligence officials whom he accused—without providing evidence—of interfering in the 2020 election in favor of Biden.
In 2021, while serving as president, Biden prohibited Trump from accessing intelligence briefings, citing his “erratic behavior.”
