Ex-CIA officials condemn Trump’s treatment of Brennan

Former CIA Director John Brennan and a group of former intelligence officials accused President Donald Trump of attacking free speech by revoking Brennan’s security clearance and threatening to do the same to others. The White House announced Wednesday it was pulling Brennan’s clearance and listed several other Obama administration personnel who could be next, including former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper and former national security adviser Susan Rice. Clapper was on a list with 11 ex-CIA leaders who condemned Trump’s decision in a letter Thursday.

“We have never before seen the approval or removal of security clearances used as a political tool, as was done in this case,” the letter said. Its signees included former CIA Directors George Tenet, who served under Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, and William Webster, who served under Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush. Obama-era CIA chiefs Leon Panetta and Gen. David Petraeus also signed.

In an op-ed in The New York Times on Thursday, Brennan, a vocal Trump critic, said the president revoked his clearance because he previously investigated possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia to sway the 2016 election. The White House said Wednesday the decision was a matter of national security. But in another interview Wednesday with The Wall Street Journal, Trump referenced the security clearance decision in relation to the Russia investigation, which he called a “rigged witch hunt,” and said, “So I think it’s something that had to be done.”