Trump Revokes Security Clearance for Former CIA Director

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by: Colorado Pols

George Orwell’s “1984” is getting a little too real.

There’s some breaking news this afternoon from the White House. As the New York Times reports:

President Trump on Wednesday revoked the security clearance of John O. Brennan, the former C.I.A. director under President Barack Obama, citing what he called Mr. Brennan’s “erratic” behavior.

The White House had threatened last month to strip Mr. Brennan and two other Obama administration officials — Susan E. Rice, the former national security adviser; and James R. Clapper Jr., the former director of national intelligence — of their security clearances. At the time, Ms. Sanders said that Mr. Trump was considering doing it because “they politicized, and in some cases monetized, their public service and security clearances.”…

…Mr. Trump’s decision to revoke Mr. Brennan’s security clearance was announced by Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the White House press secretary. Ms. Sanders said the president is reviewing the security clearances of other former Democratic officials who have been critics of the president.

White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders read a statement from President Trump to assembled media that Brennan’s security clearance was being revoked, as the Times explains, “because he is among a group of former officials who have ‘transitioned into highly partisan’ people.”

In other words, thou shalt not speak ill of the President.

This was the last Tweet sent from John Brennan’s Twitter account as of this writing:

It’s astounding how often you fail to live up to minimum standards of decency, civility, & probity. Seems like you will never understand what it means to be president, nor what it takes to be a good, decent, & honest person. So disheartening, so dangerous for our Nation. https://t.co/eI9HaCec1m

— John O. Brennan (@JohnBrennan) August 14, 2018

12 thoughts on “Trump Revokes Security Clearance for Former CIA Director”

RepealAndReplace says:

August 15, 2018 at 1:02 pm

HE is accusing Brennan of "erratic behavior"? Well, at least he didn't call Brennan a dog.

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1. Davie says:
  
  August 15, 2018 at 1:59 pm
  
  Trump has an exquisite ability to take self-insights and project them as perjoratives upon others.
  
  It is both innate and unconscious.
  
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lilyflower says:

August 15, 2018 at 1:04 pm

He is truly crazy. I really think he is not playing with a full deck.

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1. Conserv. Head Banger says:
  
  August 15, 2018 at 2:25 pm
  
  "playing solitaire 'til dawn with a deck of 51…………"
  
  (Statler Brothers, "Flowers on the Wall," 1965)
  
  Trump isn't smart enough to know that he is missing a card in his deck.
  
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  1. RepealAndReplace says:
    
    August 15, 2018 at 2:43 pm
    
    Although he's probably got a couple of extra Jokers in the deck.
    
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bullshit! says:

August 15, 2018 at 1:10 pm

Dictators must root out their opposition totally. It's in Mein Kampf I think.

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Davie says:

August 15, 2018 at 1:48 pm

Aww, poor wittle Twumpie is having a bad day! Waaaaaaahhhhh!

The problem with being Donald Trump isn’t just being Donald Trump. It’s all the other, lesser Trumps around you. It’s the versions of yourself that you create, the echoes of yourself that you inspire. They’ll devour you in the end.

I don’t mean his biological offspring, though they’re no picnic. I mean his spiritual spawn. I mean the knaves, nuts, schemers and dreamers who have taken their cues from him or turned his lessons against him. This is their moment. This is their month.

Omarosa Manigault Newman has a Trump-savaging book, “Unhinged,” out this week, and while she’s a compromised messenger, she’s also a mesmerizing one. From the master she learned how to draw and hold the spotlight: Mete out revelations. Hurl accusations. Contradict yourself. Leave everyone gasping, gawking and coming back for more.

“Trump and Omarosa Are Kindred Spirits” reads the headline on a new Bloomberg column by Tim O’Brien, the author of the 2005 book “TrumpNation.” The president, he notes, was “fascinated by her self-absorption and nastiness.” Trump stares into every mirror he passes.

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JohnInDenver says:

August 15, 2018 at 2:11 pm

It will be interesting to watch the reaction of “House Speaker Paul Ryan [who] on Tuesday attempted to downplay President Donald Trump’s threat to revoke security clearances of former national security officials who have criticized him, brushing it off as just “trolling.”

“I think he’s trolling people honestly,” the Wisconsin Republican said at his weekly news conference on Capitol Hill.”

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Duke Cox says:

August 15, 2018 at 8:29 pm

Whoa…didn't see this one coming!

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Phoenix Rising says:

August 15, 2018 at 9:24 pm

I just hope we don't need John Brennan's national security expertise in the near future, as he is no longer cleared for it.

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1. mamajama55 says:
  
  August 15, 2018 at 10:20 pm
  
  We do need John Brennan, with security clearance intact so that he can warn us of foreign attacks on the voting infrastructure. The Brennan Center for Justice is one of the strongest clearinghouses of voting and election-related information anywhere.
  
  Ed: the Brennan Center for Justice is named after the Supreme Court Jusice, not the former CIA Director Brennan. Same diff, though. I expect the Drumpster has them confused.
  
  The Brennan Center is suing the Trump administration to find out which states are planning voter purges. Hence Trump's preemptive attack.
  
  I'm not sure how best to push back on this, but will fall back on the futile-seeming "Call the white House" tactic.
  
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notaskinnycook says:

August 15, 2018 at 11:59 pm

A lot of things may go by the boards in the meantime, but my bet is that if we can get a Dem in the White House in two years, those clearances will be restored. On the other hand, some of the people who serve in the Yam's Sad-ministration may see theirs revoked.

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