The administration of United States President Donald Trump has revoked the security clearances of 37 people it accused of politicising or weaponising intelligence for partisan aims.
In a statement posted to X on Tuesday, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard said the group had “abused the public trust”, accusing them of “politicizing and manipulating intelligence, leaking classified intelligence without authorization, and/or committing intentional egregious violations of tradecraft standards”.
The statement did not explain in what ways the 37 had violated the terms of the national security clearance or provide evidence of them having done so.
Security clearances are rarely revoked, and the names of those revoked are not typically publicised.
The list includes former senior officials as well as little-known staffers. Among the more high-profile is Shelby Pierson, an election security official who, in February 2020, briefed lawmakers on Russian interference in US elections, and drew Trump’s ire for claiming that Moscow favoured him in the 2020 elections. At least one of the people included was listed on the database of Canary Mission, a shadowy pro-Israel website that the government has admitted to using to target pro-Palestinian supporters.
Mark Zaid, a lawyer who represents intelligence officers, told Al Jazeera that the revocations could be considered “unlawful and unconstitutional decisions that deviate from well-settled, decades-old laws and policies that sought to protect against just this type of action”.
“It is completely unprofessional, yet so common, that the administration took actions targeting individuals in a retaliatory way that impacts their careers and lives, yet did not notify them first before leaking the memo to friendly media.”
Since taking office, Trump has lived up to campaign promises to go after those he perceives as his enemies – particularly members of previous administrations that he has deemed to be corrupt.
Earlier this year, he fired thousands of federal employees, including career prosecutors who participated in the two federal probes into Trump’s behaviour: one for alleged mishandling of classified documents, and the other for attempting to subvert the 2020 election.
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