President Trump revoked the security clearances of 37 current and former national security officials, many of whom worked on Russia analysis or foreign threats to U.S. elections, according to a memo from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.
The list included Shelby Pierson, the former election threat official in the first Trump administration who warned Congress about Russian meddling in the 2020 election and is now a senior official at the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, which analyzes spy satellite imagery.
Also on the list were a senior C.I.A. analyst currently serving undercover and Vinh X. Nguyen, a senior National Security Agency data scientist.
Rescinding security clearances appears to be part of a campaign by Tulsi Gabbard, the director of national intelligence, to draw attention to what she sees as flaws in intelligence assessments about Russian malign influence operations during the 2016 election. Ms. Gabbard’s attention to that issue has won praise from Mr. Trump.
Critics have said Mr. Trump has turned the focus onto the 2016 election, which he won, to distract from questions about the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein.
The move is just the latest effort by the Trump administration to shift the public’s attention to the 2016 election. Ms. Gabbard has released a series of documents related to the intelligence inquiry and accused the Obama administration of a “treasonous conspiracy.” Pam Bondi, the attorney general, has announced a task force to look into potential wrongdoing. John Ratcliffe, the C.I.A. director, declassified a tradecraft review related to the 2016 inquiry, and made a referral to the F.B.I. seeking an investigation of John O. Brennan, the former C.I.A. head.
Tuesday afternoon, Ms. Gabbard released the memo on social media and said the actions were done at the direction of Mr. Trump.
“Being entrusted with a security clearance is a privilege, not a right,” Ms. Gabbard wrote. “Those in the Intelligence Community who betray their oath to the Constitution and put their own interests ahead of the interests of the American people have broken the sacred trust they promised to uphold.”
Ms. Gabbard’s office claimed that the people who would lose their security clearances were involved in the “politicization or weaponization of intelligence” to advance partisan agendas, or had failed to adhere to tradecraft practices or to safeguard classified information.
The memo provided no evidence the individuals had mishandled material or used it for partisan purposes.
While stripping the security clearances of current officials effectively removes them from their jobs, it is not clear how many of the 37 individuals were currently employed by intelligence agencies or held government contracts. It is also not clear how many of the former officials maintained a current clearance.
Most former officials who are not working for government contractors do not need clearances, though some do informal or formal consulting for intelligence officials. Holding a clearance makes such advising easier.
Many of the officials have only tangential ties or no ties to the original analysis of Russian malign influence operations. Some have been mentioned in reporting about the assessment or have commented on the intelligence work publicly.
Mr. Nguyen was mentioned in an article in Real Clear Investigations that highlighted his work for the director of national intelligence at the time of the assessment. The article was highlighted on social media by Sebastian Gorka, a Trump administration national security official.
Mr. Nguyen is an expert on quantum computing, data science and cyber issues. Former officials said the loss of his expertise could set back the U.S. government’s development of key technologies.
Edward Gistaro and Beth Sanner, both of whom briefed Mr. Trump during his first term, were also on the list. Both were mentioned in a recent book on the C.I.A. written by Tim Weiner.
Many of the individuals have commented publicly on national security matters. Some, though not all, had been critical of the Trump administration.
After serving as election threat official, Ms. Pierson returned to the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency to take a senior position. She has been leading the agency’s analysis team, according to former officials.
During the first Trump administration, Richard Grenell, who was the acting director of national intelligence agency, opted to keep Ms. Pierson in her post.
Members of the Biden administration’s national security staff will also lose their clearance, including Maher Bitar, who was a senior director for intelligence, and Emily Horne, a former spokeswoman. The order stripping Mr. Bitar of his clearance presents a potential separation-of-powers issue. He is now a senior national security aide to Senator Adam B. Schiff, Democrat of California.
Mark Zaid, a lawyer who frequently represents intelligence officials and whose own security clearance was stripped by the Trump administration, said to strip the security clearances in the name of ending the politicization was hypocritical.
“These are unlawful and unconstitutional decisions that deviate from well-settled, decades-old laws and policies that sought to protect against just this type of action,” Mr. Zaid said. Referring to the intelligence community, he continued, “It has become clear that the current IC leadership itself constitutes a grave danger to national security.”
Ms. Gabbard has been removing security clearances of former officials in keeping with an executive order from Mr. Trump and as part of her efforts to counter the “politicization or weaponization of intelligence.” The Trump administration previously revoked security clearances for former President Joseph R. Biden Jr. and former Vice President Kamala Harris, as well as for other former senior national security officials.
But the move against the 37 current and former officials represented far deeper cuts into the national security establishment.
A spokeswoman for Ms. Gabbard did not return a request for comment. C.I.A. and N.S.A. officials declined to comment, and the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency did not return a request for comment.
Julian E. Barnes covers the U.S. intelligence agencies and international security matters for The Times. He has written about security issues for more than two decades.
Maggie Haberman is a White House correspondent for The Times, reporting on President Trump.
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