The Trump Administration has revoked the security clearances of 37 current and former U.S. government officials.
Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard publicly shared a memo confirming the revocation and the reasoning behind it, stating that it was carried out under the direction of President Donald Trump.
According to Gabbard, the officials in question are “intelligence professionals who have abused the public trust by politicizing and manipulating intelligence, leaking classified intelligence without authorization, and/or committing intentional egregious violations of tradecraft standards.” She did not provide evidence pertaining to this, nor did the memo.
“All personnel are reminded that holding a clearance is a privilege, not a right, and this privilege is contingent upon continued adherence to the principles and responsibilities of our profession,” read the memo.
The officials, listed in the memo, will no longer have access to “classified systems, facilities, materials, and information.” Furthermore, any “contracts or employment” between the individuals and the U.S. government have been terminated.
Some of the officials were involved in gathering information and making assessments on Russia’s efforts to interfere in the 2016 U.S. election. Meanwhile, others had signed a public letter during Trump’s first term, supporting calls for an impeachment inquiry into the President.
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There has been much conversation about purging staffers who are not deemed to be loyal to Trump.
Far-right political activist and Trump ally Laura Loomer recently set up a “tip line” whereby she asked her followers to contact her if they “know an Obama-Biden holdover inside the Trump Admin who needs to be exposed for their misdeeds.”
“Laura Loomer is a great patriot. She’s a very strong person,” Trump told reporters in April, amid questions as to the influence she may have after National Security Council staffers were fired after Loomer met with the President. “She makes recommendations on things and people, and sometimes I listen to those recommendations, like I do with everybody. I listen to everybody, and then I make a decision.”
Meanwhile, in an interview with Fox News on Tuesday, Gabbard claimed she had unclassified “hundreds of pages” of documents detailing the “creation of Russia-gate, this manufactured intelligence assessment that essentially had the intent of undermining the voices and votes of the American people who elected Donald Trump.”
Vinh X. Nguyen, the National Security Agency’s chief responsible AI officer, was among those to have his clearance revoked. The NSA official previously worked as the national intelligence officer for cyber issues during investigations into allegations of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.
Mark Zaid, a lawyer who often represents former and current government intelligence officials, has responded publicly to the Gabbard memo.
“The vast majority of these individuals are not household names and are dedicated public servants who have worked across multiple presidential Administrations,” he said. “Pure politicization of security clearance process. These are unlawful decisions that deviate from decades of precedent.”
Gabbard announced in July that she was turning over evidence of an “Obama Administration conspiracy to subvert Trump’s 2016 victory and presidency” to the Department of Justice “for criminal referral.”
“Obama himself manufactured the Russia, Russia, Russia hoax. Crooked Hillary [Clinton], Sleepy Joe [Biden], and numerous others participated in this, the crime of the century!. Irrefutable evidence.,” Trump claimed via Truth Social in the days after Gabbard’s announcement.
Attorney General Pam Bondi then directed the Department of Justice on Aug. 5 to probe into the origins of the investigations into Russian interference in favor of Trump during both the 2016 and 2020 elections.
In March, Trump revoked security clearances for former President Joe Biden, as well as members of the Biden family. Other high-profile Democrats, including former presidential candidate Kamala Harris, Hillary Clinton, former Secretary of State Antony Blinken, former National Security Advisor Jacob Sullivan, and former Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco also had their privileges rescinded.
The President said it was “no longer in the national interest” for these individuals to have security clearances.
“I hereby direct every executive department and agency head to take all additional action as necessary and consistent with existing law to revoke any active security clearances held by the aforementioned individuals and to immediately rescind their access to classified information,” he said in his directive.
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