President Donald Trump announced Friday that he is pulling security clearances for a string of high-profile public officials, continuing his streak of imposing petty punishments on those he regards as his political enemies.
In a memo, Trump said he decided that “it is no longer in the national interest for the following individuals to access classified information.” The memo also bars them from “unescorted access to secure United States Government facilities.” The list comprises a who’s who of Trump’s favorite targets, including former President Joe Biden and his family; former Vice President Kamala Harris; former secretaries of state Antony Blinken and Hillary Clinton, his 2016 election opponent; former national security adviser Jacob Sullivan; former GOP Reps. Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger; and attorneys Mark Zaid and Norman Eisen.
New York Attorney General Letitia James and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, both of whom pursued criminal cases against Trump, were also on the list.
As NBC News pointed out, many of those named in Trump’s memo had already seen their clearances revoked by Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard earlier this month.
In January, Trump rescinded the security clearances of 50 former intelligence officials, including his former national security adviser John Bolton. Legal experts said at the time that it amounted to an attempt to intimidate and silence those who have crossed him. Trump has more recently used the threat of pulling security clearances to bend top law firms to his will. At least one firm, Paul Weiss, gave in to that effort Thursday, eliminating its diversity policies and agreeing to provide $40 million in pro bono work for causes Trump supports in exchange for the reversal of an executive order that targeted the company. The president has also removed security details for some of his political targets, some of whom continue to face legitimate security threats. Earlier this week, he announced he was stripping Biden’s children, Hunter and Ashley Biden, of Secret Service protection.
Clarissa-Jan Lim is a breaking news reporter for MS NOW. She was previously a senior reporter and editor at BuzzFeed News.
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