White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said that President Trump is «exploring» taking away the security clearances of a variety of former intelligence chiefs.<\/b>
\n(CBS) \u2014 White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said that President Trump is \u201cexploring\u201d taking away the security clearances of a variety of former intelligence chiefs in light of their comments on the president\u2019s claims on Russian interference, claiming officials are \u201cpoliticizing\u201d government agencies and \u201cmonetizing\u201d their political offices.
Sanders told reporters that Mr. Trump is considering removing the clearances of Obama intelligence officials, including FBI Director James Comey, former CIA director John Brennan, former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, former Director of National Security Agency Michael Hayden, former National Security Adviser Susan Rice and former Deputy Director of the FBI Andrew McCabe.
The idea was first raised after Sen. Rand Paul tweeted Monday morning that he would be meeting with Mr. Trump to ask him to revoke former CIA Director John Brennan\u2019s clearance, claiming Brennan was \u201cmonetizing\u201d his clearance by \u201cmaking millions of dollars divulging secrets to the mainstream media with his attacks\u201d on Mr. Trump.
Last week, Brennan deemed the president\u2019s remarks at his press conference with Russian President Vladimir Putin \u201cnothing short of treasonous,\u201d and said his comments were \u201cimbecilic\u201d and showed \u201che is wholly in the pocket of Putin.\u201d
\u201cThe president is exploring the mechanisms to remove security clearance because they politicize and in some cases monetize their public service and security clearances,\u201d Sanders told reporters at Monday\u2019s press briefing.
She added, \u201cMaking baseless accusations of improper contact with Russia or being influenced by Russia against the president is extremely inappropriate, and the fact that people with security clearances are making these baseless charges provides inappropriate legitimacy to accusations with zero evidence.\u201d
Asked if Mr. Trump was punishing those for using free speech to speak out against the president, Sanders said \u201cno\u201d, adding, \u201cthe president doesn\u2019t like the fact that people are politicizing agencies and departments that are specifically meant to not be political and meant to not be monetized off of security clearances.\u201d
Some of those Sanders named on Monday were quick to respond to the White House proposition. Gen. Hayden told CBS News\u2019 Olivia Gazis in an email that he doesn\u2019t \u201cgo back for classified briefings. Won\u2019t have any effect on what I say or write.\u201d
A spokesperson for McCabe, meanwhile, said that his clearance had already been deactivated when he was fired from his position with the FBI.
\u201cYou would think the White House would check with the FBI before trying to throw shiny objects to the press corps\u2026,\u201d the spokesperson added.
Clapper told CNN that removing his clearance would have \u201cno bearing on my regard, or lack thereof, for President Trump.\u201d He added that the move is a \u201cvery, very petting thing to do.\u201d
Benjamin Wittes, Senior Fellow at Brookings tweeted that during a text message exchange with Comey, he asked the former FBI director if there was even anything for the White House to revoke.
Comey reportedly responded \u201cnope,\u201d adding that he was \u201cread out\u201d when he left government and later declined a temporary clearance to read a classified version of the DOJ\u2019S inspector general report.
Security clearances are good for 5 years. Officials can maintain their highest level clearance, but that is not always the case.
CBS News\u2019 Jeff Pegues notes that Brennan, Clapper and Comey aren\u2019t currently being briefed on the Russia investigation. They were briefed on all of the intelligence beginning in July 2016 at least through February 2017, the most consequential months of the investigation when the FBI was leading the probe. Their statements to date have been informed by those briefings.
Sanders was later asked if the clearances for President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden would also be removed, she told reporters \u201cI\u2019m not aware of any plans for that at this point.\u201d
This is a developing story.<\/p>\n

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