Trump revokes security clearance of 37 former and current officials

Straits Times

19 hours ago

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Among those whose security clearance has been stripped is a senior Central Intelligence Agency analyst currently serving undercover.
WASHINGTON – American President Donald Trump revoked the security clearance of 37 current and former national security officials, many of whom worked on Russia analysis or foreign threats to US elections, according to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.
Mr Trump has stripped security clearances throughout his administration, including from his best-known rivals like former president Joe Biden. But the actions announced on Aug 19 were a deeper cut, pushing far into the national security establishment.
At least three current senior officials at various intelligence agencies, all with reputations for non-partisan work, are among those who lost their clearance and their jobs.
They included Ms Shelby Pierson, a senior intelligence official who warned Congress about Russian meddling in the 2020 election; a senior Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) analyst currently serving undercover; and Mr Vinh X. Nguyen, a senior National Security Agency (NSA) data scientist.
Rescinding security clearance appears to be part of a campaign by Ms Tulsi Gabbard, the director of national intelligence, to reveal 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, who has long claimed without evidence that the Obama administration tried to undermine him in that vote.
Critics also say that Mr Trump has turned the focus onto the 2016 election to distract from questions about disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein.
'Gabbard's move to yank clearances from a seemingly random list of national security officials is a reckless abuse of the security clearance process and nothing more than another sad attempt to distract from the administration's failure to release the Epstein files,' said Democratic Senator Mark Warner, who is vice-chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee.
Mr Warner said he had introduced legislation to create standards for security clearances and prevent political abuse of the system.
Current and former officials said they were particularly distraught by the removal of Mr Nguyen, a gifted mathematician, from the NSA.
Mr Nguyen was mentioned in an article in Real Clear Investigations that noted his work for the director of national intelligence at the time of the 2016 election assessments. The article was highlighted on social media by Mr Sebastian Gorka, a Trump administration national security official.
Mr Nguyen is an expert on quantum computing, data science and cyber issues. He has been working on artificial intelligence projects for the agency. Former officials said the loss of his expertise could set back the US government's development of key technologies.
Ms Gabbard is not the only administration official releasing documents or investigating the 2016 intelligence assessments.
After she released a report and accused the Obama administration of a 'treasonous conspiracy', Attorney-General Pam Bondi announced a task force to look into potential wrongdoing. Mr John Ratcliffe, the CIA director, declassified a tradecraft review related to the 2016 inquiries and made a referral to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) seeking an investigation of Mr John Brennan, the former CIA head.
On Aug 19 , Ms Gabbard released a memo on social media about her actions, which she said were taken 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 'politicisation or weaponisation of intelligence' to advance partisan agendas, or had failed to adhere to tradecraft practices or to safeguard classified information.
The memo provided no evidence that 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 2016 election assessments or have commented on the intelligence work publicly.
Mr Edward Gistaro and Ms 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 CIA written by Mr 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 an 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, Mr 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 Mr Maher Bitar, who was a senior director for intelligence, and Ms Emily Horne, a former spokesperson.
The order stripping Mr Bitar of his clearance presents a potential separation-of-powers issue. He is now a senior national security aide to Democratic Senator Adam Schiff.
Mr Mark Zaid, a lawyer who frequently represents intelligence officials and whose own security clearance was stripped by the Trump administration, said that stripping security clearances in the name of ending politicisation 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 'politicisation or weaponisation of intelligence'.
CIA and NSA officials declined to comment, and the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency did not return a request for comment. NYTIMES