Latest news with #PrivacyActSystem
Yahoo
a day ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Gabbard's Revenge Purge Immediately Runs Into a Major Problem
Tulsi Gabbard may have broken the law by publicly identifying dozens of current and former officials while revoking their security clearances, according to a national security lawyer. Gabbard revealed that 37 people have been targeted in the clearance purge ordered by President Trump, accusing them without evidence of 'politicizing and manipulating intelligence, leaking classified intelligence without authorization, and/or committing intentional egregious violations of tradecraft standards.' Gabbard made the announcement—which comes after Trump stripped the security clearance of his political opponents—by posting a memo from her office on X. The list of 37 individuals targeted includes intelligence officials who concluded that Russia interfered in the 2016 presidential election, as well as those accused by far-right activist Laura Loomer of lacking loyalty to Trump, according to Axios. Mark Zaid, an attorney who represents intelligence officers and who is suing the Trump administration to have his own stripped security clearance restored, suggested Gabbard may have landed herself in legal trouble by making the memo public. 'Can you say 'Privacy Act violation'? I certainly can,' Zaid wrote in a post on X. 'Further proof of weaponization and politicization. The vast majority of these individuals are not household names & are dedicated public servants who have worked across multiple presidential administrations.' Zaid—who previously represented a whistleblower who accused Trump of attempting to extort Ukraine for dirt on former President Joe Biden ahead of the 2020 election—told Axios that a person's security clearance 'is maintained in a protected Privacy Act System of records.' He added the government 'cannot simply release that information without written consent from the individual or the existence of a Routine Use, which I do not believe exists for this purpose.' Those who lost clearances reportedly include officials who signed a letter supporting Trump's first impeachment trial, when he was accused of threatening to withhold military aid to Ukraine unless President Volodymyr Zelensky agreed to investigate Hunter Biden's business dealings ahead of the 2020 election. Others were targeted online by Loomer, an extremist and conspiracy theorist who has taken credit for multiple people being removed from the Trump administration, citing reasons such as their prior service in the Obama or Biden administrations. 'Thank you, Tulsi! MORE SCALPS,' Loomer posted while sharing Gabbard's memo. In response to Zaid's remarks, White House Spokesman Davis Ingle told the Daily Beast: 'President Trump promised to end the weaponization of government against American citizens which is why Director Gabbard rightfully directed the revocation of 37 security clearances from current and former intelligence officials who abused their positions of public trust.' The Trump administration has stripped numerous national security officials and political opponents of their clearances as part of the president's campaign of retribution. Those affected include Trump's 2024 election rival, former Vice President Kamala Harris. New York Attorney General Letitia James—who prosecuted Trump for filing fraudulent financial filings for years—was also targeted, as was former president Joe Biden and his entire family. The Office of the Director of National Intelligence did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Daily Beast.
Yahoo
a day ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Gabbard's Revenge Purge Immediately Runs Into a Major Problem
Tulsi Gabbard may have broken the law by publicly identifying dozens of current and former officials while revoking their security clearances, according to a national security lawyer. Gabbard revealed that 37 people have been targeted in the clearance purge ordered by President Trump, accusing them without evidence of 'politicizing and manipulating intelligence, leaking classified intelligence without authorization, and/or committing intentional egregious violations of tradecraft standards.' Gabbard made the announcement—which comes after Trump stripped the security clearance of his political opponents—by posting a memo from her office on X. The list of 37 individuals targeted includes intelligence officials who concluded that Russia interfered in the 2016 presidential election, as well as those accused by far-right activist Laura Loomer of lacking loyalty to Trump, according to Axios. Mark Zaid, an attorney who represents intelligence officers and who is suing the Trump administration to have his own stripped security clearance restored, suggested Gabbard may have landed herself in legal trouble by making the memo public. 'Can you say 'Privacy Act violation'? I certainly can,' Zaid wrote in a post on X. 'Further proof of weaponization and politicization. The vast majority of these individuals are not household names & are dedicated public servants who have worked across multiple presidential administrations.' Zaid—who previously represented a whistleblower who accused Trump of attempting to extort Ukraine for dirt on former President Joe Biden ahead of the 2020 election—told Axios that a person's security clearance 'is maintained in a protected Privacy Act System of records.' He added the government 'cannot simply release that information without written consent from the individual or the existence of a Routine Use, which I do not believe exists for this purpose.' Those who lost clearances reportedly include officials who signed a letter supporting Trump's first impeachment trial, when he was accused of threatening to withhold military aid to Ukraine unless President Volodymyr Zelensky agreed to investigate Hunter Biden's business dealings ahead of the 2020 election. Others were targeted online by Loomer, an extremist and conspiracy theorist who has taken credit for multiple people being removed from the Trump administration, citing reasons such as their prior service in the Obama or Biden administrations. 'Thank you, Tulsi! MORE SCALPS,' Loomer posted while sharing Gabbard's memo. In response to Zaid's remarks, White House Spokesman Davis Ingle told the Daily Beast: 'President Trump promised to end the weaponization of government against American citizens which is why Director Gabbard rightfully directed the revocation of 37 security clearances from current and former intelligence officials who abused their positions of public trust.' The Trump administration has stripped numerous national security officials and political opponents of their clearances as part of the president's campaign of retribution. Those affected include Trump's 2024 election rival, former Vice President Kamala Harris. New York Attorney General Letitia James—who prosecuted Trump for filing fraudulent financial filings for years—was also targeted, as was former president Joe Biden and his entire family. The Office of the Director of National Intelligence did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Daily Beast.
Axios
2 days ago
- Politics
- Axios
Trump administration revokes security clearances of 37 U.S. officials
The Trump administration revoked the security clearances of 37 current and former officials on Tuesday that it accused of "politicization or weaponization" to "advance personal, partisan or non-objective agendas." The big picture: National Intelligence Director Tulsi Gabbard publicly released a memo naming the officials, which Mark Zaid, a lawyer who represents intelligence officers and who's suing the Trump administration to have his revoked security clearance restored, said may have broken the law. Driving the news: Gabbard accused the officials in an X post on the administration's latest move to revoke security clearances of "politicizing and manipulating intelligence, leaking classified intelligence without authorization, and/or committing intentional egregious violations of tradecraft standards." Neither the memo nor Gabbard's post detailed evidence on these claims, but among the intelligence community public servants included in the list are officials who were involved in assessments on Russia's efforts to interfere in the 2016 election and others who worked on national security under former Presidents Biden and Obama. Others signed a letter supporting the impeachment inquiry into President Trump on allegations that he pressured Ukraine, which far-right activist Laura Loomer amplified last month as she noted some still held security clearances. What they're saying: Zaid wrote on X in response to Gabbard's post: "Can you say 'Privacy Act violation'? I certainly can. Further proof of weaponization and politicization. The vast majority of these individuals are not household names & are dedicated public servants who have worked across multiple presidential administrations." He said in a Tuesday night email that information regarding someone's security clearance "is maintained in a protected Privacy Act System of records" and the government "cannot simply release that information without written consent from the individual or the existence of a Routine Use, which I do not believe exists for this purpose." Representatives for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence did not immediately respond to Axios' Tuesday evening request for comment on the matter. Of note: Loomer noted on X that she had previously called for the security clearance of one of those named in the memo to be revoked, adding: "Thank you, Tulsi! MORE SCALPS." That official worked under then-Director of National Intelligence James Clapper on an Intelligence Community Assessment that found Russia interfered in the first election that President Trump won, a conclusion that's received bipartisan support in Congress. However, Gabbard last month accused the Obama administration of a " manipulation of intelligence" around Russia's role in the 2016 election. Flashback: On his first day in office, President Trump revoked the security clearances of 51 former intelligence officials who signed a letter in 2020 saying emails from Hunter Biden's laptop carried "classic earmarks of a Russian information operation."
