Trump’s Revocations of Security Clearances: What to Know

President Donald Trump recently revoked the security clearances of a number of former U.S. officials.

In one such executive order—which revoked the clearances of former national security adviser John Bolton and dozens of former intelligence officers—Trump said that “the faith of Americans in all other patriotic intelligence professionals who are sworn to protect the Nation has been imperiled” by the actions of those named. The letter in question was issued a few weeks before the 2020 presidential election. Its signatories said it was their belief that the laptop was planted in opposition to then-candidate Joe Biden’s presidential campaign.



Signatories for the letter included Director of National Intelligence James Clapper Jr., former CIA Acting Director Michael J. Morell, former CIA Director John Brennan, and former Defense Secretary Leon Panetta.

Two of the 51 signers of the letter have since died, the executive order noted. The executive order stripping the security clearances claims that the signatories of the letter “willfully weaponized the gravitas of the Intelligence Community to manipulate the political process and undermine our democratic institutions,” calling their actions “an egregious breach of trust reminiscent of a third world country.” Milley was informed by newly minted Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth that he was revoking the authorization for his security detail as well as suspending his security clearance.

According to the DOD, the decision was made in light of an inquiry into Milley’s conduct while in office. If an individual is able to retain his or her security clearance, he or she can stay up to date about ongoing threats and national security issues, and may be included in think tanks or transition teams, or even continue work on federal classified projects as independent contractors. Former officials often retain their security clearances and continue to use them for consulting roles both for government work or other positions, and for private sector work in areas such as intelligence analysis or cyber security.

Trump stated that the individuals whose security clearances were revoked engaged in actions egregious enough to justify the decision, asserting that the move was necessary to “remedy these abuses of the public trust.”.