2016 ELECTION/INTELLIGENCE/RUSSIA/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “The White House on Monday 7-23-18] threatened to strip six former U.S. intelligence and law enforcement officials, including Obama-era CIA director John Brennan, of their security clearances as President Donald Trump considers striking back at critics of his summit meeting last week with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The threat against Brennan and former senior U.S. officials James Comey, James Clapper, Michael Hayden, Susan Rice and Andrew McCabe represented an extraordinary politicization of the U.S. government’s security clearance process. White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said Trump is ‘exploring the mechanisms’ to remove the security clearances. Sanders said the officials have ‘politicized and in some cases monetized their public service and security clearances, making baseless accusations of improper contact with Russia or being influenced by Russia.’ After Trump gave credence following his summit in Helsinki to Putin’s denials about Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. election despite findings by the American intelligence community, Brennan called Trump’s remarks ‘nothing short of treasonous.’”
–Steve Holland, Jonathan Landay, “Striking at critics, Trump threatens former officials’ security clearances,” Reuters, July 23, 2018 12:05 pm