CIA/INTELLIGENCE/NATIONAL SECURITY/OBAMA ADMIN/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “In a remarkable attack on a political opponent, President Trump on Wednesday [8-15-18] revoked the security clearance of John O. Brennan, the C.I.A. director under President Barack Obama, citing what he called Mr. Brennan’s ‘erratic’ behavior. The White House had threatened last month to strip Mr. Brennan and other Obama administration officials — including Susan E. Rice, the former national security adviser; and James R. Clapper Jr., the former director of national intelligence — of their security clearances. At the time, Ms. Sanders said that Mr. Trump was considering doing it because ‘they politicized, and in some cases monetized, their public service and security clearances.’ Mr. Trump has questioned the loyalties of national security and law enforcement officials and dismissed some of their findings — particularly the conclusion that Moscow intervened in the 2016 election — as attacks against him. Mr. Brennan has become a frequent critic of Mr. Trump since the 2016 presidential election, often taking to Twitter to question the president’s ability to serve in the Oval Office…Mr. Trump’s decision to revoke Mr. Brennan’s security clearance was announced by Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the White House press secretary. Ms. Sanders said the president was reviewing the security clearances of other former officials who have been critics of the president. Those include, among others, Ms. Rice; Mr. Clapper; Michael V. Hayden, the former head of the C.I.A. and National Security Agency; and Sally Q. Yates, the former acting attorney general.”
–Michael D. Shear, “Trump Revokes Ex-C.I.A. Director John Brennan’s Security Clearance,” The New York Times online, August 15, 2018