INTELLIGENCE/NATIONAL SECURITY/RUSSIA INVESTIGATION/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “For more than a year, law enforcement officials have repeatedly rebuffed President Trump’s efforts to use the power of his office to derail the Russia investigation. Stymied, Mr. Trump is lashing out in other ways against an investigation that he clearly hates or fears. The president said Thursday [8-16-18] that he revoked the security clearance of John O. Brennan, a former C.I.A. director, because Mr. Brennan had been part of what Mr. Trump has called the ‘sham’ Russia investigation. That move, and the threats of more revocations, were the latest signs that the president seems determined to punish anyone connected to the Russia inquiry. Law enforcement officials, lawmakers and members of the intelligence community expressed worry that the president’s act of retaliation will have a potentially chilling effect on the United States’ law enforcement and intelligence officers. Anxiety about Mr. Trump’s next move could give investigators pause as they pursue cases, and it might hamper recruitment of a new generation of agents, they said. The president’s decision to follow through on his threats to revoke Mr. Brennan’s security clearance, they said, sent a shudder through the spies and intelligence officials he used to lead.”
–Michael D. Shear and Julian E. Barnes, “Revoking Clearance, Trump Aims Presidential Power at Russia Inquiry Image,” The New York Times online, August 16, 2018