INTELLIGENCE/JUSTICE DEPARTMENT/NATIONAL SECURITY/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “President Donald Trump said Friday [8-17-18] that he would likely strip the security clearance of a Justice Department official ‘very quickly,’ opening a new front in his battle with figures related to the special counsel investigation into his campaign and Russian election interference. The official, Bruce Ohr, is a longtime government prosecutor who up until this week had not been a household name. That changed on Wednesday [8-15-18] when press secretary Sarah Sanders named Ohr from the White House podium alongside a list of former national security and law enforcement officials who have been critical of the President and are now having their security clearances reviewed. On Friday, Trump expanded on his targeting of Ohr, who stood out on the list as the only official currently serving in government. The Washington Post reported Friday night that the White House has drafted documents that would revoke the security clearances of current and former officials Trump wants to punish for criticizing him or playing some role in the Russia investigation. Trump wants to sign ‘most, if not all’ of them, a senior White House official told the Post. Ohr is currently an attorney within the DOJ’s criminal division, according to a source familiar with his position. He led the department’s organized crime and racketeering section for over a decade and through last year served in a senior position within the Deputy Attorney General’s Office until he was demoted, CNN reported, after it was discovered that he had communicated with Christopher Steele, the ex-British spy who crafted the dossier of salacious and unverified information about Trump and Russia, and the founder of the US firm, Fusion GPS, that was hired to dig up that dirt.”

–David Shortell, “Trump says he is likely to strip DOJ official’s clearance ‘very quickly’,” CNN Politics, CNN.com, August 17, 2018 9:21 pm