CIA/INTELLIGENCE/NATIONAL SECURITY/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “President Donald Trump faced an unprecedented outcry from former intelligence officials on Friday [8-17-18] after stripping the security clearance of former CIA Director John Brennan, but Trump defended his move and said he planned another one soon. The bipartisan group, which included Robert Gates, George Tenet, David Petraeus, James Clapper and Leon Panetta, lashed out at the president in a scathing letter released late on Thursday [8-16-18]. By Friday evening, another 60 former intelligence officers added their voices in their own letter. Brennan, a former official in the Obama administration and sharp critic of Trump, has said he will not be deterred by the removal of his security clearance. Brennan described Trump’s actions at a summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Helsinki last month as treasonous. In an interview on MSNBC on Friday night, Brennan did not back down on his criticism of Trump’s conduct as president, but he did walk back his comment in July that Trump’s behavior in Helsinki was ‘nothing short of treasonous.’”
–Jeff Mason, Jonathan Landay, “Trump doubles down on security clearances; former officials slam move,” Reuters, August 17, 2018 8:02 am