August 20, 2018
177 ex-national security officials sign open letter accusing Trump of revoking Brennan’s clearance for political reasons
Trump dares worst CIA director Brennan to sue as security row deepens
Donald Trump continued to attack the former CIA director John Brennan on Monday, seemingly in response to the release of a remarkable open letter criticizing the president’s decision last week to revoke Brennan’s security clearance.
The letter, signed by 177 former national security officials appointed by both Republicans and Democrats, accused Trump of acting against Brennan because Brennan had criticized him. The signatories stated “our firm belief that the country will be weakened if there is a political litmus test applied before seasoned experts are allowed to share their views”.
In the US intelligence community, revolt against the president is brewing. Monday’s letter followed a similar missive that was released last week by senior figures including six former directors and five former deputy directors of central intelligence and a former director of national intelligence. Trump’s move against Brennan also provoked a stinging Washington Post column by Adm William H McRaven, the leader of the operation to kill Osama Bin Laden.
On Sunday, Brennan threatened to challenge the revocation of his security clearance in court, charging Trump with wielding his power in an attempt to chill free speech.
In a Twitter rant following others about special counsel Robert Mueller and the New York Times, Trump called Brennan – previously a CIA station chief in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; acting director of the National Counterterrorism Center under George W Bush; and homeland security adviser to Barack Obama – a “political ‘hack’”.
“I hope John Brennan, the worst CIA Director in our country’s history, brings a lawsuit,” the president tweeted. “It will then be very easy to get all of his records, texts, emails and documents to show not only the poor job he did, but how he was involved with the Mueller Rigged Witch Hunt. He won’t sue!”
Trump’s tweet seemed riddled with misunderstandings and inaccuracies.
Brennan did not threaten to sue Trump personally but to make a case in court that Trump had abused his executive power by revoking his security clearance in response to criticism.
Legal analysts warned that Trump’s move could ultimately weaken the presidency by opening the way for an expanded role for the courts in the clearances process.
Trump dares worst CIA director Brennan to sue as security row deepens
It is not clear how any such legal action would result in the disclosure of Brennan’s “texts, emails and documents” shedding light on his job performance.
With the notion that such material would demonstrate that a CIA director who left office five months before the appointment by Trump’s own justice department of a special counsel would reveal “how [Brennan] was involved with the Mueller Rigged Witch Hunt”, Trump entered the realm of conspiracy mongering.
Trump went on to accuse the 177 former national security officials who signed the open letter of being motivated by the “big dollars” he said their security clearances afforded them.
“Everybody wants to keep their Security Clearance, it’s worth great prestige and big dollars, even board seats, and that is why certain people are coming forward to protect Brennan,” he tweeted. “It certainly isn’t because of the good job he did! He is a political “hack.”
Service in the national security sector is not notorious for being highly remunerative, as Michael Flynn, Trump’s former national security adviser, and many others have demonstrated. Flynn has said he needs help to pay legal fees arising from his guilty plea to lying to the FBI, made as part of a deal with Mueller’s team.
One signatory to the Monday letter, former CIA officer David Priess, responded on Twitter: “Sorry, sir. My post-employment security clearance, when I had it, granted me neither ‘great prestige’ nor ‘big dollars’ nor ‘board seats’. I can’t speak for other signers, but this certain person came forward not for any of that, but to voice concern about an abuse of power.”
Trump also criticized Jeff Sessions, the attorney general he has previously targeted for his decision to recuse himself from the Russia investigation, and Bruce Ohr, a justice department official whose wife once worked for a firm that paid in part for a private investigation of an alleged campaign by Russian intelligence operatives to gain influence over Trump in the years before he entered politics.
That investigation is known as the Steele dossier after Christopher Steele, the former MI6 agent who compiled it. Trump routinely rails against the dossier and believes its existence demonstrates a “deep state” plot to destroy his campaign and presidency.
“Will Bruce Ohr, whose family received big money for helping to create the phony, dirty and discredited Dossier, ever be fired from the Jeff Sessions ‘Justice’ Department?” Trump tweeted. “A total joke!”
As midday neared – and with it a scheduled lunch with his vice-president, Mike Pence – Trump appeared to be watching Fox News. Seemingly undeterred by his wife Melania’s appearance earlier at a summit on the prevention of cyberbullying, he concluded his rant (or marked a pause at least) with an accusation against Ohr that a Republican congressman had just made on the network.
“’Bruce Ohr is at the center of FALSE ALLEGATIONS which led to a multi-million dollar investigation into what apparently didn’t happen’,” Trump tweeted, concluding: “Darrell Issa, House Oversight. We can take out the word ‘apparently.’ @FoxNews.”
Issa, who is not running for re-election, has not led the House oversight committee for three and a half years.
Latest News
Top news around the world
Academy Awards

‘Oppenheimer’ Reigns at Oscars With Seven Wins, Including Best Picture and Director

Get the latest news about the 2024 Oscars, including nominations, winners, predictions and red carpet fashion at 96th Academy Awards

Around the World

Celebrity News

> Latest News in Media

Watch It
Olivia Munn Reveals Breast Cancer Diagnosis and Double Mastectomy Procedure | E! News
March 13, 2024
kUaEV1Kd3S0
Travis Kelce Shares Details From His Trip to Singapore With Taylor Swift | E! News
March 13, 2024
3YXi-Dgf4eg
Kate Middleton VIRAL Photo: Agency Addresses Photoshop Claims | E! News
March 13, 2024
S4VkO0TpkCY
Da'Vine Joy Randolph Plays 'Smash or Pass' With Iconic Moments From Her Career
March 13, 2024
vkPdJEF2BX4
Jean Smart Wears a Hotel Bathrobe to Present an Award to Hannah Einbinder l Power of Comedy SxSW
March 12, 2024
Bw7uVEYQev4
Lenny Kravitz Walk of Fame Ceremony
March 12, 2024
MlWq8BcnwhE
Dak Prescott Extortion Plot & Steph Curry for President? | TMZ Sports Full Ep - 3/12/24
March 13, 2024
jHFsrjs7OFY
A Japanese space rocket blew up after takeoff Tuesday, turning the sky into a fireball of smoke.
March 13, 2024
YkfJ3Qg8B7c
#KimKardashian and #BiancaCensori hung out at #KanyeWest's listening party Tuesday night!
March 13, 2024
EfwLLq6bx9k
‘Pioneer Woman’ Ree Drummond denies using Ozempic to lose 60 pounds
March 13, 2024
Omfjk1AlZ3A
Chrissy Teigen reveals her ‘boob lift scars’ in daring dress at Jay-Z & Beyoncé’s Oscars 2024 party
March 13, 2024
VxZ2qXAlpmU
Zoë Kravitz pokes fun at dad Lenny Kravitz's style during Hollywood Walk of Fame speech
March 13, 2024
j3-lcFu_1sQ
TV Schedule
Late Night Show
Watch the latest shows of U.S. top comedians

Sports

Latest sport results, news, videos, interviews and comments
Latest Events
17
Mar
SPAIN: La Liga
Atletico Madrid - Barcelona
17
Mar
ENGLAND: FA Cup
Manchester United - Liverpool
17
Mar
ITALY: Serie A
Inter Milan - Napoli
17
Mar
GERMANY: Bundesliga
Borussia Dortmund - Eintracht Frankfurt
17
Mar
ENGLAND: FA Cup
Chelsea - Leicester City
17
Mar
ITALY: Serie A
Roma - Sassuolo
17
Mar
ITALY: Serie A
Verona - AC Milan
17
Mar
ITALY: Serie A
Juventus - Genoa
17
Mar
GERMANY: Bundesliga
SC Freiburg - Bayer Leverkusen
17
Mar
USA: Major League Soccer
Atlanta United - Orlando City
17
Mar
ENGLAND: Premier League
West Ham United - Aston Villa
17
Mar
SPAIN: La Liga
Rayo Vallecano - Real Betis
17
Mar
ENGLAND: Championship
Leeds - Millwall
17
Mar
SPAIN: La Liga
Las Palmas - Almeria
17
Mar
SPAIN: La Liga
Villarreal - Valencia
17
Mar
SPAIN: La Liga
Sevilla - Celta Vigo
16
Mar
GERMANY: Bundesliga
Darmstadt - Bayern Munich
16
Mar
ENGLAND: FA Cup
Manchester City - Newcastle United
16
Mar
ENGLAND: Premier League
Fulham - Tottenham Hotspur
16
Mar
SPAIN: La Liga
Osasuna - Real Madrid
13
Mar
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: 1/8 Final
Atletico Madrid - Inter Milan
12
Mar
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: 1/8 Final
Barcelona - Napoli
12
Mar
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: 1/8 Final
Arsenal - Porto
11
Mar
ENGLAND: Premier League
Chelsea - Newcastle United
10
Mar
ENGLAND: Premier League
Liverpool - Manchester City
10
Mar
SPAIN: La Liga
Real Madrid - Celta Vigo
10
Mar
ENGLAND: Premier League
Aston Villa - Tottenham Hotspur
10
Mar
ITALY: Serie A
Juventus - Atalanta
10
Mar
ITALY: Serie A
Fiorentina - Roma
10
Mar
ITALY: Serie A
AC Milan - Empoli
09
Mar
GERMANY: Bundesliga
Werder Bremen - Borussia Dortmund
09
Mar
ENGLAND: Premier League
Arsenal - Brentford
09
Mar
ITALY: Serie A
Bologna - Inter Milan
Find us on Instagram
at @feedimo to stay up to date with the latest.
Featured Video You Might Like
zWJ3MxW_HWA L1eLanNeZKg i1XRgbyUtOo -g9Qziqbif8 0vmRhiLHE2U JFCZUoa6MYE UfN5PCF5EUo 2PV55f3-UAg W3y9zuI_F64 -7qCxIccihU pQ9gcOoH9R8 g5MRDEXRk4k
Copyright © 2020 Feedimo. All Rights Reserved.