Tulsi Gabbard pulls security clearances for top Biden officials and those who went after Trump
National Intelligence Director Tulsi Gabbard said Monday she has stripped security clearances from dozens of former national security officials, the Manhattan district attorney who secured a felony conviction against Donald Trump and a lawyer who represented a government whistleblower who triggered the first impeachment case against Trump.
National Intelligence Director Tulsi Gabbard said Monday she has stripped security clearances from dozens of former national security officials, the Manhattan district attorney who secured a felony conviction against Donald Trump and a lawyer who represented a government whistleblower who triggered the first impeachment case against Trump.
The decision is the latest example of the Trump administration’s unprecedented use of security clearances to go after perceived political opponents.
Gabbard’s move, announced on X, followed up on an executive order Trump issued shortly after his inauguration to a second term as president in January, which called for security clearances to be revoked for 49 former national security officials. The ex-officials signed a letter more than four years ago suggesting Russia might have played a role in amplifying allegations about Biden’s son Hunter as part of a wider effort to influence the outcome of the 2020 election.
In his executive order, Trump accused the letter’s signers of “misleading and inappropriate political coordination” with Joe Biden’s 2020 presidential campaign.
Trump’s order also called on the director of national intelligence to review the security clearances of others in and outside government who engaged in “inappropriate activity” related to the letter. The former senior officials have repeatedly denied Trump’s claim.
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