Two can play at this game. On Friday, President Trump revoked the security clearances for a slate of former high-ranking officials—nearly all of them Democrats—signaling a further erosion of long-standing norms that once governed the post-presidential stewardship of classified information, including Kamala Harris and Hillary Clinton.
Ostensibly justified on national security grounds, the memo states that continued access to classified information by these individuals no longer requires security clearance.
I have determined that it is no longer in the national interest for the following individuals to access classified information: Antony Blinken, Jacob Sullivan, Lisa Monaco, Mark Zaid, Norman Eisen, Letitia James, Alvin Bragg, Andrew Weissmann, Hillary Clinton, Elizabeth Cheney, Kamala Harris, Adam Kinzinger, Fiona Hill, Alexander Vindman, Joseph R. Biden Jr., and any other member of Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s family. Therefore, I hereby direct every executive department and agency head to take all additional action as necessary and consistent with existing law to revoke any active security clearances held by the aforementioned individuals and to immediately rescind their access to classified information. I also direct all executive department and agency heads to revoke unescorted access to secure United States Government facilities from these individuals.
This action includes, but is not limited to, receipt of classified briefings, such as the President’s Daily Brief, and access to classified information held by any member of the Intelligence Community by virtue of the named individuals’ previous tenure in the Congress.
In the event that any of the named individuals received a security clearance by virtue of their employment with a private entity, the United States Government entity that granted the security clearance should inform the private entity that these individuals’ ability to access classified information has been revoked.
This memorandum is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.
In 2021, Joe Biden stripped Trump of his national security clearance and then pursued federal charges over the then-former president keeping classified information illegally. Biden, who did the same thing after his vice presidency, did not receive charges.
After Trump won in November, Biden’s handpicked prosecutor, Jack Smith, was forced to “unwind” his charges against the president.
“The American people have re-elected President Trump with an overwhelming mandate to Make America Great Again. It is now abundantly clear that Americans want an immediate end to the weaponization of our justice system, so we can, as President Trump said in his historic speech last night, unify our country and work together for the betterment of our nation,” Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung said after Election Day.
