National security adviser John Bolton on Sunday defended President Trump’s decision to revoke former CIA Director John Brennan’s security clearance, saying he and other former Obama administration officials have politicized intelligence.
“It was my view at the time that he and others in the Obama administration were politicizing intelligence. I think that’s a very dangerous thing to do,” Bolton told ABC’s “This Week.”
Bolton was unable to cite specific examples of Brennan, who has been a strong critic of the Trump administration, using classified information for political purposes.
“There is a line and somebody can cross it,” he said. “In terms of what he said, since he left, I think a number of people have commented that he couldn’t be in the position he’s in of criticizing President Trump and his so-called collusion with Russia unless he did use classified information. But I don’t know the specifics.”
White House press secretary Sarah Sanders announced on Wednesday that Trump had revoked Brennan’s security clearance over his “erratic behavior.” Trump had been considering pulling the clearance for weeks after being lobbied by Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., to revoke it.
Afterwards, Brennan wrote in the New York Times that Trump’s claim there was no collusion with Russia during the campaign was “hogwash.”
The White House says it is reviewing the the security clearances of other top former officials who have been critical of Trump, including former FBI Director James Comey, former Deputy FBI Director Andrew McCabe, former CIA Director Michael Hayden, former national security adviser Susan Rice, and former director of national intelligence James Clapper.
[Related: Former intelligence officials slam Trump for using security clearance as a ‘political tool’]
