Former NSA and CIA Director Michael Hayden said that the White House’s decision to revoke the security clearance of former CIA Director John Brennan and its warning that others could also be revoked was an effort to coerce former U.S. officials from changing their rhetoric toward President Trump.
“The way that Sarah Huckabee Sanders rolled this out was almost in a tone to be threatening to the rest of us,” Hayden told CNN’s Jake Tapper. “In other words, it looks to me like an attempt to make us change the things we are saying when we’re asked questions on CNN or other networks.”
“And frankly, for those of use who appear routinely on air, it’s not going to have that effect,” he added.
The comments come after White House press secretary Sarah Sanders announced that Trump has revoked Brennan’s security clearance, saying his “erratic behavior” should prevent him from having access to sensitive information.
[Opinion: Trump is wrong to suspend John Brennan’s clearance]
Sanders also disclosed that the White House was weighing revoking the security clearances of others as well, including Hayden, FBI Director James Comey, former national security adviser Susan Rice, former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, and others.
“If our standard for having a clearance is avoiding erratic behavior, we’ve got a lot of other folks we need to look at,” Hayden said.
Tapper pressed Hayden on whether he was suggesting Trump displays erratic behavior.
“Absolutely,” Hayden said.
