Former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper said Friday he doesn’t know if he still has a security clearance or not.
“Well, I guess I don’t know. I haven’t heard anything,” Clapper told CNN on Friday. “Last I read in the media is the White House was trying to come up with reasons to revoke the eligibility of others on his [Trump’s] list.”
CNN’s @JohnBerman: “Do you still have your security clearance?”
Fmr. DNI James Clapper: “I guess. I don’t know. I haven’t heard anything. Last I read in the media is the White House was trying to come up with reasons to revoke the eligibility of others on (Trump’s) list.” pic.twitter.com/5CLwkYYOTO
— New Day (@NewDay) August 31, 2018
The Trump administration revoked former CIA Director John Brennan’s security clearance the month, and said Trump is considering revoking security clearances for a half-dozen former U.S. officials.
“As the head of the executive branch and the commander in chief, I have a unique constitutional responsibility to protect the nation’s classified information, including by controlling access to it,” Sanders said in a statement from the president Aug. 15.
Usually former heads of intelligence and law enforcement agencies are able to keep their security clearances after they are finishing serving in government. Sanders says that Brennan’s case was different and the tradition should not apply due to his “erratic behavior.”
Clapper is still unsure if he has a security clearance still or if his will be taken away.
[More: John Brennan ‘uncertain’ whether Trump has taken away his security clearance yet]
