Multiple GOP lawmakers led by House speaker Paul Ryan have asked Obama administration officials and introduced legislation to revoke Hillary Clinton’s security clearance.
The onslaught marks a broad effort to keep the former secretary of state’s negligent handling of classified information in front of the president’s top brass in the intelligence and diplomatic communities.
“There is no legal requirement for you to provide Secretary Clinton with classified information, and it would send the wrong signal to all those charged with safeguarding our nation’s secrets if you choose to provide her access to this information despite the FBI’s findings,” Ryan wrote to Director of National Intelligence James Clapper on Wednesday. “I firmly believe this is necessary to reassure the public that our nation’s secrets are secure.”
Separately, a group of Republican senators wrote to Secretary of State John Kerry with the same request Thursday, and asked that it be extended to individuals in Clinton’s inner circle, including Huma Abedin and Jake Sullivan.
“[Clinton’s] actions were grossly negligent, damaged national security and put lives at risk,” the letter reads. “Failure to impose any sanctions for these clear violations of State Department procedure undermines the integrity of the State Department’s system for handling classified information and sends the wrong message to the Department’s employees.”
10 senators signed the letter in all, including Tom Cotton and Marco Rubio. Two of its other signees, Senators John Cornyn and Cory Gardner, introduced legislation Thursday that would enact the letter’s requests.
“At the very least, Secretary Clinton should not have access to classified information and our bill makes sure of it,” Gardner, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said in a statement.
The political uproar comes amid Thursday morning testimony before the House from FBI Director James Comey, who announced the findings of the Bureau’s investigation of Clinton’s email practices and care of classified information this week. While not recommending an indictment—a recommendation on which the Justice Department followed through Wednesday—Comey directly contradicted many of Clinton’s previous assertions about her behavior, characterizing her as “extremely careless”.
