Trump plans to remove clearances from intelligence officials

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Republican lawmakers are rallying behind President-elect Donald Trump’s initiative to revoke security clearances from 51 former intelligence officials who dismissed Hunter Biden’s laptop as Russian disinformation.

President Trump will FIRE every official or agent at the FBI, CIA, DHS, CDC, etc, that forced big tech to censor the truth about the 2020 election & Covid

He'll also strip security clearances of the 51 intel officials who labeled Hunter Biden's laptop as Russian disinformation. pic.twitter.com/jQza1DF7L1

— George (@BehizyTweets) November 7, 2024

Speaking two days after Trump’s electoral victory, Vice President-elect J.D. Vance stated, “A lot of those people still have security clearances. We will strip every single one of those people of those security clearances, fire every single person. You cannot lie, take your position of public trust, and lie to the American people for political purposes. It’s disgraceful. And people have to suffer consequences for it.”

Supporting this stance, Representative Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) shared his thoughts with The Washington Times, saying “we should scrub all the legacy clearances to see whether the people need to have them and for what purpose, and unless they’re working for a company in a role that makes sense, they should be taken away.” He emphasized that “Most on that list [of 51], I would include in that scrubbing.”

Senator Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) also weighed in, briefly stating that “It should be an option.”

🚨House Republicans are threatening to revoke the Security Clearances of the 51 Intelligence Officials that lied about the Hunter Laptop on the eve of the 2020 election.

In April 2023, Trump said he believes the 51 Former Intelligence Officials who signed the letter committed… pic.twitter.com/rSxfFqv8fL

— Western Lensman (@WesternLensman) November 15, 2024

The group of officials whose clearances are under scrutiny includes prominent figures such as former CIA Director Michael V. Hayden, former Director of National Intelligence James R. Clapper, former CIA Director and Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta, former CIA Director John O. Brennan, and former U.S. National Intelligence Council Deputy Director Thomas Fingar, among others.