President Donald Trump has ordered that some former and current federal and state officials lose their security clearance and access to federal buildings, the New York Post reported Saturday.
Former Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, New York Attorney General Letitia James and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg are three of the eight officials who are expected to be affected, according to the outlet. The revocations come just a day after Trump revoked the security clearance of his predecessor, former President Joe Biden, and ended Biden’s daily intelligence briefings, citing reciprocity and cognitive decline.
Blinken spearheaded the Oct. 20, 2020 missive signed by 51 former intelligence officials that implied that the news story of a laptop belonging to former President Joe Biden’s son Hunter that revealed Hunter’s exploitation of his father’s position — with his father’s probable knowledge — for Hunter’s gain was Russian disinformation, former CIA Deputy Director Michael Morrell told lawmakers. (RELATED: Department Of Justice Acknowledges Hunter Biden Laptop Content Is Legitimate For First Time)
“Bad guy. Take away his passes,” Trump said concerning Blinken, the Post reported. “This is to take away every right they have [revoking security clearances] including they can’t go into [federal] buildings.”
Bragg indicted, prosecuted and announced the conviction of Trump in 2024 for falsifying business records to conceal “hush money” payments and “corrupt the 2016 election.” James filed and won a civil lawsuit against Trump, alleging that he inflated his net worth to get better loan deals. She also is the lead plaintiff in a lawsuit filed Friday alleging that the Trump administration allowed the Department of Government Efficiency executive Elon Musk to unauthorized access to sensitive information belonging to Americans. She also secured a temporary restraining order Jan. 31 against the administration to halt its federal funding freeze.
Trump’s decision against Bragg and James is largely symbolic but could hobble their work in federal offices and facilities, according to the Post.
The new orders will also affect Biden’s former National Security Advisor and former Hillary Clinton campaign aide Jake Sullivan, who helped hype an ultimately debunked allegation that Trump had ties to a Russian bank, according to the outlet. Biden’s Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco, who reportedly coordinated the Department of Justice’s prosecution of the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol riot, will also be reportedly affected.
Other affected officials as reported by the Post are Andrew Weissman, the lead prosecutor in Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation of Trump’s alleged collusion with Russia to influence the 2016 election; Mark Zaid, the lawyer who represented Eric Ciaramella, the CIA whistleblower in Trump’s impeachment in 2019 who accused Trump of withholding military aid to Ukraine unless Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky investigated Trump’s rival, Biden; and Norm Eisen, special counsel to the Democrat-led House Judiciary Committee during the impeachment.
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