US national intelligence director revokes security clearances of key figures

US National Intelligence Director Tulsi Gabbard has announced that she had revoked the security clearances of several prominent individuals.

Among those individuals are former national security officials, the Manhattan district attorney who secured a felony conviction against Donald Trump, and a lawyer representing a government whistleblower involved in Trump’s first impeachment case, Caliber.Az reports per foreign media. 

This move marks a continuation of the Trump administration's unprecedented use of security clearances to target political opponents. Gabbard’s decision aligns with an executive order issued by Trump after his second inauguration, which called for the revocation of security clearances for 49 former national security officials. 

These officials had signed a letter suggesting that Russia may have amplified allegations about Hunter Biden during the 2020 election. Trump’s executive order accused the letter’s signatories of “misleading and inappropriate political coordination” with Biden’s campaign and directed the Director of National Intelligence to review the clearances of others involved in “inappropriate activity” related to the letter. However, the former officials have denied these allegations.

Among those affected by Gabbard’s decision are Antony Blinken, Secretary of State under Biden; Jake Sullivan, Biden’s National Security Adviser; and Lisa Monaco, who oversaw the prosecution of Trump supporters in the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot. Gabbard also revoked the security clearances of New York Attorney General Letitia James and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who secured convictions related to Trump’s financial dealings and hush-money schemes. 

Mark Zaid, a lawyer known for representing whistleblowers in the intelligence community, also lost his clearance. Zaid, who represented a whistleblower in the 2019 impeachment inquiry against Trump, criticised the move, calling it “petty retaliation.” He warned that such actions could push whistleblowers toward riskier avenues of exposing wrongdoing.

By Naila Huseynova