US President Donald Trump has rescinded the security clearances of former Vice President Kamala Harris, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, several members of the Biden administration, and other prominent Democrats.
The move comes after Mr. Trump had already announced last month that he was revoking former President Joe Biden’s security clearance.
In a memo on Friday, the president said he was also rescinding the security clearances of the entire Biden family.
“I have determined that it is no longer in the national interest for the following individuals to access classified information,” Trump’s memorandum read.
The memo applies to “receipt of classified briefings, such as the President’s Daily Brief, and access to classified information held by any member of the Intelligence Community by virtue of the named individuals’ previous tenure in the Congress.”
Former Secretary of State Antony Blinken and former Republican lawmakers Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger were also on the list of those who lost their security clearances – as well as Fiona Hill, a former Russian affairs adviser in the first Trump administration.
The other names were: Jake Sullivan, Lisa Monaco, Mark Zaid, Norman Eisen, Letitia James, Alvin Bragg, Andrew Weissmann and Alexander Vindman.
Trump had earlier pulled security clearances of more than four dozen former intelligence officials whom he accused of meddling in the 2020 election in Biden’s favour without providing evidence.
In 2021, Biden – serving president at the time – barred his defeated rival Trump from having access to intelligence briefings citing his “erratic behaviour”.
Source: Linda Ikeji
