President Donald Trump revoked the security clearances of the former intelligence officials who attempted to discredit the authenticity of the Hunter Biden laptop ahead of the 2020 election, as part of a slew of executive orders signed Monday evening.
The 51 former intelligence community officials claimed in an October 2020 letter that a New York Post report about Hunter Biden’s laptop and its contents, had “all the classic earmarks of a Russian information operation.” The New York Post story was dismissed by then-candidate Joe Biden and had its reach limited by various social media platforms, relying on the letter. The authenticity of the laptop was later confirmed by numerous media outlets, including the Washington Examiner.
As one of his many executive orders signed Monday evening, Trump revoked the security clearances of the letter’s signatories and former Trump national security adviser John Bolton.
The president said federal government policymakers rely on members of the intelligence community to provide analysis that is “free from politically motivated engineering to affect political outcomes in the United States” and argued that the people who signed the letter undermined that.
“The signatories willfully weaponized the gravitas of the Intelligence Community to manipulate the political process and undermine our democratic institutions,” Trump said in the executive order. “This fabrication of the imprimatur of the Intelligence Community to suppress information essential to the American people during a Presidential election is an egregious breach of trust reminiscent of a third world country.
“And now the faith of Americans in all other patriotic intelligence professionals who are sworn to protect the Nation has been imperiled,” the order continued.
Trump also said he was revoking Bolton’s clearance because the former adviser published a memoir that “was rife with sensitive information drawn from his time in government.”
“The memoir’s reckless treatment of sensitive information undermined the ability of future presidents to request and obtain candid advice on matters of national security from their staff,” Trump said. “Publication also created a grave risk that classified material was publicly exposed.”
Trump revoked any current security clearances the officials may have, though most no longer hold security clearances, and made it a policy that people with security clearances may not “use their clearance status to influence U.S. elections” or have classified information “disclosed in memoirs, especially those published for personal monetary gain.”
The president was widely expected to revoke the security clearances of the letter’s signatories shortly after returning to power Monday. Attorney Mark Zaid, who represents eight of the 51 signatories, told the Washington Examiner before Trump took office that such action would defy precedent.
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“It would be contrary to decades of national security norms to suspend the security clearances of individuals who did nothing other than, as private citizens, exercise their protected First Amendment rights,” Zaid said. “Such an action would be unprecedented and undeserved, especially given many of the signatories spent their entire careers serving apolitically to protect the American people.”
Trump’s Monday executive orders and actions ranged from border security to reversing former President Joe Biden’s various executive orders to clemency for people convicted of crimes related to the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021. The president will meet with congressional GOP leaders on Tuesday as he continues to push forward his agenda.
Ashley Oliver contributed to this report.
