Trump’s Revocations of Security Clearances: What to Know

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley testifies in Washington on May 3, 2022. Amanda Andrade-Rhoades/Pool/AFP via Getty Images

President Donald Trump recently revoked the security clearances of a number of former U.S. officials.

In one such executive order—which revoked the clearances of former national security adviser John Bolton and dozens of former intelligence officers—Trump said that “the faith of Americans in all other patriotic intelligence professionals who are sworn to protect the Nation has been imperiled” by the actions of those named.

In the Jan. 20 order, Trump addressed his reasons for the revocation, saying, “Federal policymakers must be able to rely on analysis conducted by the Intelligence Community and be confident that it is accurate, crafted with professionalism, and free from politically motivated engineering to affect political outcomes in the United States.”

The order also cites Bolton’s 2019 memoir as an example of the mistreatment of classified information by intelligence officials. According to the White House, the memoir is “rife with sensitive information drawn from [Bolton’s] time in government” and has “undermined the ability of future presidents to request and obtain candid advice on matters of national security from their staff.”

The Hunter Biden Letter

The former intelligence officers named in the order had signed a letter advocating that emails reported by The New York Post to be retrieved from Hunter Biden’s laptop were most likely Russian propaganda.

The letter in question was issued a few weeks before the 2020 presidential election. Its signatories said it was their belief that the laptop was planted in opposition to then-candidate Joe Biden’s presidential campaign.

According to the letter, the NY Post’s report about the emails found on the laptop, which Hunter Biden reportedly abandoned at a repair shop in Delaware, was false and “part of a Russian disinformation campaign.” The emails outlined Hunter Biden’s dealings with China and in Ukraine, but did not show direct evidence of Biden benefiting from the deals as vice president. Then-candidate Biden later cited the letter during a 2020 debate against Trump.

Signatories for the letter included Director of National Intelligence James Clapper Jr., former CIA Acting Director Michael J. Morell, former CIA Director John Brennan, and former Defense Secretary Leon Panetta. Two of the 51 signers of the letter have since died, the executive order noted.

The executive order stripping the security clearances claims that the signatories of the letter “willfully weaponized the gravitas of the Intelligence Community to manipulate the political process and undermine our democratic institutions,” calling their actions “an egregious breach of trust reminiscent of a third world country.”

Three years later, in 2023, after the letter was widely cited in legacy media reports and the election was decided in Joe Biden’s favor, the letter was discredited when Morell testified before Congress that then-Biden campaign adviser Antony Blinken “triggered” the organization of the letter in order to “help Vice President Biden in the debate” against Trump.

Other Actions

Days after Trump’s recent executive order, on Jan. 28, the Department of Defense (DOD) also revoked the security clearance of retired Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman Gen. Mark Milley. The former official served as the highest-ranking military officer in the nation during the first Trump administration.

Milley was informed by newly minted Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth that he was revoking the authorization for his security detail as well as suspending his security clearance. According to the DOD, the decision was made in light of an inquiry into Milley’s conduct while in office.

Milley, who served as the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff from October 2019 until September 2023 following a nomination by Trump to the position, faced criticism for telling a Chinese general that the United States wouldn’t attack China.

In addition to Milley’s security clearance, Trump has also revoked the Secret Service detail previously assigned to Bolton and others that were in place due to military-related work during previous administrations.

The Secret Service removal was criticized by some, including Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), who encouraged Trump to “revisit the decision.”

Trump has also removed Secret Service protection for former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Brian Hook, a former senior policy adviser to Pompeo. The president said that all the former officials made significant money during their time in the public service, and that he could recommend good security companies to the former officials for their protection.

“When you have protection, you can’t have it for the rest of your life,” he told reporters from the Oval Office.

Standing Security Clearances

The standard procedure for those formerly cleared to have access to privileged information is that, once the clearance is achieved, those clearances remain active while there is a demonstrated need for access to classified information.

In order to receive the clearance, an individual must be vetted, a process often including but not limited to identification verification, suitability or fitness determination, as well as a character or conduct check.

If an individual is able to retain his or her security clearance, he or she can stay up to date about ongoing threats and national security issues, and may be included in think tanks or transition teams, or even continue work on federal classified projects as independent contractors.

Former officials often retain their security clearances and continue to use them for consulting roles both for government work or other positions, and for private sector work in areas such as intelligence analysis or cyber security.

Trump stated that the individuals whose security clearances were revoked engaged in actions egregious enough to justify the decision, asserting that the move was necessary to “remedy these abuses of the public trust.”

Zachary Stieber and The Associated Press contributed to this report.