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President Donald Trump on Friday yanked security clearances from a round of top Democrats, including former Vice President Kamala Harris, Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden’s family members.
Also among the 15 people named were former Republican Wyoming Republican Rep. Liz Cheney, former Secretary of State Antony Blinken, and Fiona Hill, a Russian expert formerly on the National Security Council who testified against Trump in his first impeachment hearing.
Clearance was also pulled from retired Army Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Vindman, who also testified against Trump.
“I have determined that it is no longer in the national interest for the … individuals to access classified information,” Trump said in a statement.
“I hereby direct every executive department and agency head to take all additional action as necessary … to revoke any active security clearances held by the aforementioned individuals and to immediately rescind their access to classified information,” the president added in the memo issued after he arrived at his golf resort in Bedminster, New Jersey.
“I also direct all executive department and agency heads to revoke unescorted access to secure United States Government facilities from these individuals,” he stated.
Some of the clearances had previously been revoked, NBC News reported. Clinton, for example, asked for her clearance to be revoked in 2018, two years after she lost the presidential election to Trump. It wasn’t clear why Trump named her and others again.
The move followed concerns raised in the media about the unprecedented talks with Pentagon leaders by DOGE head Elon Musk. It’s unclear if Musk has ever been vetted for such access.
The New York Times reported Thursday that a briefing of Musk had been arranged at the Pentagon on top-secret plans in the event of a war with China. Musk has extensive business ties to China.
The meeting was reportedly called off after the article appeared, and Trump denied such a meeting had been planned. It wasn’t clear if Trump was aware of the Pentagon meeting, the newspaper noted.
Trump told reporters that he wouldn’t “show” such plans to a “businessman who has been helping us so much.”
Musk later threatened people in the Pentagon who had leaked the information.
The tech billionaire said in a post on X that he looked “forward to the prosecution of those at the Pentagon who are leaking maliciously false information to NYT.”
He warned: “They will be found.”
The threat appears to have emboldened some leakers, Politico reported.
Trump revoked former President Joe Biden’s security clearance last month.
