Overnight, twelve former national security officials have signed a letter in support of John Brennan. The officials, both Democrat and Republican, blasted Donald Trump for revoking the former CIA director’s security clearances. From Politico:
- “That move from the White House “has nothing to do with who should and should not hold security clearances — and everything to do with an attempt to stifle free speech,” the dozen ex-intelligence officials wrote in their joint letter.
- “You don’t have to agree with what John Brennan says (and, again, not all of us do) to agree with his right to say it, subject to his obligation to protect classified information.”
Former US intelligence officials who signed joint statement denouncing @POTUS revocation of @JohnBrennan security clearance. pic.twitter.com/EWRmujyrxT
— Mark Knoller (@markknoller) August 17, 2018
“As individuals who have cherished and helped preserve the right of Americans to free speech…that signal is inappropriate and deeply regrettable.”
Got to wonder how having an enemy of the CIA and FBI is going to work out https://t.co/yLTflE4aM6
— Shannon Pettypiece (@spettypi) August 17, 2018
Meanwhile, Bloomberg is reporting that far from trying to silence Brennan, Trump is actually trying to elevate him into the role of a foil.
- “He wants to make Brennan the face of the so-called resistance. This is the Trump playbook. Why do you think he keeps tweeting about Maxine Waters? He is a man who approaches politics like professional wrestling, happy to play the villain if it energizes his base. And for Trump, Brennan is a perfect adversary.
- “…a fight with Brennan is at this moment a great way to change the subject from the trial of his former campaign manager Paul Manafort, and the slow-motion revelations of his former aide Omarosa Manigault Newman, who says there is a recording of him using a racial slur.”
- “This also plays into Trump’s broader strategy. It’s no secret that the president is now campaigning against what his supporters deride as a “deep state,” a permanent national security bureaucracy that he believes undermines his presidency. The term is often used in reference to police states like Egypt or Pakistan.”
*Update: Robert Gates, who served as Defense Secretary under George W. Bush and Barack Obama has also signed the letter.