WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump told the the New York Post he ordered the revocation of security clearances for a slate of officials and lawyers who have sparred with him and his administration.
The announcement came the day after canceling former President Joe Biden’s access to classified information. The action echoed Biden’s revocation of Trump’s security clearance after the end of his first term.
At least one of the people targeted −national-security lawyer Mark Zaid − said he would fight the revocation. Another target − lawyer and think-tank founder Norm Eisen − vowed to keep challenging the Trump administration in court. Several others whose security clearances were threatened didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.
“By existing law, I am entitled to lawful due process, to include being informed why after 25 years of access to classified information I am suddenly untrustworthy, and I fully expect to be afforded the opportunity,” Zaid told USA TODAY in a statement.
The latest move targets several officials, including former Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who the House Judiciary Committee blamed for organizing a letter from 51 former intelligence officials disparaging the Post’s reporting about Hunter Biden’s laptop.
The letter said information from the laptop had “all the classic earmarks of a Russian information operation.” But evidence from the laptop was later used in gun and tax cases against Hunter Biden.
“Bad guy. Take away his passes,” Trump told the Post about Blinken in the exclusive interview.
According to the Post, Trump also targeted two New York officials who battled him in court: state Attorney General Letitia James and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg. James won a $454 million judgment against Trump for real estate fraud. She is suing Trump’s administration over executive orders including the temporary freeze of federal grants. Bragg prosecuted Trump for 34 felonies for falsifying business records to hide a payment to a porn actress before the 2016 election. Trump has appealed the conviction.
A spokesperson for James’ office questioned what impact the action would have on her because the attorney general doesn’t have a security clearance.
“What security clearance?” the spokesperson told USA TODAY. “Anyway, this is just another attempt to distract from the real work the attorney general is doing to defend the rights of New Yorkers and all Americans.”
Also in line are lawyers who tangled with Trump, the Post reported. Zaid is a lawyer who represented the whistleblower in the investigation that led to Trump’s first impeachment over his dealings with Ukraine.
“I’m honored by President Trump bestowing upon me a Red Badge of Courage, but if he and his partisan minions think this will deter me from holding them accountable to the rule of law, they are sadly mistaken,” Zaid said. “This highly politicized action reflects far worse upon the Trump Administration than it does me.”
Eisen, who served as a special counsel to the House Judiciary Committee for Trump’s first impeachment, said he would keep battling the Trump administration in court.
“I take it as a backhanded compliment in response to our court wins against his administration this week,” Eisen told USA TODAY. “And I intend to return it in the best way I know how: by filing many more lawsuits against his and his cronies’ wrongdoing.”
Eisen is a co-founder of the State Democracy Defenders Fund, which is suing the administration over the creation of the Department of Government Efficiency by arguing federal law prohibits delegating decision-making authority to private citizens without public access. In other State Democracy Defenders Fund lawsuits, one federal judge limited DOGE access to Treasury data and another judge temporarily blocked the public release of the names of FBI agents who investigated the Capitol attack on Jan. 6, 2021.
Andrew Weissmann was the lead prosecutor in special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 election.
Others Trump targeted include Jake Sullivan, who was Biden’s national security adviser, and former Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco, the Post reported.