President Trump has revoked safety clearances and entry to categorized info from a slew of his political opponents, together with New York Legal professional Common Letitia James and Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg.
“I have determined that it is no longer in the national interest for the following individuals to access classified information,” Trump introduced in a presidential memo issued late Friday night time earlier than immediately naming 15 of his most vocal critics, in addition to the whole Biden household.
The checklist notably consists of all three Democrats who ran in opposition to him within the 2016 and 2024 elections: Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. It additionally names former U.S. representatives Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger — two high-profile, anti-Trump Republicans — together with the 2 high regulation enforcement officers in New York, each of whom took the president to courtroom and received.
Legal professional Common James has introduced a number of lawsuits in opposition to Trump and his companies. In February 2024, a choose dominated in favor of her workplace in a civil fraud case in opposition to Trump, his sons and the Trump Group, ordering them to pay greater than $450 million she mentioned they illegally obtained.
When celebrating the “tremendous victory” for New York and the nation, James criticized the then-former president’s “fraudulent” and unjust methods to counterpoint himself and his household.
“While he may have authored the ‘Art of the Deal,’ our case revealed that his business was based on the art of the steal,” James mentioned on the time.
Three months later, a jury in Manhattan discovered Trump responsible of falsifying enterprise data in a hush-money scheme to hide damaging info in the course of the 2016 presidential election.
“Trump went to illegal lengths to lie repeatedly in order to protect himself and his campaign,” Bragg mentioned when asserting the all-count trial conviction, including his workplace has a “solemn responsibility to ensure equal justice under the law regardless of the background, wealth or power of the accused.”
On Friday, Trump appeared to remind James, Bragg and several other of his opponents that he could, certainly, use energy in opposition to his perceived adversaries — even when symbolically.
Within the memo, the president instructed the heads of federal businesses to “take all necessary actions, consistent with existing law,” to instantly revoke safety clearances and entry to categorized info from these people.
Together with stopping them from receiving categorized briefings and acquiring info from members of the intelligence group, the motion additionally revokes their “unescorted access to secure United States Government facilities.”
Whereas it’s unclear what kind of safety clearance these people had, the revocation is basically being perceived as symbolic.
“It’s another petty, performative move designed to punish his perceived enemies, regardless of reality,” Kinzinger mentioned Saturday, calling out the president’s “latest stunt.”
“Reports are circulating that he’s decided to revoke my security clearance. The only problem? I don’t have one.”
Initially Printed: March 22, 2025 at 4:19 PM EDT
