President Donald Trump has revoked even more security clearances, and this time it's a particularly big deal. On Friday night, POLITICO reported on a memo that was shared to the White House website on Saturday, with that report mentioning former President Joe Biden, former Vice President Kamala Harris, and Hillary Clinton, though the memo mentions plenty of other names.
"I have determined that it is no longer in the national interest for the following individuals to access classified information," Trump's memo begins, as he goes on to list the names.
Besides Biden, Harris, and Clinton, the list includes former Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who, while working on the 2020 campaign for Biden, was instrumental in claiming the Hunter Biden laptop story was Russian propaganda; Jake Sullivan, who served as the National Security Advisor under Biden; Lisa Monaco, who served as the Deputy Attorney General under Biden; attorney Mark Zaid; attorney and CNN legal analyst Norman Eisen; New York State Attorney General Letitia James, who has relentlessly gone after Trump with civil lawsuits; Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg, who is soft on most crimes in the city, but was also relentless in his case against Trump; attorney Andrew Weissmann, former Republican Rep. Liz Cheney, who lost her role as House Republican Conference chairwoman and her 2022 primary because she was so obsessed with opposing Trump, and who also served on the January 6 select committee and campaigned for Harris; former Republican Rep. Adam Kinzinger, who was also on that select committee; foreign affairs advisor Fiona Hill; and Alexander Vindman, who was involved in the first impeachment against Trump during his first term. The memo also doesn't just address the former president, but his family as well, as it mentions "...any other member of Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s family."
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As the memo goes on to read:
...Therefore, I hereby direct every executive department and agency head to take all additional action as necessary and consistent with existing law to revoke any active security clearances held by the aforementioned individuals and to immediately rescind their access to classified information. I also direct all executive department and agency heads to revoke unescorted access to secure United States Government facilities from these individuals.
This action includes, but is not limited to, receipt of classified briefings, such as the President’s Daily Brief, and access to classified information held by any member of the Intelligence Community by virtue of the named individuals’ previous tenure in the Congress.
In the event that any of the named individuals received a security clearance by virtue of their employment with a private entity, the United States Government entity that granted the security clearance should inform the private entity that these individuals’ ability to access classified information has been revoked.
This memorandum is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.
POLITICO lamented that Trump is supposedly going after his "perceived enemies" and "political foes." The subheadline for the POLITICO piece also claimed that "Trump’s memo is his latest attempt to exact revenge on his rivals." A similar theme is seen with other reports from other outlets.
Other than a brief mention on James in how she "prosecuted Trump for fraud," there's no mention of how those on the list actually took such big steps to go after Trump. The relentless targeting of Trump took place as he looked to be Biden's chief political rival, with Biden insisting until less than four months before the 2024 election that he was still running in a Trump-Biden rematch.
Bragg not only indicted Trump in an unprecedented move, the first of several cases against the 45th/47th president, in spring 2023, he brought 34 charges as felonies when he could have brought them as misdemeanors, did so using an untested legal theory, and after the statue of limitations had expired. The case was even resurrected despite how the Department of Justice (DOJ), Federal Election Commission (FEC), and Bragg's predecessor, as well as Bragg himself, formerly declined to prosecute.
While all of the other cases fizzled, especially with Trump being elected president once more, Bragg's office relentlessly refused to drop the case against him. Judge Juan Merchan, who was plagued by conflicts of interests and problematic jury instructions, sentenced the president to unconditional discharge. While he won't face jail time or any other punishment, he's still got the conviction.
Biden himself expressed frustrated with his attorney general, Merrick Garland, over how long it was taking to bring all these cases against Trump. Although it was Bragg's office bringing the charges against Trump, someone from the Biden-Harris administration did play a major role. Matthew Colangelo, who previously worked for the Biden-Harris DOJ as the third top prosecutor at the department, came into Bragg's office and worked on prosecuting Trump.
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