Tulsi Gabbard, the director of US national intelligence, announced on Tuesday that the Trump administration has revoked the security clearances of 37 current and former national security officials.
In a memo posted to X, Gabbard accused the individuals of “politicizing and manipulating intelligence, leaking classified intelligence without authorization, and/or committing intentional egregious violations of tradecraft standards”.
Gabbard said that the action was taken at the direction of Donald Trump.
“Being entrusted with a security clearance is a privilege, not a right,” Gabbard wrote in the memo. “Those in the Intelligence Community who betray their oath to the Constitution and put their own interests ahead of the interests of the American people have broken the sacred trust they promised to uphold.”
The memo did not cite specific evidence of wrongdoing but included a list of the 37 individuals whose clearances were revoked.
The list includes some officials who were involved in the 2017 intelligence assessment of Russia’s efforts to influence the 2016 election, according to CNN, citing a source familiar with the matter. It also reportedly includes former members of Joe Biden’s national security council.
Some of the others on the list also signed a 2019 letter signaling their concerns about Trump. The letter was posted on social media last month by rightwing activist Laura Loomer.
“As national security professionals, many of us have long been concerned with President Trump’s actions and their implications for our safety and security,” the beginning of the 2019 letter reads.
Mark Zaid, a national security attorney whose own clearance was previously revoked by the Trump administration, called Gabbard’s announcement on Tuesday “pure politicization of security clearance process”.
“These are unlawful decisions that deviate from decades of precedent,” Zaid said. “Completely unprofessional that individuals are targeted in way that impacts their careers, yet they are not notified before leaking memo to friendly media.”
Zaid also said in another post that one person on the list “was supposed to already have his clearance revoked by Executive Order issued on Inauguration Day”, adding: “Guess someone goofed. Shocking.”
Gabbard’s announcement on Tuesday is the latest action taken by the Trump administration targeting national security officials and critics of the president.
In July, Gabbard accused Barack Obama and his national security team of committing “treasonous conspiracy”, alleging they led an effort to undermine Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign and manufactured intelligence about Russian interference in the election.
Later that month, the justice department announced the formation of a “strike force” to assess the evidence around Gabbard’s claims, and to “investigate potential next legal steps which might stem from DNI Gabbard’s disclosures”.
Susan Miller, a former CIA official who helped lead intelligence assessments on alleged Russian interference in the 2016 election, told the Guardian in late July that Gabbard’s allegations were based on false statements and misrepresentations.
Democrats and other critics of the administration have accused the Trump administration of reviving the Russia investigation narrative in an effort to deflect attention from the scandal around the disgraced financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The administration has faced growing bipartisan pressure to release records related to the Epstein case.
Trump also revoked the security clearances of former president Biden, Kamala Harris, former secretary of state Antony Blinken, and several other critics, including Liz Cheney, Adam Kinzinger, and New York attorney general Letitia James in March.
