Donald Trump loves to revoke the security clearances of his political enemies- not necessarily because they did anything wrong, but simply because they went against him. In some cases, he’s announced those revocations multiple times for the same people- and other times, he’s revoked them from people who never had them in the first place.
According to the New York Post, Trump announced that he was revoking several people’s security clearances, including those of all three of his former election opponents, Kamala Harris, Hillary Clinton, Joseph Biden, and Biden’s entire family.
“I have determined that it is no longer in the national interest for the following individuals to access classified information,” Trump said in his memo announcing the move. He also included Biden Administration personnel Antony Blinken, Jake Sullivan, and Lisa Monaco, as well as several prosecutors who went after him.
There are a couple of problems with this: Not all of those people even have security clearances. People who have been president and vice president do not have “security clearances.” Also, none of former President Biden’s family members ever had any reason to have a security clearance.
A source close to the Biden family with knowledge of the matter tells me *no one* in the family has a security clearance to revoke in the first place, noting that presidents and former presidents don’t have “security clearances,” they’re just the president so it’s not an issue https://t.co/sI1h9MDMen
— Roger Sollenberger (@SollenbergerRC) March 22, 2025
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Also, in the cases of several people named in the memo, Trump has already announced multiple times that he was pulling their clearances.
“This is like the third time already I’ve lost my security clearance? How many times does it take?” lawyer Mark S. Zaid said. Norm Eisen wrote the same thing.
This is like the third time already I’ve lost my security clearance? How many times does it take?
Is this like a Beatlejeuse thing where something magical will now happen? https://t.co/YaBFoBoWnS
— Mark S. Zaid (@MarkSZaidEsq) March 22, 2025
Meanwhile, former Rep. Adam Kinzinger stated that he did not have a security clearance to revoke in the first place and had not since he retired from military service. This is also the case for most of the lawyers involved; there is no reason for Alvin Bragg, the district attorney of Manhattan, to have ever had a security clearance.
I’m not a weak-kneed billionaire or a massive spineless law firm, so I don’t care what noises @realDonaldTrump makes about a security clearance that hasn’t been active for five years. What’s the point of having throw-away money if you can be easily bullied by an empty suit?
— Alexander S. Vindman 🇺🇸 (@AVindman) March 22, 2025
Photo courtesy of the Political Tribune media library.
