The president has officially revoked a major right from his predecessor, claiming he 'can't be trusted'.
Donald Trump signed off on a memo on Friday (March 21) to rescind the security clearances of more than a dozen people for the sake of the 'national interest'.
On the list of all those removed from attending daily intelligence briefings include former President Joe Biden and his entire family, former Vice President Kamala Harris, Hillary Clinton and a handful of attorneys and anti-Trump politicians.
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All ex-presidents and some former senior government officials are invited to classified intelligence briefings as a courtesy, which historically has allowed for participation between former and sitting presidents on how to handle certain situations.
However, in the memo, Trump wrote: "I have determined that it is no longer in the national interest for the following individuals to access classified information."
Trump's decision comes as he claims Biden had done the same to him when he was in office in 2021, which was the first time an ex-president was blocked from the briefings.
He wrote on his Truth Social platform in February that Biden 'set this precedent' when 'he instructed the Intelligence Community (IC) to stop the 45th President of the United States (ME!) from accessing details on National Security, a courtesy provided to former Presidents'.
At the time, Biden had said Trump's 'erratic behavior' was behind his decision to remove him, adding: "What value is giving him an intelligence briefing? What impact does he have at all, other than the fact he might slip and say something?"
Trump also claimed Biden 'could not be trusted with sensitive information' while citing an inquiry into the storage of classified files which outlined the 82-year-old had 'poor memory'.
But as well as snubbing Biden and his entire family, the memo also bans former Biden administration officials, Antony Blinken, Jake Sullivan and Lisa Monaco, legal personnel, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg and New York Attorney General Letitia James, and some anti-Trump Republicans, Adam Kinzinger and Liz Cheney, have been barred.
Also on the list are people who served as witnesses in Trump's impeachment, including Alexander Vindman, Fiona Hill and Mark Zaid, as well as lead prosecutor in Robert Mueller's Trump investigation, Andrew Weissmann, and Norman Eisen, who was special counsel to the Democrat-led House Judiciary Committee during the impeachment.
Trump wrote: "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."
He also ordered executive department and agency bosses to 'revoke' their 'unescorted access' to government facilities.
Trump's memo continues that people named on the list will no longer be able to attend 'classified briefings, such as the President’s Daily Brief, and access to classified information held by any member of the Intelligence Community'.
"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," he added.
Topics: Politics, Donald Trump, Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, US News
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