Rescinding Security Clearances and Access to Classified Information from Specified Individuals

Memorandums

TLDR

This executive action revokes security clearances from a list of political opponents, critics, and legal adversaries of the Trump administration, including former officials Biden, Harris, Blinken, Sullivan, prosecutors, and Biden family members. This represents an unprecedented use of presidential authority that appears politically motivated rather than based on security concerns, breaking with norms of clearance management and raising concerns about the use of presidential power for personal purposes.

This executive action directs the revocation of security clearances from a specific list of individuals, including former Secretary of State Antony Blinken, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, former Vice President Kamala Harris, former President Joe Biden and his family members, and several other prominent officials and critics of the Trump administration.

This order represents an extraordinarily abnormal use of presidential authority in several ways:

  1. It targets specific named individuals rather than establishing objective criteria for clearance revocation
  2. The list predominantly consists of political opponents, critics, and prosecutors who have been involved in legal cases against Trump
  3. It includes former high-ranking officials who traditionally maintain clearances to ensure continuity of government and national security expertise

The inclusion of former President Biden and “any other member of Joseph R. Biden Jr.'s family” is particularly unusual, as it applies a blanket revocation to family members regardless of their individual security status or roles.

This directive raises several concerning issues:

  • The order appears to use security clearances as a political tool rather than based on legitimate security concerns
  • It establishes a dangerous precedent of using presidential authority to target specific individuals without due process or evidence of security violations
  • Revoking clearances from experienced national security professionals could impede the government’s ability to consult with subject matter experts during crises

While presidents have broad authority over the classification system, this mass revocation targeting specific political opponents is without modern precedent. Previous administrations have occasionally revoked individual clearances, but typically based on specific security concerns rather than creating lists of named political opponents.

The directive’s inclusion of prosecutors who have brought cases against Trump (James, Bragg, Weissmann) and critics/witnesses from his first impeachment (Vindman, Hill) suggests retribution rather than legitimate national security concerns.

This order represents a significant departure from norms regarding the non-partisan handling of security clearances and raises serious concerns about the use of presidential power for personal or political purposes.

I have determined that it is no longer in the national interest for the following individuals to access classified information: Antony Blinken, Jacob Sullivan, Lisa Monaco, Mark Zaid, Norman Eisen, Letitia James, Alvin Bragg, Andrew Weissmann, Hillary Clinton, Elizabeth Cheney, Kamala Harris, Adam Kinzinger, Fiona Hill, Alexander Vindman, Joseph R. Biden Jr., and any other member of Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s family. 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.