More than a dozen of Donald Trump's political foes, including former President Biden, have had their US security clearances yanked by the current president. "I have determined that it is no longer in the national interest for the following individuals to access classified information," Trump wrote in a memo dated Saturday, per the BBC. The commander in chief noted that his order "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."
Besides Biden, Trump rescinded security clearances for the two Democratic candidates he beat in presidential elections, Hillary Clinton and Kamala Harris; former Secretary of State Antony Blinken; ex-national security adviser Jake Sullivan; New York Attorney General Letitia James, who has prosecuted Trump for fraud; and "any other member of Joseph R. Biden Jr.'s family," per the memo. Trump also threw a couple of GOPers on the pile, including former Reps. Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger, both vocal Trump critics.
Politico, which notes that former presidents are often briefed on certain issues and allowed to view sensitive materials as a "courtesy" only, calls the move a "tit-for-tat" one, as then-President Biden had in 2021 banned Trump, fresh off his first term, from viewing classified info due to his "erratic" behavior. Earlier this week, Trump had announced he was pulling Secret Service protections for Biden's children, Hunter Biden and Ashley Biden. He'd already stripped intelligence community officials of their security clearances as soon as he took office. (More security clearance stories.)
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