The original content of Democracy Now! Headlines appears under the Creative Commons BY-NC-ND 3.0 License (United States). For more, including their other shows and media, visit www.democracynow.org. July 24, 2018 Trump Threatens to Strip Security Clearances from Six Former National Security Officials ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- President Trump has threatened to strip a half dozen former national security officials of their security clearances, as he continues to lash out at former officials who have criticized his refusal to confront Russia over its alleged meddling in the 2016 U.S. election. This is White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders. Sarah Huckabee Sanders: "Not only is the President looking to take away Brennan's security clearance, he's also looking into the clearances of Comey, Clapper, Hayden, Rice and Mc Cabe." Neither former FBI director James Comey nor former FBI deputy director Andrew Mc Cabe still have security clearances. CNN reports that stripping the officials of their clearance would constitute an unprecedented use of presidential authority to punish political rivals. High-ranking military and national security officials often retain their security clearances even after they leave their jobs, which helps them gain employment in the private sector. .