Trump administration revokes security clearances of 37 current and
former government officials
[August 20, 2025]
By ERIC TUCKER, AAMER MADHANI and MATTHEW LEE
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration said Tuesday that it was
revoking the security clearances of 37 current and former national
security officials in the latest act of retribution targeting public
servants from the federal government's intelligence community.
A memo from Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard accuses the
singled-out individuals of having engaged in the “politicization or
weaponization of intelligence” to advance personal or partisan goals,
failing to safeguard classified information, failing to “adhere to
professional analytic tradecraft standards" and other unspecified
“detrimental" conduct.
The memo did not offer evidence to back up the accusations.
Many of the officials who were targeted left the government years ago
after serving in both senior national security positions and
lower-profile roles far from the public eye. Some worked on matters that
have long infuriated Trump, like the intelligence community assessment
that Russia interfered in the 2016 presidential election on his behalf.
And several signaled their concerns about Trump by signing a critical
letter in 2019 that was highlighted on social media last month by
right-wing provocateur and close Trump ally Laura Loomer.
The action is part of a broader Trump administration campaign to wield
the levers of government against perceived adversaries, and reflects the
president's continued distrust of career intelligence officials he has
long seen as working against his interests. The revocation of clearances
has emerged as a go-to tactic for the administration, a strategy critics
say risks chilling dissenting voices from an intelligence community
accustomed to drawing on a range of viewpoints before formulating an
assessment.
“These are unlawful and unconstitutional decisions that deviate from
well-settled, decades-old laws and policies that sought to protect
against just this type of action,” Mark Zaid, a national security lawyer
whose own clearance was revoked by the Trump administration, said in a
statement.
He called it hypocritical for the administration to “claim these
individuals politicized or weaponized intelligence.”
Gabbard on Tuesday sought to defend the move, which she said had been
directed by Trump.
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“Being entrusted with a security clearance is a privilege, not a
right," she wrote on X. "Those in the Intelligence Community who
betray their oath to the Constitution and put their own interests
ahead of the American people have broken the sacred trust they
promised to uphold.”
The security clearance suspension comes amid a broader effort by
Gabbard and other Trump administration officials to revisit the
intelligence community assessment published in 2017 on Russian
election interference, including by declassifying a series of
years-old documents meant to cast doubt on the legitimacy of its
findings.
Multiple government investigations have reached the same conclusion
that Russia interfered in the 2016 election in sweeping fashion,
including through a hack-and-leak operation of Democratic emails and
a social media campaign aimed at sowing discord and swaying public
opinion.
But Trump has long resisted the assessment that Russian President
Vladimir Putin interfered in his favor, and his Justice Department
has authorized a grand jury investigation that could bring fresh
scrutiny to Obama-era officials.
Security clearances are important not only for current government
workers but also former ones whose private-sector jobs require them
to retain access to sensitive information. Stripping clearances from
such employees could make it hard for them to do their jobs, though
it's unclear how many of the former officials still have or require
one.
On his first day of office, Trump said he would revoke the security
clearances of the more than four dozen former intelligence officials
who signed a 2020 letter saying that the Hunter Biden laptop saga
bore the hallmarks of a “Russian information operation.”
He's also revoked the clearances of former President Joe Biden and
former Vice President Kamala Harris, and he attempted to do the same
for lawyers at a spate of prominent law firms but was rebuffed by
federal judges.
Some of those who were targeted in the latest action were part of
Biden's national security team. Many only learned of the Gabbard
action from news reports Tuesday, said two former government
officials who were on the list. Both spoke on the condition of
anonymity as they ponder whether to take legal action.
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