Brennan fires back at Trump: ‘I will not relent’

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Former CIA Director John Brennan on Wednesday blasted President Trump’s decision to revoke his security clearance as an “abuse of power” intended to punish him for his vocal criticism of the president.

“I do believe that Mr. Trump decided to take this action, as he’s done with others, to try to intimidate and suppress any criticism of him or his administration,” Brennan said during an interview on MSNBC.

Brennan said Trump’s decision will not stop him from speaking out.

“If Mr. Trump believes this going to lead me to just go away and be quiet, he is very badly mistaken,” said Brennan, who led the nation’s top spy agency under former President Obama.

He first responded on Twitter, rebutting Sanders’s claim by describing Trump’s decision as a “politically motivated” effort by the president to crack down on his detractors and insisting he would “not relent” in his criticism of the president. – READ MORE

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President Trump has revoked the security clearance for former CIA Director John Brennan, the White House announced Wednesday, in the first decision to come from a review of access for several top Obama-era intelligence and law enforcement officials.

White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders read a statement on behalf of the president during the start of the press briefing, saying Brennan “has a history that calls his credibility into question.”

The statement also claimed Brennan had been “leveraging” the clearance to make “wild outbursts” and claims against the Trump administration in the media.

“The president has a constitutional responsibility to protect classified information and who has access to it, and that’s what he’s doing is fulfilling that responsibility in this action,” Sanders said Wednesday.

In response, Brennan tweeted hours later: “This action is part of a broader effort by Mr. Trump to suppress freedom of speech & punish critics. It should gravely worry all American’s, including intelligence professioanls, about the cost of speaking out. My principles are worth far more than clearances. I will not relent.” – READ MORE
[contentcards url=”http://thehill.com/policy/national-security/402031-brennan-fires-back-at-trump-i-will-not-relent” target=”_blank”]

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