Gorka says all officials targeted by Trump should lose security clearances

Former White House adviser Sebastian Gorka said on Thursday that all officials targeted by President Trump should lose their security clearances.

Gorka’s comments come a day after the White House said it was reviewing access to classified information for various former officials, all of whom have been publicly critical of the president at one point.

“If it’s up to me, they all get stripped,” Gorka told Hill.TV’s Krystal Ball and Ned Ryun on “Rising.”

“This is about being partisan, being biased, and having access to information that you could use to attack the sitting president,” he added.

Trump revoked former CIA Director John Brennan’s security clearance on Wednesday, accusing Brennan of using his status as a former official to make “unfounded and outrageous” about the administration.

Brennan wrote in a New York Times op-ed on Thursday that the move was politically motivated, and that Trump took his security clearance away because “he is desperate to protect himself and those close to him.”

The White House also announced that it was reviewing access to classified information for other officials, including former FBI Director James Comey, former National Security Agency Director Michael Hayden, and former National Security Adviser Susan Rice.

Critics of the move, including Republican and Democratic lawmakers, argued that former intelligence officials should be allowed to keep their security clearances because they can provide useful information to current leaders and officials.

— Julia Manchester