Trump deprives Biden, Blinken and Sullivan of access to US classified information
US President Donald Trump has revoked the security clearances of former Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and former National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan. The day before, he revoked Joe Biden's security clearance.
This is reported by Reuters, Censor.NET informs.
This decision was a continuation of Trump's policy of restricting access to classified information for those whom he considers his political opponents.
Traditionally, former U.S. presidents retain access to briefings, in part to inform and advise their successors.
Why were Blinken and Sullivan denied access to classified data?
According to the New York Post, Trump explained that his decision was aimed at punishing those who, in his opinion, used government resources for political interference.
In particular, the measures against Anthony Blinken are related to the distribution of the "Dirty 51" letter prepared by former intelligence officials before the 2020 US presidential election, which falsely claimed that the contents of compromising documents on Biden's son Hunter's laptop were "Russian disinformation."
Instead, Sullivan, who was not only Biden's former national security adviser but also Hillary Clinton's top foreign policy adviser during her unsuccessful 2016 presidential bid, is known to have helped fuel the fake Trump-Russia collusion.
Revocation of Bragg and James' access
In addition, Trump revoked the security clearance of former US Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco, who helped coordinate the US Department of Justice's response to the storming of the Capitol by Trump supporters on January 6, 2021.
According to a White House official, the US president also revoked the security clearances of New York State Attorney General Letitia James and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who were leading cases against Trump.
Revocation of access for Biden
Earlier, Trump revoked Joe Biden's security clearance to classified information and intelligence briefings, explaining that the Democrat has a "bad memory" and cannot be trusted with confidential information.
The Republican justified this step by saying that Joe Biden had also denied him access to certain national security information after taking office in 2021. At the time, Biden explained it as Trump's "erratic behavior."
