Trump rescinds security clearances of political rivals Harris, Clinton and others

President Donald Trump rescinds security clearances of political rivals Kamala Harris, Hillary Clinton and others. Getty Images via CNN Newsource

U.S. President Donald Trump, in a late-night Friday memo, directed federal agencies to revoke security clearances for more than a dozen of his perceived political enemies, including former U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

“I have determined that it is no longer in the national interest for the following individuals to access classified information” Trump said in the memo. “I hereby direct every executive department and agency head to take all additional action as necessary and consistent with existing law to revoke any active security clearances held by the aforementioned individuals and to immediately rescind their access to classified information.”

The memo applies to classified briefings and any access the individuals might have had to classified information based on previous tenure in Congress.

The move marks the latest instance of Trump pulling security clearances from political rivals, after the president in February said he was “immediately” revoking former President Joe Biden’s security clearance and stopping his daily intelligence briefing. He has also used similar rescissions to crackdown on top law firms.

Friday’s memo formalized the revocation of Biden’s security clearance, along with several others who the Trump administration has previously said it removed clearances from, and went on to block the former president’s family’s access to classified information – assuming they had any.

In addition to his Democratic rivals in the 2016 and 2024 election, Trump also revoked clearances from the two Republicans on the House committee that investigated his role in the January 6, 2021, insurrection, former Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney and former Illinois Rep. Adam Kinzinger.

Earlier this month Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard said that in accordance with a directive from Trump, she had revoked the security clearances of a number of the people named in Friday’s memo, including top Biden officials, former Secretary of State Antony Blinken and former National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, as well as two of the attorneys who brought legal cases against Trump: New York Attorney General Letitia James and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.

In another late-night memo on Friday, Trump revisited past grudges against lawyers who have opposed him and vowed to punish lawyers and law firms by rescinding security clearances and canceling federal contracts they hold.

He directed Attorney General Pam Bondi to review the conduct of lawyers and law firms the administration considers to have filed frivolous lawsuits against the Trump administration or attempted to block immigration initiatives, broadening the president’s crackdown on the US legal community in the United States.

Article written by Katherine Dautrich and Kit Maher, CNN

CNN’s Clay Voytek and Evan Perez contributed to this report.