Huckabee says Trump looking to remove security clearances of Comey, Clapper, Hayden, Rice and McCabe!

ugh forgot to mention Brennan is included in the list too

How very Putinesque.

how is this democratic?

These people are all former officials, right? So former intelligence officials retain their security clearances?

Sure Boris R5

Do you follow the news at all, R5?

Almost all of those people are retired, they really dont need a security clearance. He is the one using power of the office to make a political statement.

His petty and dictatorial instincts have no bottom.

It's an empty petty threat anyway. It's not like they can reveal classified information anyway and it certainly won't shut them up in railing against this administration.

[quote]Good for President Trump, he's right about it. Good call on his part, none of those people can be trusted with national security information.

Then you better revoke his security clearance as well since he has given away more top secret info to the public then all of them combined.

This is only going to backfire, they are going to speak up more.

Will he revoke Jared Kushner for doing the same?

Trump is a piece of filth and he needs to be in prison, today.

this is all just a big prostate massage for his base. it's the type of shit that really makes them cream their jeans.

Condi too? LOL. Obviously Brennan is the real target here, since he has been calling them out on their shit lately.

R16 no, Susan Rice. She's the one the repubs and Fox have tried targeting for the fake unmasking scandal which was never a scandal

[quote] His petty and dictatorial instincts have no bottom.

Not even me?

These are all Putin style moves. Thats probably what they talked about.

The orange idiot is once again projecting. I wonder what secrets he told Putin during his annual performance review?

Trump is gonna be taken down by the intelligence community. There is no way they are still loyal to this rat.

Trump is just going after his political rivals--per every good fascist

R19 Bingo. How much you want to bet Trump commiserated with his buddy Vlad about the “fake witch hunt” during their meeting? And I’m sure Vlad had a few helpful suggestions for him.

Trump idolizes Putin. Thinks he’s a badass and wishes he could be him.

I keep hoping the tide is turning against Trump, only to be proven wrong. I think, though, that now it just might be. I always read the comments to articles in the Wall Street Journal, and, previously, most of them have been pro-trump,, even though the paper itself is not. Lately, however, the majority of the comments disapprove of him. That can be the result of one or two things: either Russian bots had been infiltrating the comments section and the Journal has gotten better at spotting and removing them, or the general population -- even the more conservative Journal readers -- are fed up with Trump. I can not wait until he is gone. I don't care how he leaves office, but I do hope it is with the most possible pain.

Hayden responds:

I dont go back for classified briefings. Won’t have any effect on what I say or write.

James Clapper on CNN: "I don't get the briefings. I don't have access to classified info ... Haven't had a case to use it and has no bearing whatsoever on my regard or lack thereof for President Trump or what he's doing ... I think this is just a very, very petty thing to do."

These people have such deep connections... they will always know things.

MSNBC points out that two of these people, McCabe and Comey, have already had their security clearances revoked.

Trump as usual has no clue what he’s doing.

R28 But it's such good soundbite for Fox News to disseminate to the deplorables. Dear Leader smites his enemies.

Sarah DID get her eye fixed to whoever it was in the other thread that said she didn't.

An analyst on CNN just made the excellent point that you want these people to maintain their security clearances so that, in a crisis, people at the CIA, FBI, etc. can quickly consult with them and, if warranted, provide them with sensitive material in order to tap into their expertise. Yet again, fucking Trump is acting out of pure spite against the best interests of the country.

Fixed or fixted, r30?

Nicolle Wallace just pointed out that these people are the institutional memory of the security agencies which are being run by incompetents.

r32 did I say that incorrectly?

R24 the WSJ subscribers - largely the financial and business owning classes in NYC and LA - may well be turning, but his base don't read the WSJ. His base 'read' InfoWars and YouTube videos about Q Anon and 'the Deep State' and Breitbart, and rest assured he's still their boy.

R31 is exactly right. I took a course in grad school taught by a former very high-ranked nat'l security official. He mentioned in class that he still had clearance to discuss important matters as needed when current people of the same or higher rank might want to consult.

He was extremely critical of the policies of the subsequent administration in power when I took his class, by the way. This is not new. People are free to express their views after they retire.

This is what I think Trump's game is.

He knows he has no power to remove these people's clearance. But saying he's 'looking' to do it serves his purpose - it signals to his base that he's trying to 'drain the swamp' and that he's a hardass and a daredevil and so on. Then, when he is stopped from doing this latest stunt, which he never expected to be able to do anyway, that works great for him too, because he then fumes about 'the deep state' and 'the swamp' colluding to stop him doing the job his base want him to do.

He's a cunning, conniving cunt and he knows exactly what the score is.

If anyone has monetised a security clearance, it’s Jared Kushner. Not to mention that he would be completely unable to get and retain one on his own merit.

Irony is truly dead in this White House.

Maybe I'm dumb but why do former government officials keep their security clearance? If I leave a job, I lose any security clearance or access I had.

Andrea Mitchell is happy to answer that for you, R39:

"Context for security clearances: All former CIA (and NSA / FBI / DNI) Directors hold a security clearance since they might need to be consulted on important matters and so they can review their former files"

r39 have you read this thread? it clearly explains why

God, these trumptards are so fucking stupid. McCabe lost his upon termination from the FBI and one of the others dropped theirs voluntarily. You'd think they could check it out before they start shrieking. Oh, right - sorry, it's more trumptard insanity for no apparent reason. Sad!

What Donald wants, Donald gets.

Often true, R43, and then there's the flip side - everything Donald doesn't want, Donald also gets.

There is no telling what a petty, puny man will do next.

Actually, the person to blame here is Rand Paul. It was his idea in the first place, and the White House announced it right after Trump met with him.

They just want a distraction from all the bad news. Remember, Paul Manafort goes on trial in a week.

You keep mentioning security clearances. I so well remember, from my own experience, that security clearances were used primarily, if not almost exclusively, against gay people, mostly men. What is the current status of security clearances for gays? I suspect it's still a lot harder for gays then straights. So don't go crowing about security clearances when it's a rough ordeal for a gay person.

VOTE the Republicans out of office, ALL OF THEM. It is not just Trump, It is the republicans/Fascist party

R47, welcome to 2018. Gays get security clearances, they've been getting them easily for more than 20 years. The bad old days are not completely gone but we aren't in the 80's anymore, dear.

r49, exactly what do they ask you? Do they ignore sexuality completely?

Being gay, engaging in homosexual activity, or being involved in a current or in past same-sex relationship(s) no longer prevent one from qualifying for a security clearance as they once did. However, divulging (or being discovered to have) a history or ongoing pattern of anonymous sexual hook-ups or otherwise habitually engaging in sexual behaviour and/or relationships with people you know nothing about can contibute to one being considered untrustworthy — for straight people as well as LGBT individuals. Also, having explicit sexual videos and/or photos of yourself available online won’t help you, given the potential for embarrassing your employer. (Again, this applies equally to gays & straights.)

Amazingly enough, one seemingly innocuous behaviour that prevents many people from getting security clearances is a history of illegally downloading and sharing copyright-protected materials online — music, videos, etc. Not only is it illegal, but it also indicates a flagrant disregard for the legalities surrounding the handling of data that suggests that one may be cavalier about sharing classified information as well.

Thanks, r38.

Any eldergays on here remember when there were rumors Ron Paul was being funded by Russia?

The closet and homophobia were the primary reasons that MEN who were found to be gay were denied or had trouble getting security clearance in the old days of gay persecution. They were seen as targets for blackmail and thus deemed high risk.

Ironic that the person whom nowadays many see as the biggest blackmail risk is sitting at the Oval Office.

[quote]He's a cunning, conniving cunt and he knows exactly what the score is.

Agree with the first part of your sentence but I think he has no clue what the score is. Half the time his decisions stem from delusional narcissism and the other half from lazy, unresearched and unprepared ignorance.

Lindsey needs to find a good woman like Huckabee. He says he never found his lady. Couldn't colleagues such as Mitch, Shummer, Rand Paul, Susan Collins, and Gillibrand, fix Lindsey up?

The "tough broad" act Fuckabee puts on every day in those press briefings makes me want to puke. The expressions on her face scream "I'm a fraud so I have to make it look like I'm a hard ass". And the way she stretches her fucking mouth to the side when she talks is revolting. I learned long ago to never trust a side talker.

Russian billionaire Artem Klyushin seems to have suggested this to Trump via Twitter, but it could have been tweeted after the Rand Paul meeting. I don't know how accurate the time stamp is.

SSH cannot even look at anyone in the eyes when she’s regurgitating Trump’s outrageous lies and policies.

Trump gets all his instructions from Russia.

The idiot did not realizes that Comey or McCabe do not have a security clearance. Sarah Sanders should just drop dead...I despise her.

Republicans have turned their party into the Nazi party...they should just change the Elephant into a Swastika.

The ones who should lose their security clearances for cause are Trump & Kushner, as both of them have shared classified information to the detriment of of the US and its security. They both have protected and advanced their own personal and financial interests above the security of the American pepple, and they will continue to do as long as they possibly can.

Those who enable them are just as culpable and traitorous as Trump, Kushner, et al. are. All of them ultimately should be exposed and held accountable.

Trump is fucking incompetent and dangerous. Which is why he shouldn't be in the white house. He's threatening Iran in all caps. And he wants to revoke Intel specialist security clearances.

Why the fuck is he still in office? Why doesn't congress get him out of power?

With Trumps behavior he could cause another Sept/11 type incident to happen to the US. An attack on the white house, congress. The Pentagon, or even other federal government agencies. Or even Trump Tower in NYC.

I wouldn't feel safe living that high up if I was Trump after leaving off. He's pissed way to many people off. TT is like a huge target just sitting in the middle of Manhattan sticking out like a sore thumb.

Trump really isn't a smart man. I really hope there's people behind the scenes working to keep everything in order. Because under Trump everything seems to be falling apart.

GET OUT AND VOTE IN NOVEMBER FOLKS!!!!!! THE COUNTRY LITERALLY DEPENDS ON IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Rand Paul has lunch with the Russian Ambassador, then meets with Trump to talk about revoking security clearances.

Kentucky's Senators are the most disgraceful of any state.

Daddy Ron had ties to Russia also.....gotta keep it in the family.

All in the family....

bump

I agree that Trump is a petty bitch and all of this is just smoke & mirrors, but I can't wait for the day that he regrets provoking the FBI and other national security agencies, because you know they are going to fuck over Trump and his entire family for the foreseeable future

Forseeable future? For the rest of their lives they will have unimaginably bad luck.

[quote] The ones who should lose their security clearances for cause are Trump & Kushner

Unfortunately U.S. presidents don’t need or even have security clearances. They are by the nature of their office the fount of classification of intelligence. If the president chooses to declassify something, whether the be US submarine locations or the existence of extraterrestrials, it is his prerogative to do so. In the case of Trump specifically it is extremely unfortunate and concerning that he could actually use this power to reveal information to a hostile foreign power. By doing so he could arguably be failing to uphold his oath of office. Congress under Republican control will, however, not hold him to account even if he did something that grievous.

And that is why, r70, it is probably true that many, many sensitive truths are being kept at least one or two degrees removed from the moron. Not just for national security reasons, but for future of the planet and global peace kind of reasons

I hope you’re correct, R71.