Brennan: Revoking My Clearance to ‘Suppress’ Criticism – Behavior of ‘Tyrants an Despots’

On Wednesday’s broadcast of MSNBC’s “Deadline: White House,” former CIA Director John Brennan reacted to the revocation of his security clearance by stating he believes the action is intended to “intimidate and suppress” criticism of the Trump administration and that “I’ve seen this type of behavior and actions on the part of foreign tyrants and despots…I never, ever thought that I would see it here in the United States.”

Brennan said, “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. And revoking my security clearances is his way of trying to get back at me. But I think I have tried to voice the concerns of millions of Americans about Mr. Trump’s failures, in terms of fulfilling the responsibilities of that sacred and solemn office of the presidency, and this is not going to deter me at all. I’m going to continue to speak out.”

He continued, “I am very worried about the message that it appears that Mr. Trump is trying to send to others, including those that currently hold security clearances within the government. … Is this an effort to try to cow individuals both inside and outside of the government to make sure that they don’t say anything, either that is critical of Mr. Trump or with which he disagrees? And I’ve seen this type of behavior and actions on the part of foreign tyrants and despots and autocrats for many, many years during my CIA and national security career. I never, ever thought that I would see it here in the United States.”

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