Warner: Trump Threatening to Revoke More Security Clearances ‘Kind of Activity You See Out of a Banana Republic’

Tuesday on MSNBC’s “Andrea Mitchell Reports,” Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA) said President Donald Trump’s threats to revoke more security clearances were “the kind of activity you see out of a banana republic.”

When asked if Trump could revoke the clearances of members of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s team, Warner said, “That’s what I warned against when he first took on not only Brennan but remember what really concerned me was the fact that he enumerated eight or nine other folks. Some of them including current Justice Department officials who had no charge against them, that he might — they might be next on the list.”

He continued, “So the idea that this White House is going to have these withdrawals of security clearance forms already filled out and then to use them whenever they’re having a bad news day, to echo what Bob Corker said, that’s the kind of activity you see out of a banana republic. But I would not dismiss this White House’ willingness to do that.”

He added, “I increasingly feel with threats against Mueller. This goes back to a speech I gave last Christmas, where I called on my Republican colleagues and, for that matter, everyone who supports rule of law. This goes beyond Trump or not. This goes on to whether we’re going to be a nation of laws, whether we are going to allow our judicial processes to continue unabated without political interference. He appears to be willing to try to do anything to prevent the Mueller investigation from finishing.”

Follow Pam Key on Twitter @pamkeyNEN

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