President Donald Trump on Saturday revoked security clearances for Antony Blinken, the former secretary of state, and Jake Sullivan, the former national security adviser.
White House officials said Trump also revoked security clearances for former Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco, New York Attorney General Letitia James, and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.
Monaco helped coordinate the Department of Justice’s response to the Jan. 6, 2021, breach of the U.S. Capitol, White House officials said. Both James and Bragg led legal cases against Trump.
The move was made a day after Trump revoked the security clearance of his predecessor, former President Joe Biden, citing Biden’s decision to revoke his clearance upon entering office, as well as the report by special counsel Robert Hur, who investigated the alleged mishandling of classified information by Biden and issued a report in 2024.
As a result, Biden will no longer have access to daily intelligence briefings.
Former presidents have traditionally been afforded courtesy access to classified information at the highest level, as well as daily intelligence briefings, which enables them to remain apprised of national security issues and provide the incumbent president with advice as requested.
Few former presidents have requested such briefings, though the late President George H.W. Bush—a former director of Central Intelligence during the Gerald R. Ford administration—was known to do so.
When Biden entered office, he decided to revoke Trump’s access to intelligence briefings, citing the events of Jan. 6, 2021, when Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol and disrupted the certification of the Electoral College vote. Trump was later impeached by the House of Representatives and acquitted by the Senate.
