U.S. President Donald Trump has revoked the security clearances of former Democratic rivals Kamala Harris and Hillary Clinton. Several officials from Joe Biden’s administration and members of the former president’s family have also lost access to classified information.
The memorandum, released on Friday, follows Trump’s announcement in February that he is “immediately” rescinding Biden’s access to classified data and stopping the former president’s daily intelligence briefings.
The move will revoke the security clearances of more than a dozen individuals, including former Secretary of State Antony Blinken, former National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, and former Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco. Also included are former Republican lawmakers Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger, who were part of the House committee investigating Trump’s alleged role in the January 6 Capitol riot.
Trump said in the memorandum that he has “determined that it is no longer in the national interest for the following individuals to access classified information.”
The president has told the heads of government agencies to take all necessary actions “to revoke any active security clearances held by the aforementioned individuals and to immediately rescind their access to classified information.”
This means that, among other things, Biden, Harris, Clinton and the others will not be able to obtain classified briefings – such as the President’s Daily Brief – or access classified information held by any member of the US intelligence community, the document explained.
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They will also be barred from “unescorted access” to secure US government facilities, it added.
When announcing his decision to revoke Biden’s security clearance last month, Trump referenced the 2024 report by Special Counsel Robert Hur, saying it had revealed that the former president suffers from “poor memory” and, even in his “prime,” could not be trusted with sensitive information.
Biden, 82, had withdrawn from the presidential race last year due to concerns over his fitness for office. However, he recently told top Democrats that he is ready to help the party regain lost ground. According to NBC News, Biden has offered to raise funds, campaign, and support Democratic candidates. He reportedly discussed this with new Democratic National Committee Chairman Ken Martin.
Meanwhile, Trump has also declared certain presidential pardons issued during Biden’s term “VOID, VACANT, AND OF NO FURTHER FORCE OR EFFECT.” He said that these pardons were signed using an autopen without Biden’s direct approval. Trump specifically targeted members of the House Select Committee that investigated the January 6 riot, calling them the “Unselect Committee of Political Thugs.”
