WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump made good Friday (March 21) on a threat to revoke the security clearances of his predecessor Joe Biden and several senior former White House and national security officials.
The list of names stripped of their authorization to see state secrets included Biden, his family members, and former vice-president and Trump presidential rival Kamala Harris.
Former secretary of state and defeated presidential candidate Hillary Clinton was on the list, along with Biden's secretary of state Antony Blinken and national security advisor Jacob Sullivan.
In a memorandum to agency heads and distributed by the White House communications office, Trump said the named officials should no longer be allowed access to classified material.
"I hereby direct every executive department and agency head... to revoke any active security clearances held by the aforementioned individuals," Trump said.
"I also direct all executive department and agency heads to revoke unescorted access to secure United States Government facilities from these individuals."
Former US presidents and national security officials traditionally retain a security clearance as a courtesy, and some find it useful in seeking employment with private contractors.
But Trump, who continues to falsely claim that Biden schemed to steal the 2020 election, which he lost, has remained furious with his predecessor and lashes out frequently.
Trump was himself investigated for breaching security rules during the period between his first and second term in office, by storing classified White House documents in his Mar-a-Lago resort.
The investigation was wound up after Trump returned to office.
Many of the individuals on Trump's list were high-profile political appointees of his Democratic predecessor, but former Republican lawmaker and vocal Trump critic Liz Cheney is also named.
Fiona Hill, a British-born intelligence analyst who served under both Democrat and Republican administrations, including as an advisor in Trump's White House, is targeted.
She is joined by former colleague Alexander Vindman, a Kyiv-born retired senior officer in the US Army who fell foul of Trump after expressing concerns about White House contacts with Russia. - AFP
