The lawyer for fired FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe seems a little upset that President Donald Trump revoked ex-CIA director John Brennan‘s security clearance for committing the crime of exercising his First Amendment rights.
There it is, Michael Bromwich‘s reaction:
“This has zero to do with national security,” Bromwich said. “This is an Official enemies list.”
Brennan recently made waves when he criticized Trump’s Helsinki summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“Donald Trump’s press conference performance in Helsinki rises to & exceeds the threshold of ‘high crimes & misdemeanors.’ It was nothing short of treasonous. Not only were Trump’s comments imbecilic, he is wholly in the pocket of Putin. Republican Patriots: Where are you???” he said.
On Tuesday, Brennan called Trump “dangerous” for America and repeated this on MSNBC.
Of course, the “enemies list” Bromwich is referring to are other security clearances President Trump is reportedly evaluating. According to White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, these names include: James Clapper, James Comey, Michael Hayden, Sally Yates, Susan Rice, Andrew McCabe, Lisa Page, Peter Strzok and Bruce Ohr.
Bromwich’s response is not surprising as his client was mentioned among these names.
After Attorney General Jeff Sessions fired McCabe in March, the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) released a report saying McCabe “lacked candor” or lied about several instances regarding his involvement in authorizing a leak of information about an investigation of the Clinton Foundation.
This resulted in a criminal referral.
McCabe’s “lack of candor” was a subject discussed by his former boss, James Comey (who is also an apparent target of Trump’s security clearance wrath.)
Comey said “I like [McCabe] very much as a person but sometimes even good people do things they shouldn’t do.”
“It’s not acceptable in the FBI or the Justice Department for people to lack candor, he added.
Update: the date on Trump’s statement about Brennan’s security clearance is July 26, indicating that Brennan’s Helsinki comments were behind the move. Trump and Putin took the world stage on July 16.
[Image via Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images]
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