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Bin Laden Raid Commander Challenges Trump to Revoke Security Clearance


FILE - Navy Adm. William McRaven, commander, U.S. Special Operations Command, testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, March 5, 2013. McRaven has written an open letter to President Donald Trump, challenging Trump to revoke his security clearance, saying it would be an "honor."
FILE - Navy Adm. William McRaven, commander, U.S. Special Operations Command, testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, March 5, 2013. McRaven has written an open letter to President Donald Trump, challenging Trump to revoke his security clearance, saying it would be an "honor."

The former U.S. Navy admiral who led the operation to kill terrorist leader Osama bin Laden is challenging President Donald Trump to revoke his security clearance.

In an open letter to Trump in The Washington Post, retired Admiral William McRaven wrote he would consider it an “honor.”

“Through your actions, you have embarrassed us in the eyes of our children, humiliated us on the world stage and, worst of all, divided us as a nation,” McRaven wrote.

The retired admiral was reacting to Trump stripping former CIA Director John Brennan of his security clearance Wednesday. McRaven called Brennan “one of the finest public servants I have ever known.”

CIA Director John Brennan responds to a question as he speaks at the Global Security Forum 2015, at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington, Nov. 16, 2015.
CIA Director John Brennan responds to a question as he speaks at the Global Security Forum 2015, at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington, Nov. 16, 2015.

Trump contradicts explanation

Trump contradicted the official White House explanation of why he took the action against Brennan.

He told The Wall Street Journal he believes Brennan is one of those responsible for special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe into possible collusion between his campaign and Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election and whether Trump obstructed justice by trying to derail the investigation.

Trump repeated his belief the probe is a “rigged witch hunt ... a sham ... and these people led it,” referring to Brennan and nine other past and current government security officials whose clearances he is considering revoking.

“So, I think it’s something that had to be done,” Trump said of taking away Brennan’s clearance.

The president said he does not trust “many of those people on that list” and does not think they are “good people.”

White House press secretary Sarah Sanders calls on a member of the media during the daily press briefing at the White House, Aug. 15, 2018.
White House press secretary Sarah Sanders calls on a member of the media during the daily press briefing at the White House, Aug. 15, 2018.

A day earlier, White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders denied that Brennan and others are being singled out because they are critics of Trump.

In Tuesday's press briefing she only cited what she called Brennan’s “erratic conduct and behavior” that “has tested and far exceeded the limits of any professional courtesy that may have been due to him.” She also questioned Brennan’s “objectivity and credibility.”

Brennan responds

Brennan said he believes Trump stripped his security clearance for political reasons and wants to “silence others who might dare to challenge him.”

He wrote in Thursday’s The New York Times that Trump “clearly has become more desperate to protect himself and those close to him.

He called Trump’s assertion there was no collusion between his campaign and Russia “hogwash.”

“The only questions that remain are whether the collusion that took place constituted criminally liable conspiracy, whether obstruction of justice occurred to cover up any collusion or conspiracy, and how many members of ‘Trump Incorporated’ attempted to defraud the government by laundering and concealing the movement of money into their pockets,” Brennan wrote.

FILE - From left, FBI Director James Comey, Director of the National Intelligence James Clapper, CIA Director John Brennan, participate in a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing, Feb. 9, 2016, on Capitol Hill in Washington.
FILE - From left, FBI Director James Comey, Director of the National Intelligence James Clapper, CIA Director John Brennan, participate in a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing, Feb. 9, 2016, on Capitol Hill in Washington.

The White House said Wednesday security clearances are under review for former U.S. National Intelligence director James Clapper, former FBI director James Comey, former Obama administration National Security Adviser Susan Rice, former National Security Agency director Michael Hayden and former Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates.

Brennan has been a familiar face on television news shows where he has made scathing attacks on the president. He called Trump’s performance at a joint news conference with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Helsinki “treasonous.”

Brennan on Twitter described Trump’s action Wednesday as part of a broader effort “to suppress freedom of speech and punish critics,” adding that it “should gravely worry all Americans, including intelligence professionals, about the cost of speaking out.”

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