As Twitchy told you yesterday, GOP Sen. Rand Paul suggested that John Brennan has been “monetizing his security clearance”:
Is John Brennan monetizing his security clearance? Is John Brennan making millions of dollars divulging secrets to the mainstream media with his attacks on @realDonaldTrump ?
— Senator Rand Paul (@RandPaul) July 23, 2018
Paul also said he would recommend to Donald Trump that Brennan’s security clearance be revoked:
Today I will meet with the President and I will ask him to revoke John Brennan’s security clearance!
— Senator Rand Paul (@RandPaul) July 23, 2018
And later, at yesterday’s press briefing, Sarah Sanders said that the White House was “exploring the mechanisms” to revoke not just Brennan’s security clearance, but the clearance of five other officials:
.@PressSec Sarah Sanders: "The president is exploring the mechanisms to remove security clearance because they've politicized and, in some cases, monetized their public service and security clearances."
Full video here: https://t.co/TxViqdxoQj pic.twitter.com/Daz5a2fXyn
— CSPAN (@cspan) July 24, 2018
.@PressSec: "Not only is the president looking to take away Brennan's security clearance, he's also looking into the clearances of Comey, Clapper, Hayden, Rice and McCabe." https://t.co/VZTO5mEmTU pic.twitter.com/phZ46F7j4X
— FOX Business (@FoxBusiness) July 24, 2018
NBC News intelligence and natsec reporter Ken Dilanian, for one, found that very troubling, and he shared his concern with this Twitter followers:
Security clearances are a valuable commodity. By making this threat, @realDonaldTrump is seeking to levy a financial penalty on @JohnBrennan and Clapper. There are also public policy reasons that former intel leaders remain cleared–so they can help their successors.
— Ken Dilanian (@KenDilanianNBC) July 23, 2018
Not so fast, Ken.
This is not nearly as.persuasive an argument as it apparently seemed in your head.
— Chibi James Madison (@trueholygoat) July 24, 2018
A lot of people couldn’t help but be struck by the first sentence of Dilanian’s tweet:
https://twitter.com/colonel_potter/status/1021472973809766400
“Commodity”? WTF?
— #IStillLikeBeer ?? (@BruinOregon81) July 23, 2018
A valuable commodity? I'm not sure this is the best choice of words….
— Patsy Jones (@pjones59) July 23, 2018
It certainly doesn’t do Brennan et al. any favors. Or the media, for that matter.
The use of the word “Commodity” is interesting. That infers something to be bought or sold…. strange choice of words.
— LouCity Card (@OldPortlandCard) July 23, 2018
So these self-styled patriots make money off of their security clearances? Interesting. https://t.co/l6WiPYthKi
— David Harsanyi (@davidharsanyi) July 24, 2018
D'oh! Reporter confirms Trump's claim these folks are profiting off their security clearances. https://t.co/ozYgd0VXba
— Tom Bevan (@TomBevanRCP) July 24, 2018
https://twitter.com/kap_chan/status/1021749372093116416
So you are ADMITTING that Brennan is politicizing and selling his security clearance?
— Krista (@iamkristaleigh) July 23, 2018
Clapper and Brennan monetized their access to secrets?
— 100 Proof (@ChampionCapua) July 23, 2018
Wait — how can removing Brennan's and Clapper's security clearances result in a "financial penalty" if they're not earning money from them? Doesn't this make the White House's claim substantially true? https://t.co/wcUJbCJcai
— David Martosko (@dmartosko) July 24, 2018
At the very least, it gives the White House another leg to stand on.
Security clearances are an entitlement, you see. Taking away Clapper's clearance would be like asking him to pay for his own condoms. That's just not who we are as a nation.
— John Hayward (@Doc_0) July 24, 2018
If anything, Dilanian made a stronger case to revoke the security clearance of former intelligence officials.
You just made the case for all former employees to lose any and all security clearances.
— Anmarie (@_Anmarie_) July 23, 2018
Ummm, yeah, this is the best argument for stripping clearances after service has ended.
— JM (@JMtweets40) July 24, 2018