On President Donald Trump’s first day in office, he plans to suspend the security clearances of dozens of former intelligence officials who wrote a letter about Hunter Biden ahead of the 2020 election. The 51 officials include CIA directors John Brennan and James Clapper, who claimed Hunter’s laptop had earmarks of a Russian disinformation operation.
The New York Post reported, in 2020, former President Joe Biden allegedly used his vice presidential power at the time to pressure Ukraine for his son’s benefit.
The outlet based its story on emails from a copy of Hunter’s hard drive. The publication said that it got the information from Trump’s former lawyer, Rudy Giuliani.
The Post said a Delaware computer repair shop gave the laptop to Giuliani.
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The FBI confirmed during Hunter’s trial last year the laptop and hard drive were authentic. However, the agency did not verify the authenticity of all the data.
Despite the Russian disinformation claims, some federal investigators said that Hunter Biden’s laptop was not manipulated and contained reliable evidence.
Whose idea was it to revoke the security clearances?
According to Axios, Trump’s pick for CIA Director John Ratcliffe, who also served as director of national intelligence during Trump’s first term, brought up the idea of revoking the security clearances and Trump agreed.
What happens next?
It’s not clear whether all 51 former intelligence officials still have security clearances. However, a former U.S. official told Axios that some of the officials are fully retired and taking the licenses away is meant to be a “symbolic” move.
