After four years of watching partisan bureaucrats abuse their positions of power without consequence, the American people finally witnessed justice in action on Monday.
In his first hour as America’s 47th President, Donald Trump began systematically dismantling the web of corruption and privilege that flourished under the Biden administration.
The weaponization of intelligence agencies against the American public reached its peak in 2020, when dozens of former officials used their credentials to discredit legitimate reporting about Hunter Biden’s laptop.
These same officials maintained their security clearances throughout the Biden years, continuing to profit from their access while facing zero accountability for their actions that helped tip a presidential election.
Now, they just got a dose of true justice.
Deep State’s Day of Reckoning
The Washington establishment faced unprecedented accountability on Monday as President Donald Trump delivered on his promise to hold officials responsible for misleading the American people.
In his first executive action as America’s 47th President, Trump signed an order stripping security clearances from dozens of former intelligence officials who attempted to discredit the Hunter Biden laptop story before the 2020 election.
For years, these former officials leveraged their credentials and access to classified information to maintain lucrative consulting positions while working to undermine legitimate reporting.
Their October 2020 letter dismissing the Hunter Biden laptop as “Russian disinformation” represented one of the most consequential examples of intelligence community interference in American democratic discourse.
Now, President Trump’s decisive action ensures these officials will no longer be able to profit from their privileged access to national security information while pushing partisan narratives that deceive the American public.
The order immediately terminates their ability to access, review, or be briefed on classified materials – a privilege many had retained despite leaving government service years ago.
The Gravy Train Shuts Down
A total of 51 former national security officials had their security clearances permanently revoked through Trump’s executive order, including former director of National Intelligence James Clapper Jr., former CIA directors Michael Hayden and John Brennan, former Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta, and former National Security Advisor John Bolton.
Many of these officials had parlayed their continued access to classified information into lucrative consulting contracts with defense contractors and media organizations.
These officials were signatories to the October 19, 2020, public letter claiming that Hunter Biden’s laptop had “all the classic earmarks of a Russian information operation,” despite acknowledging they had “no evidence” to support this assertion.
The letter came just days after the New York Post reported on emails showing Hunter Biden had coordinated for Joe Biden to meet with a top Burisma executive months before pressuring Ukrainian officials to fire a prosecutor investigating the company.
The Letter That Undermined Truth
“The signatories willfully weaponized the gravitas of the Intelligence Community to manipulate the political process and undermine our democratic institutions,” the executive order stated.
By December 2020, federal investigators with the Department of Justice were already aware that Hunter Biden’s laptop was authentic and contained “reliable evidence” – a fact kept from the public while these officials maintained their false narrative.
The removal of security clearances will have immediate professional consequences for many of the affected officials.
Major defense contractors and consulting firms typically require active security clearances for their senior advisors, meaning many of these former officials may see their private sector opportunities significantly diminished.
Protecting America’s Secrets
The security clearance revocation was one of 73 executive actions Trump approved on Inauguration Day, joining directives strengthening border security and rebuilding American energy independence.
Republican lawmakers, including Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, have previously advocated for withdrawing security clearances from these officials.
“The American people deserve intelligence officials who put national security above partisan politics,” said a senior Trump administration official who spoke on condition of anonymity.
“This action ensures that those who attempted to mislead the public will no longer have privileged access to our nation’s secrets or the ability to monetize that access in the private sector.”
Key Takeaways:
- Trump’s Day One executive order strips security clearances from 51 former intelligence officials.
- Top names like Clapper, Brennan, and Bolton lose access to classified information.
- These officials claimed the Hunter Biden laptop story during the 2020 Election was “Russian disinformation.”
- Trump deprived them of their lucrative security clearance, blaming them for “election interference.”
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