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Reporter Asks Trump Why He Revoked Bolton’s Security Clearance. The Answer Is FIRE.

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New in PJ Media:

At last, we have a president who can talk to the media without the aid of a teleprompter, and Donald Trump has been doing a lot of talking. In the course of reminding us of what it’s like to have a president who is not in the throes of dementia, Trump is making it clear that during his second term, he intends to enact his agenda fully, and he has been unsparing toward those who tried to impede him doing so during his first term.

One of the chief among these was John Bolton, and on Wednesday, Trump was asked why he revoked Bolton’s security clearance. His answer illuminated much more than just Bolton’s status.

A reporter asked Trump, “Why did you remove John Bolton’s security clearance, sir?” True to form for the establishment media, this was a question that didn’t particularly need to be asked, as the answer was already contained in one of Trump’s Inauguration Day executive orders, “Holding Former Government Officials Accountable for Election Interference and Improper Disclosure of Sensitive Governmental Information.” (It is, by the way, suddenly a lot of fun to go to whitehouse.gov. Instead of getting inundated with the Biden regime’s woke blather, all you see are Trump’s decisive actions to restore America.)

That executive order states that “it is the policy of the United States that classified information not be publicly disclosed in memoirs, especially those published for personal monetary gain.” It adds:

National security is also damaged by the publication of classified information. Former National Security Advisor John R. Bolton published a memoir for monetary gain after he was terminated from his White House position in 2019. The book was rife with sensitive information drawn from his time in government. The memoir’s reckless treatment of sensitive information undermined the ability of future presidents to request and obtain candid advice on matters of national security from their staff. Publication also created a grave risk that classified material was publicly exposed.

Bolton’s security clearance was accordingly revoked. But on Wednesday, Trump made no reference to any of that, instead answering, “Because, uh, I think that was enough time. It’s, uh — we take a job, uh, you take a job, you want to do a job, we’re not going to have security on people for the rest of their lives. Why should we?”

This was a perfectly reasonable point: allowing people to keep security clearances because they formerly held sensitive jobs in government gave them access to information that they could use for partisan or other self-serving purposes. The assessment of the notorious 51 “intelligence professionals” that Hunter Biden’s laptop was Russian disinformation was a prime example of that. People should do the jobs to which they’re appointed and then relinquish their security clearances when they relinquish the job itself.

There is more. Read the rest here.

Comments

  1. Absolutely right. We should tolerate neither. There’s every basis in law for further pursuing the plethora of leakers to which we’ve been subjected and no reason to protect them from the threats arising from the anti-US movement they’ve been inculcating.

  2. In the public realm, there are jobs/positions where employees are assigned cards to swipe in order to have access to the building. If they quit or are fired, they hand over the cards so they can no longer just walk inside.
    Government access to sensitive materials has to be protected from those who would wish to use if for personal reasons…revenge, money, etc.
    bolton has been very public and outspoken about stuff from his days in government. Now he can stew…without access…about his lack of security.

    At least, he didn’t literally lose his head.

    • There are so many needed changes to US laws. We need a legal structure that attributes personal liability to government actors that is comparable to that of private actors, rather than this sue the government approach. In the current legal environment, the taxpayer pays out even more and the bad government actor pays no penalty.
      What we’ve instead had the last four plus years (openly; it’s been long term behind the scenes) is targeting frontline workers such as police who are doing their jobs properly, while marxist lawbreakers inside gov walk away free of responsibility.

    • somehistory says,

      “In the public realm, there are jobs/positions where employees are assigned cards to swipe in order to have access to the building. If they quit or are fired, they hand over the cards so they can no longer just walk inside.”

      While on active-duty US Navy, I held a secret security clearance – on a need-to-know basis.

      It was, naturally, rescinded after my retirement.

      That should also apply to ALL high-level intelligence officers.

      • Thank you, James, for your personal account. When the job is no longer, no longer is there a “need-to- know.”
        That’s common sense. I believe bolton has a huge chip on his shoulder.

        • somehistory,

          Yes, John Bolton has a “big chip” in direct proportion to his increasing irrelevance.

  4. Not just Bolton: I’m glad that this time, Michael Walz has revoked the security clearances of all the 51 officials who lied that Hunter Biden’s laptop was Russian disinformation, as well as anyone else who’s being let go by the administration. Once people have been terminated, there is no reason why they need to keep their security clearances, for the same reason that once one parts ways w/ one’s employer, one automatically loses access to all his employer’s internal networks. Last time, it was shocking that people like John Brennan still had his security clearances despite being out of the government, and weaponizing the information he had on CNN against the administration. Such sabotage needed to be ended, and it’s good that it’s ended now on day 1 itself

    I hated the last 4 years of Biden, but the silver lining is showing already. Had Trump been re-elected in 2020, we’d still have been stuck w/ Mike Pence, Mike Pompeo, Mark Esper, Bill Barr, et al, and would have had no opportunity to clean house. This break showed Trump who was ready to stab him in the back when he was down, and accordingly distance himself from them. The new team – Vance, Hegseth, Kash, RFK, Tulsi, Noem, Burgham, et al inspires a lot more confidence, and they wouldn’t have been there in 2020

  5. How come Bolton wasn’t prosecuted? Or at least why didn’t the government take the profits from the book? They did that with SEAL Team 6 member Mark Bossinette and his book detailing the Bin Laden raid, The Only Easy Day, even though the Pentagon approved it. And the government seized all profits from CIA analyst/agent Frank Snepp for his book Decent Interval. It was highly critical of Kissenger and others and alleged that they knew the Paris Peace Accord was a sham and that the North Vietnamese would invade. In his case he didn’t submit his book for approval from the CIA but the agency admitted there was nothing classified. But he still lost. And ironically former CIA director William Colby was fined for his book Honorable Men because it was published in France without agency approval. So how did Bolton get away with this?

    • Why do all elected or appointed officials get away with all the wrong things they do in the name of America and or get rich by book deals, stock trade etc.

      Because they all cover each others butts with information they store and keep against each other.

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