The former CIA director, whose authorization was revoked by Trump, spoke on MSNBC
Former CIA Director John Brennan said President Donald Trump “misrepresented the facts” on the Hunter Biden laptop story after his security clearance was revoked Tuesday.
The security clearances of 51 former Intel officials signed by Trump in a 2020 letter were revoked in an executive order saying the laptop release contained “the hallmarks of a Russian intelligence operation.” Many of them were outspoken supporters of Joe Biden during his presidential campaign against Trump.
In the letter, the signatories said that whether the emails are “genuine or not and we have no evidence of Russian involvement — our experience has led us to deeply doubt that the Russian government played a significant role in this matter.” “
Brennan, one of the signatories, called the executive order “outrageous” and said Trump had misrepresented the letter.
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Former CIA Director John Brennan called out President Donald Trump’s view on the Hunter Biden laptop story. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)
“The signatories of the letter falsely suggested that the news report was part of a Russian disinformation campaign.” Executive order “Former intelligence officials engaged in deceptive and improper political coordination with the 2020 Biden presidential campaign,” he said.
“We have suggested that the Hunter Biden laptop story was Russian disinformation, and he disclosed that fact in that executive order,” Brennan said on MSNBC Tuesday. “No, what we said in that letter is all signs of Russian intelligence operations, including the leaking of real information,” he said.
“So, again, this is, you know, his effort to get back at individuals who have been openly and publicly critical of him in the past was fair, and I think very legitimate,” he said.
Other officials included in the EO include former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper Jr., former CIA Director Michael Hayden, former Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and former National Security Advisor John Bolton.
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Three days after the letter was made public, Biden used it as a talking point to counter criticism of Trump in the final 2020 presidential debate.
During the debate, Biden said: “There are 50 former national intelligence people who say this is a Russian plot to impeach me.”
Shortly after taking office, President Trump revoked Brennan’s and 50 others’ security clearances by executive order. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
In the year In 2023, the Justice Department reportedly discovered that Hunter Biden’s laptop contained “credible evidence” from December 2019 and was “in no way intercepted.”
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Brennan said Trump had previously announced that he would revoke his security clearance in 2018, but that approval had not been taken.
“The only reason I still get a security clearance, as I did for the last several years after I left government service, is if the CIA or some other government agency wants to call me for the benefit of the government. Discuss a classified matter, they can do that,” Brennan said.
“And so it was really for the benefit of the government. It was to facilitate discussions with myself, as well as with the former directors, as well as with other former members of the intelligence community who made those assertions,” he added.
Former CIA Director John Brennan discussed the executive order on MSNBC’s “Andrea Mitchell Reports” on Tuesday. (MSNBC screenshot)
Brennan appears regularly as a senior national security analyst on MSNBC and is one of Trump’s fiercest critics.
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Fox News’ David Spector contributed to this report.