Dan Abrams: Trump Revoking Security Clearance of His Critics Would Be ‘Shameful’

ABC News Chief Legal Analyst and Mediaite founder Dan Abrams said that President Donald Trump‘s proposal to revoke the security clearances of his critics is “shameful” on Good Morning America Tuesday.

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders stunned the briefing room on Monday when she declared the president was weighing revoking the security clearances of six former Obama officials who have been critical of Trump.

The officials included former CIA Director John Brennan, former FBI Director James Comey, former National Security Adviser Susan Rice, former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, former CIA Director Michael Hayden, and former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe.

Abrams pointed out that millions of people have security clearance, which “doesn’t mean you get access to secure information.

“What it means is you’re part of the eligible pool of people who could get access.”

“Then there’s another step,” Abrams explained. “When there’s something specific you want to have access to, you then have to get authorization.”

“But with all that said, the idea that the president would be revoking security clearance not based on wrongdoing, just based on words, is shameful,” Abrams said.

George Stephanopoulos asked if courts would stifle Trump’s efforts, if his revoking of security clearances was “targeting people who have First Amendment rights.”

“Yes, except the president has ways around it,” Abrams said. “He could do it without the courts getting a real opportunity to review it.”

Watch above, via ABC News.

[image via screengrab]

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