President Donald Trump isn’t wasting any time in his second term. On Friday, Trump banned former CIA Director John Brennan, former National Security Advisor John Bolton, and former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper from all U.S. secure federal buildings.
These are the same men who pushed the infamous Hunter Biden “Russian disinformation” hoax in 2020, misleading the American public just weeks before the presidential election. The January 29 cabinet memorandum broadened Trump’s initial executive order from his first day in office, which withdrew security clearances for 50 individuals.
Issued “on behalf of the President,” the memo instructs major national security agencies to deny the 50 former intelligence officials named in the Executive Order any unescorted access to secure U.S. Government facilities. “These individuals no longer possess a need to access secure facilities, and as outlined in the Executive Order, do not have the appropriate security clearances to access classified information,” the memo read, initially revealed by The Daily Wire.
The memo instructs the Secretary of State, Secretary of Defense, Director of National Intelligence, CIA Director, and OPM Director to revoke unescorted access to secure government facilities for 50 former intelligence officials named in the Executive Order. “This memorandum is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person,” the memo finished.
John Brennan, John Bolton, and James Clapper were all key figures in the intelligence and national security apparatus of past administrations, each playing a role in shaping U.S. foreign policy and intelligence operations. Brennan, a former CIA director under Obama, and Clapper, the former Director of National Intelligence, were among the 51 intelligence officials who signed a widely publicized letter in October 2020 suggesting that the Hunter Biden laptop story had the “classic earmarks of Russian disinformation.”
This letter was used by media outlets and social media companies to justify suppressing coverage of the laptop’s contents, which included emails and documents detailing Hunter Biden’s foreign business dealings. While the letter never explicitly claimed the laptop was fake, it was framed in a way that cast doubt on its legitimacy just weeks before the 2020 election.
John Bolton, a former National Security Advisor under Trump, was not a signatory of the letter but has been a vocal critic of Trump and his administration, often aligning with establishment narratives in opposition to the former president. The claims that the Hunter Biden laptop story was Russian disinformation were later debunked, as even mainstream outlets like The New York Times and The Washington Post confirmed the laptop’s authenticity long after the election.
Many argue that Brennan, Clapper, and others deliberately misled the public to shield Joe Biden from political damage ahead of the election.
