WASHINGTON -- Former CIA Director John Brennan said Sunday that he is willing to take President Donald Trump to court to prevent other current and former officials from having their security clearances revoked, escalating a battle over whether the president is using the power of his office to retaliate against critics.
"I am going to do whatever I can personally to try to prevent these abuses in the future, and if it means going to court, I will do that," Brennan said in an appearance on NBC's Meet the Press.
The White House last week revoked the security clearance of Brennan, an outspoken critic of Trump. Since then, Brennan said Sunday, a number of lawyers have gotten in touch with him and offered advice on pursuing a possible injunction to prevent Trump from taking similar actions in the future.
"If my clearances -- and my reputation, as I'm being pulled through the mud now -- if that's the price we're going to pay to prevent Donald Trump from doing this against other people, to me, it's a small price to pay," Brennan said.
He did not immediately elaborate on what such a legal move would look like.
Asked during an appearance on Fox News' Sunday Morning Futures about a possible lawsuit by Brennan, Rudy Giuliani, Trump's personal attorney, described it as a welcome opportunity.
"I would volunteer to do that case for the president. I would love to have Brennan under oath," Giuliani said. "We will find out about Brennan, and we will find out what a terrible job he did" when he was CIA director.
An executive order signed in 1995 by President Bill Clinton lays out the process for approving security clearances and describes a detailed revocation and appeal procedure.
Former CIA Director Leon Panetta, who also served as defense secretary under President Barack Obama, said Sunday that Trump must abide by the executive order unless he decides to change or cancel it. Speaking on CBS' Face the Nation, he said Trump's decision to revoke Brennan's clearance raises questions about whether he followed due process.
On Friday, 14 former CIA directors and deputy directors from Republican and Democratic administrations, as well as a former director of national intelligence, called Trump's revocation of Brennan's clearance a blatant attempt to "stifle free speech" and sends an "inappropriate and deeply regrettable" signal to other public servants.
As the furor over Trump's move has intensified, the president has shown no signs of backing down. According to senior administration officials, the White House has drafted documents to revoke the clearances of other current and former officials who Trump has demanded be punished for criticizing him or playing a role in the investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 election.
Brennan received some support on Sunday from Mike Mullen, a retired U.S. Navy admiral and former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who said Trump's threat to revoke the security clearances of those who have been critical of him is a sign that the president is "creating a list of political enemies."
In an appearance on Fox News Sunday, Mullen said that while Trump has the authority to pull the security clearances of former national intelligence and other officials, his doing so is "incredibly problematic."
"It immediately brings back the whole concept of the 'enemies list' under President [Richard] Nixon," Mullen said.
Mullen said he does not support Brennan's comments on Trump but believes that the former CIA director and others should not have to fear that they will be stripped of their security clearances because of their criticism.
"I am concerned about the whole issue of free speech. And as long as John is not revealing classified information that he shouldn't, then I certainly think he has a right to speak," Mullen said.
Former CIA Director Michael Hayden, whose security clearance the White House has warned is also in danger of being revoked, said during an appearance on CNN's State of the Union that the relationship between the president and that national security community is "dangerously close to being permanently broken."
Others on Sunday morning rallied to Trump's defense.
National security adviser John Bolton backed the idea of a formal review to determine whether former officials should keep their security clearance and said Brennan may have "crossed the line."
"I think a number of people have commented that he couldn't be in the position he's in of criticizing President Trump and his so-called collusion with Russia unless he did use classified information," Bolton said in an interview on ABC's This Week, although he added that he has no knowledge of a single, specific instance of that.
On Fox News Sunday, Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., said Brennan had "abused his privilege" by using the word "treasonous" in denouncing Trump's performance at a summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Helsinki last month.
But rather than pulling officials' security clearances, he said, Trump should avoid politicizing the issue and simply deny them access to classified material.
"I don't want to see an enemies list," he said.
Information for this article was contributed by Felicia Sonmez, Carol Morello, Elise Viebeck, Karen DeYoung and Josh Dawsey of The Washington Post; and by Jill Colvin and Lolita C. Baldor of The Associated Press.
A Section on 08/20/2018