President Trump has escalated his actions against the 51 former intelligence officials who falsely suggested Hunter Biden’s laptop was “part of a Russian disinformation campaign,” ordering agencies to bar them from entering secure U.S. government facilities, according to a memo.
The Jan. 29 cabinet memorandum expands Trump’s earlier executive order, which revoked the security clearances of the officials. Sent on behalf of the President, the memo directs top national security agencies to strip the individuals of “unescorted access to secure U.S. Government facilities,” stating they no longer have a valid reason to enter such locations or the appropriate clearance to access classified material.
Among those affected are former CIA directors John Brennan, Michael Hayden, and Leon Panetta, as well as former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper and John Bolton, Trump’s former national security advisor. The memo was sent to the heads of the State Department, Defense Department, CIA, and Office of the Director of National Intelligence, along with the Office of Personnel Management, which was instructed to ensure compliance across all clearance-granting entities.
Trump’s original executive order accused the officials of having “willfully weaponized the gravitas of the Intelligence Community to manipulate the political process and undermine our democratic institutions.” The letter they signed, released in October 2020 just weeks before the presidential election, claimed the New York Post’s reporting on Hunter Biden’s laptop had “all the classic earmarks of a Russian information operation.” That claim was used as justification to suppress the story, despite the laptop and its contents later being confirmed as authentic.
Read the full memo here.
