Clinton’s security clearance withdrawn at her request
The State Department has revoked former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s security clearance after she requested that it be withdrawn, according to a letter released Friday by a top GOP senator.
The State Department—in a letter dated Sept. 21 but publicly released Friday— told Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), the chairman of the Judiciary Committee, that the security clearance was revoked on August 30 after Clinton requested that it be withdrawn.
“We would like to provide you with an update on the status of former Secretary Clinton’s security clearance and the ongoing administrative review pertaining to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and other current and former department officials,” Charles Faulkner, the acting assistant secretary of legislative affairs, wrote to Grassley.
The State Department added in the letter to Grassley that five of Clinton’s aides had also had their security clearance revoked.
Four of the names are redacted but one aide listed in the email is Cheryl Mills, who worked as Clinton’s chief of staff.
“As we previously informed the committee, these individuals had been granted access to classified information through a request made by Secretary Clinton designating them as researchers,” Faulkner added.
Clinton’s security clearance has been a long-running sore spot for conservatives after the FBI, led by then-Director James Comey, found in 2016 that Clinton had been “extremely careless in their handling of very sensitive, highly classified information.”
Clinton used a private email server during her time as secretary of State, and was attacked by President Trump and Republicans about it during the 2016 presidential campaign when she became the Democratic nominee.
It wasn’t immediately clear if the State Department had authorized Grassley to publicly release the letter.
Faulkner in the letter asked Grassley to “protect” it and said that they were not clearing it for release by giving the letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee.
The letter includes a note saying it was authorized for release by Grassley.
Security clearances held by former Obama administration officials have been under scrutiny since Trump sparked backlash when he revoked former CIA Director John Brennan’s clearance earlier this year.
The White House said at the time that they were considering revoking security clearances for former CIA Director Michael Hayden, former national security adviser Susan Rice, Comey and former Deputy FBI Director Andrew McCabe.
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