Former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper said Tuesday that the White House is looking to suppress the opinions of former officials by revoking their security clearance.
Clapper told CNN's Dana Bash that President Donald Trump is targeting him and other former intelligence and national security officials for criticizing his presidency.
"The bigger issue to me is the jeopardy to first amendment rights," he said. "That, to me, is the much bigger issue here where we're being suppressed or oppressed because of our outspoken political views or criticism of the current president."
The Trump administration is considering stripping the security clearances of several former high-level officials, including Clapper, former CIA Director John Brennan, former FBI Director James Comey, former deputy FBI Director Andrew McCabe, former national security adviser Susan Rice, and former National Security Agency Director Michael Hayden.
When asked if he had made any money because of his security clearance, Clapper said, "not directly," but said he has "benefitted" from his "50 years of service," and by "virtue" of that, has written several books and appeared on CNN as an analyst.
"This revocation, if that's what it turns out to be, would have no bearing whatsoever on what I'm doing, saying or writing about," he said.
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