The White House reaffirmed Tuesday that former CIA Director John Brennan’s security clearance had been revoked despite Brennan saying he was “uncertain” about its status, the Washington Post reported.
“The President’s order went into effect immediately, and Mr. Brennan no longer has access to classified information,” White House spokesman Hogan Gidley told the Post.
The paperwork to formally revoke the clearance, though, has been “delayed,” a senior White House official told the Post, without elaborating.
President Donald Trump’s announcement of the revocation was announced by White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders earlier this month.
In his statement, Trump accused Brennan of using his position as a former top national security official to make “outrageous” claims about his administration, and said that his actions posed a national security threat.
The White House was prompted to clarify the status issue after Brennan went on MSNBC earlier Tuesday saying he was still unclear about his status.
“The only thing I’ve heard about my security clearance from the government is when [White House press secretary] Sarah Huckabee Sanders said at the podium that my clearance had been stripped,” he said. “I’ve not been contacted by anybody at all either before or since then. So whether or not my clearance has been stripped, I’m still uncertain about.”
The Post reported that ordinarily, when an official’s security clearance is revoked, the agency or department holding the clearance explains the grounds for its action. The clearance holder may be given a chance to appeal the decision and argue that the revocation was unjustified.
That hasn’t happened in Brennan’s case, the Post reported.
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