Trump Pulls Security Clearances for Kamala Harris, Hillary Clinton

Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during the 2024 White House Tribal Nations Summit, Dec. 9, 2024, at the Department of the Interior in Washington. (AP)
Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during the 2024 White House Tribal Nations Summit, Dec. 9, 2024, at the Department of the Interior in Washington. (AP)
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Trump Pulls Security Clearances for Kamala Harris, Hillary Clinton

Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during the 2024 White House Tribal Nations Summit, Dec. 9, 2024, at the Department of the Interior in Washington. (AP)
Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during the 2024 White House Tribal Nations Summit, Dec. 9, 2024, at the Department of the Interior in Washington. (AP)

US President Donald Trump on Friday took away security clearances for former Vice President Kamala Harris, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and others in his latest move against his Democratic opponents.

The Republican president, who has also revoked the security clearance for former President Joe Biden, defeated Clinton in the 2016 presidential election and Harris in last year's election.

"I have determined that it is no longer in the national interest for the following individuals to access classified information," Trump said in a late Friday memorandum that also included former Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

While the revocations may not have immediate impacts, it is another sign of the growing political rift in Washington as Trump seeks revenge on his perceived enemies.

The memorandum was issued hours after Trump arrived at his Bedminster, New Jersey, golf property for the weekend.

Trump also targeted Republican former Representative Liz Cheney, a sharp Trump critic, former Biden White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan and Fiona Hill, a Russia expert who served on his National Security Council during his first term.

Mark Zaid, a national security lawyer in Washington who represents whistleblowers, and Adam Kinzinger, a former Republican lawmaker who is a sharp Trump critic, were among several others who had their security clearances revoked.

He had already revoked the security clearance for Biden, denying the former president to the traditional access to US intelligence.

Former US presidents have traditionally received intelligence briefings so they can advise incumbent presidents on national security and foreign policy.

In 2021, Biden revoked the security clearance for Trump, who was then a former president.



US and Russia Swap Prisoners

Russian-American dual citizen Ksenia Karelina, accused of treason for making a donation to a charity supporting Ukraine, attends a court hearing in Yekaterinburg, Russia August 15, 2024. REUTERS/Dmitry Chasovitin/
Russian-American dual citizen Ksenia Karelina, accused of treason for making a donation to a charity supporting Ukraine, attends a court hearing in Yekaterinburg, Russia August 15, 2024. REUTERS/Dmitry Chasovitin/
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US and Russia Swap Prisoners

Russian-American dual citizen Ksenia Karelina, accused of treason for making a donation to a charity supporting Ukraine, attends a court hearing in Yekaterinburg, Russia August 15, 2024. REUTERS/Dmitry Chasovitin/
Russian-American dual citizen Ksenia Karelina, accused of treason for making a donation to a charity supporting Ukraine, attends a court hearing in Yekaterinburg, Russia August 15, 2024. REUTERS/Dmitry Chasovitin/

Russia released a dual Russian-US citizen jailed for donating to a charity providing aid to Ukraine, her lawyer said on Thursday, in what the Wall Street Journal described as a swap for a Russian-German national jailed in the United States.

A lawyer for Ksenia Karelina, who was found guilty last year of treason by a Russian court for donating money to a US-based charity providing humanitarian support to Ukraine, told Reuters she was on her way back to the United States.

CIA Director John Ratcliffe and a senior Russian intelligence official conducted talks for the swap in Abu Dhabi, according to a CIA official quoted by the Journal.

"Today, President Trump brought home another wrongfully detained American from Russia," Ratcliffe said in a statement to the Journal.

Karelina left for the US on a plane from Abu Dhabi on Thursday morning, her Russian lawyer, Mikhail Mushailov, said.

She was swapped for Arthur Petrov, a dual German-Russian citizen, who was arrested in 2023 in Cyprus at the request of the US for allegedly exporting sensitive microelectronics.

The US Justice Department said last year that Petrov had participated in a scheme to procure US-sourced microelectronics for manufacturers supplying weaponry and other equipment to the Russian military.