The majority of respondents to a Harvard CAPS/Harris Poll released Monday said former CIA Director John Brennan and former FBI Director James Comey should in fact lose their security clearances.
“An overwhelming majority of the public thinks that former officials should lose their security clearance, and believe that former officials like Brennan and Comey should no longer have any clearance,” Mark Penn, co-director of Harvard CAPS/Harris Poll that was first released to The Hill, said.
The poll shows that 59 percent of registered voters agree that Brennan’s security clearance should have been revoked.
Additionally, 64 percent say Comey’s should also be revoked, along with any other FBI official who has been fired for his or her actions or has been demoted in any way.
Further, the majority of respondents, 60 percent, say they believe any former national security official who chooses to become a consultant or TV contributor after his or her time in government, should have his or her clearance revoked.
Comey was fired by President Donald Trump in May 2017, and since then has vocally criticized the president, most notably on Twitter and in his book “A Higher Loyalty.”
Trump revoked Brennan’s clearance Aug. 15 in a statement read at a press conference by Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders.
Trump questioned Brennan’s credibility and said his behavior was erratic and unprofessional, but critics said the president revoked the clearance because Brennan has been highly critical of Trump and his character.
Brennan’s Twitter shows a nearly obsessive amount of tweets attacking Trump, and he’s done the same on major cable stations such as NBC and MSNBC.
Comey tweeted his comment to Trump revoking Brennan’s clearance, saying Trump “lies to the American people everyday, encourages racism, and is a misogynist,” among other things.
— James Comey (@Comey) August 16, 2018
Brennan responded to Trump’s statement, saying all Americans should be worried about his actions, and that he will “not relent” in his fight against the president. (RELATED: Former CIA Director John Brennan Is ‘Thinking About’ Taking Legal Action Over Revoked Security Clearance)
The Harvard CAPS/Harris Poll is an online survey completed by 1,330 registered voters. The partisan breakdown was 37 percent Democrat, 32 percent Republican, 29 percent independent and 2 percent other.
It was conducted between Aug. 22 and 23.
Trump has also said he is reviewing the security clearances of other White House officials of several past presidencies, including Comey, James Clapper, Michael Hayden, Sally Yates, Susan Rice, Andrew McCabe, Peter Strzok, Lisa Page and Bruce Ohr.
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