The former CIA director John Brennan is threatening legal action against Donald Trump, after he was summarily stripped of his security clearance in an unprecedented display of presidential pique.
Brennan took to the airways on Sunday on NBC’s Meet the Press and made clear that he had no intention of being cowered by Trump’s bombshell action to deprive him of access to classified information. The unparalleled move has triggered an equally unparalleled blowback from 13 of the most revered national security figures in the country, who penned a joint letter decrying the move as “ill-considered and unprecedented”.
The man at the center of the billowing dispute has now substantially upped the ante by stating that he is considering legal action. Brennan said he had been contacted by a number of lawyers and was actively weighing his options.
He told NBC that in his opinion the revoking of his security clearance was Trump’s way of trying to scare other existing and former government officials.
“It was a clear signal that if you cross him he will use whatever tools he might have at his disposal to punish you,” he said.
Brennan called the move an example of Trump’s “egregious” approach to power. He said: “I am going to do whatever I can to try and prevent these abuses occurring in the future and if that means going to court I will do that.”
While the former CIA director has…
