WASHINGTON--Former CIA Director John Brennan said on Thursday he would not be silenced by Donald Trump, a day after the president revoked the Obama-era official's security clearance and said the move was directly tied to the Russia investigation.
Retired Navy Admiral William McRaven, who oversaw the 2011 Navy SEAL operation that killed al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, responded to Trump's move by praising Brennan and asking the president to revoke his security clearance as well.
In a statement on Wednesday, Trump said he revoked Brennan's authorization for making what he called "unfounded and outrageous allegations" about his administration and was evaluating whether to strip clearances from other former top officials. Brennan and the others have criticized the Republican president.
Trump later told the Wall Street Journal his decision was connected to Special Counsel Robert Mueller's probe into alleged Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election and alleged collusion by his campaign. "I call it the rigged witch hunt, (it) is a sham," Trump told the newspaper in an interview on Wednesday. "And these people led it.
"It's something that had to be done," Trump added.
The president has denied any collusion. Russia has said it did not interfere, contrary to U.S. intelligence agencies' findings.
Brennan, who led the CIA under Democratic President Barack Obama, on Thursday called Trump's denials "hogwash" and vowed not to be silenced. "The only questions that remain are whether the collusion that took place constituted criminally liable conspiracy, whether obstruction of justice occurred to cover up any collusion or conspiracy, and how many members of 'Trump Incorporated' attempted to defraud the government by laundering and concealing the movement of money into their pockets," Brennan wrote in an opinion article in the New York Times.
Former U.S. Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, another critic whose clearance Trump said he might target, cautioned that Brennan was expressing "an informed opinion." It remained up to Mueller to make a final conclusion, Clapper told CNN.
