Brennan says he’s willing to take Trump to court over security clearances

WASHINGTON - Former CIA director John Brennan said Sunday that he is willing to take President Donald Trump to court to prevent other current and former officials from having their security clearances revoked, escalating a battle over whether the president is misusing the power of his office to retaliate against opponents.

"I am going to do whatever I can personally to try to prevent these abuses in the future, and if it means going to court, I will do that," Brennan said in an appearance on NBC News' "Meet the Press."

Brennan, who is among Trump's most outspoken critics, had his security clearance abruptly revoked by the White House last week. Since then, Brennan said Sunday, a number of lawyers have gotten in touch with him and offered advice on pursuing a possible injunction to prevent Trump from taking similar actions in the future.

"If my clearances - and my reputation, as I'm being pulled through the mud now - if that's the price we're going to pay to prevent Donald Trump from doing this against other people, to me, it's a small price to pay," Brennan said.

He did not immediately elaborate on what such a legal move would look like.

Asked during an appearance on Fox News Channel's "Sunday Morning Futures" about a possible lawsuit by Brennan, Rudy Giuliani, Trump's personal attorney, described it as a welcome opportunity.

"I would volunteer to do that case for the president. I would love to have Brennan under oath," Giuliani said. "We will find out about Brennan, and we will find out what a terrible job he did."

On Friday, 14 former CIA directors and deputy directors from Republican and Democratic administrations, as well as a former director of national intelligence, called Trump's revocation of Brennan's clearance a blatant attempt to "stifle free speech" and send an "inappropriate and deeply regrettable" signal to other public servants.

As the furor over Trump's move has intensified, the president has showed no signs of backing down. According to senior administration officials, the White House has drafted documents revoking the clearances of other current and former officials who Trump has demanded be punished for criticizing him or playing a role in the investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 election.

In the "Meet the Press" interview, Brennan also defended his previous statement denouncing Trump's performance at a summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Helsinki last month as "treasonous." Some of Brennan's detractors have argued that the remark pushed his criticism of Trump into overly partisan territory.

"I called his behavior 'treasonous,' which is to betray one's trust and to aid and abet the enemy," Brennan said. "I stand very much by that claim."

Brennan received some support on Sunday from Mike Mullen, a retired U.S. Navy admiral and former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who said Trump's threat to revoke the security clearances of those who have been critical of him is a sign that the president is "creating a list of political enemies."

Mullen said that while Trump has the authority to pull the security clearances of former national intelligence and other officials, his doing so is "incredibly problematic."

"It immediately brings back the whole concept of the 'enemies list' under President (Richard) Nixon," Mullen said in an appearance on "Fox News Sunday," adding that it was also reminiscent of the anti-communist crusade led by Joseph McCarthy in the 1950s.

Mullen said that he does not support Brennan being as critical of Trump as he has been but believes that the former CIA director and others should not have to fear that they will be stripped of their security clearances because of their criticism.

"I am concerned about the whole issue of free speech. And as long as John is not revealing classified information that he shouldn't, then I certainly think he has a right to speak," Mullen said.

Former CIA director Michael Hayden, whose security clearance the White House has warned is also in danger of being revoked, said during an appearance on CNN's "State of the Union" that the relationship between the president and that national security community is "dangerously close to being permanently broken."

"Frankly, although John's situation is the proximate cause for all of us signing letters and protesting, I think it's kind of one additional straw that's breaking the camel's back," Hayden said. "Our complaint is not just about this. It's about the whole tone, tenor and behavior of the administration."

Former director of national intelligence James Clapper Jr. sounded a similar note, saying on CNN that while Brennan's rhetoric has become "an issue in and of itself," his remarks are indicative of the "genuine concern about the jeopardy or threats to our institutions and values."

Others on Sunday morning rallied to Trump's defense.

National security adviser John Bolton backed the idea of a formal review to determine whether former officials should keep their security clearance and said Brennan may have "crossed the line."

"I think a number of people have commented that he couldn't be in the position he's in of criticizing President Trump and his so-called collusion with Russia unless he did use classified information," Bolton said in an interview on ABC News's "This Week," although he added that he has no knowledge of a single, specific instance of that.

"What I do know was when he was director of CIA, I was very troubled by his conduct, by statements he made in public and by what I thought was his politicization of the intelligence community," the national security adviser added.

Bolton said that he did not consider a political disagreement sufficient grounds for an official to have a security clearance pulled but that violating the separation between intelligence and policy would be grounds.

He said that "senior intelligence officials, career intelligence officials who come out of the government" should "keep that wall of separation" between intelligence and policy, and that Brennan had not done that." Bolton later added, "There is a line, and somebody can cross it."

Bolton said it is time to review policies on security clearances for former U.S. officials.

"I think it's certainly appropriate, in a time when we're seeing what I believe are unprecedented leaks of highly classified information, to look at the question of how many people have clearances, how many people received this very sensitive information, both inside the government and in the case of former officials," he said. "So, I don't see that there would be anything wrong if it were determined to go that way to review the policies about former officials having clearances."

In an interview on "Fox News Sunday," Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., also defended Trump's revocation of Brennan's clearance, saying the former CIA director had "abused his privilege" by using the word "treasonous" to describe Trump's behavior.

“He’s one of the leaders of the resistance movement. I understand why President Trump is pretty frustrated,” Johnson said.

The Washington Post’s Elise Viebeck, Karen DeYoung and Josh Dawsey contributed to this report.