Big question of the week: Should former U.S. intelligence officials who have since jumped into media positions as paid political analysts still have access to classified information?
In light of former CIA director and current MSNBC analyst Jonn Brennan’s highly critical, often vitriolic comments about the current commander in chief — along with similar sentiment coming from James Clapper, former director of national intelligence and current CNN analyst — the answer is no.
The reasons are obvious. For starters, although we keep getting told that the Brennans and Clappers of the world were totally apolitical and unbiased in running their agencies, the rhetoric from both men since retiring makes that prospect difficult to believe.
Senior government officials like Brennan and Clapper typically keep their clearances for the sake of continuity and consultation between administrations. But neither Brennan nor Clapper appear to use their access for this purpose.
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