I was on an MSNBC panel Thursday night with Elie Honig, a former federal prosecutor for the Southern District of New York, who suggested Trump’s revocation of security clearances could be construed as retaliation against witnesses. “It’s a federal crime — §1513 if anyone wants to look it up — to retaliate against someone for providing truthful information to law enforcement,” he said. “So he’s getting closer and closer to really dangerous ground here.”…

Honig explained to me Friday that he didn’t necessarily think Trump’s revocation of Brennan’s security clearance would be a violation, given Brennan isn’t a major figure on the probe’s key events. But if he presses on and does it with others, Honig argued, it could.

“Brennan’s not an easy fit as a witness,” Honig said. “But how about Jim Comey? He’s one of the most pivotal witnesses in this whole thing. If Trump starts lashing out at Comey and all he said publicly is, ‘I’m doing this because of Russia,’ I think that can be construed as retaliation.”