A License to Punditry

This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.

The New York Sun

“There’s an argument to be made that revoking a security clearance for any of these officials could constitute ‘interference with the lawful employment or livelihood of any person,’ given they may serve as pundits or in other roles where they rely upon the information gleaned from their clearances.”

* * *

That paragraph is from a Washington Post story about President Trump’s revocation of John Brennan’s security clearances. The gist of the story is that Mr. Trump’s threats to review security clearances of other ex-officials could land him in Dutch with Special Prosecutor Mueller. This is because the president might be seen as threatening potential witnesses in Mr. Mueller’s special prosecution.

What arrests us is not just the casual assumption that there’s a right to a security clearance. It’s also, the Washington Post suggests, that one of the purposes of a clearance is to give the person who holds it a leg up as a pundit. Though we’ve been in the newspaper line for more than half a century, this is the first we’ve encountered the notion that a security clearance is a license to spout off for a living.

The Wall Street Journal argues that yanking Mr. Brennan’s clearance is an empty gesture. It reckons, with typical shrewdness, that a more strategic approach for the president would be to declassify information Congress seeks for its own investigation of the 2016 election. Mr. Brennan, who led the CIA during President Obama’s years of appeasement, is, among others, unlikely to emerge looking so hot.

Savor, too, the point being made by our erstwhile colleague Eli Lake, now of Bloomberg. He disputes the conventional wisdom that Mr. Trump wants to silence Mr. Brennan. On the contrary, Mr. Lake suggests, Mr. Trump wants to elevate Mr. Brennan and make him the face of what is being called the Resistance. One can see the logic of it, particularly given Mr. Brennan’s errors in the Obama years.

The Web is buzzing that Mr. Brennan might sue. Maybe he can find a judge in the 9th circuit to hear his case. Meantime, what a bizarre position the left has found itself in — defending the idea that a security clearance is a kind of license for retired spooks to go into the business of punditry. It raises, though, the question of where the working press apply for such a government handout?

_______


Detail of the drawing “The Yellow Press” by L.M. Glackens, from a 1910 number of Puck magazine, via publicdomainreview.org and the Library of Congress.


The New York Sun

© 2024 The New York Sun Company, LLC. All rights reserved.

Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. The material on this site is protected by copyright law and may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used.

The New York Sun

Sign in or  Create a free account

By continuing you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use