Rand Paul to Trump: Revoke John Bolton’s security clearance

Rand Paul is making the most out of the moment where everyone is calling John Bolton a traitor and telling the president to revoke his security clearance.

He cites a Real Clear Politics article that doesn’t show anyone that is actually in favor of revoking Bolton’s security clearance yet:

The justification for punitive action in Bolton’s case, including revoking his security clearance, would depend on whether Bolton’s book contains classified material and whether he moves forward with publication without receiving clearance, Hathaway said.

“If it doesn’t, then revoking his security clearance would certainly be unjust,” she told RCP.

Still, Hathaway argued, Bolton would have a difficult time pursuing any legal recourse for a clearance revocation.

“The Supreme Court has indicated that the president has significant control over granting and revocation of security clearances, though there may be limits to that control that the courts have not yet clarified,” she said.

Uh, that argument depends on whether he wrote anything with sensitive information in it, but that’s the whole point of the security review! So, not the best argument. I’m pretty sure Rand Paul is just animated by his hatred for the policies that John Bolton espouses because they’re diametrically opposed to his.

I’m not sure that Bolton is literally cashing in on his security clearance, he could clearly write much if not all of the book just based on his experience. But in general, Rand Paul is right, and we should take care that fewer government officials are able to cash in on their service to the detriment of the country.

This is a real test for Trump. Will he go in with the conspiratorial dunces like Lou Dobbs calling Bolton a traitor and a secret shape-shifting lizard-alien QAnon PizzaGate member of the deep state illuminati? We shall see. Place your bets.

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That’s it for today. I hope you’re having a great weekend so far. Have an open thread! Here’s your comment fodder:

Take care!!


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