Former Obama White House ethics counsel Norm Eisen found himself at the center of controversy Monday after learning via social media that his access to classified government information had been revoked.
Eisen, who played a key role in prosecuting President Donald Trump’s impeachment case as special counsel to the Democratic-led House Judiciary Committee, took the news in stride despite concerns that the move was politically motivated.
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“My phone started blowing up – ‘look at Tulsi Gabbard’s tweet,’” Eisen recalled, referring to the influx of messages he received after the announcement.
According to Eisen, the decision follows Trump’s prior threats of retaliation. “Several weeks ago, right after we secured a court order in one of our cases at Democracy Defenders protecting thousands of FBI agents from retaliation for working on January 6 cases,” Eisen said, suggesting the revocation was politically driven.
“So, you really have to see this as a kind of a backhanded compliment,” Eisen, who currently serves as executive chair of the State Democracy Defenders Fund, told CNN’s Anderson Cooper on “AC360.” Tulsi Gabbard, serving as Trump’s director of national intelligence, announced the sweeping revocation on Monday via X, formerly Twitter.
“Per @POTUS directive, I have revoked security clearances and barred access to classified information for Antony Blinken, Jake Sullivan, Lisa Monaco, Mark Zaid, Norman Eisen, Letitia James, Alvin Bragg, and Andrew Weissman, along with the 51 signers of the Hunter Biden ‘disinformation’ letter,” Gabbard wrote.
Gabbard also declared, “The President’s Daily Brief is no longer being provided to former President Biden.” Eisen viewed the action as yet another instance of political retaliation from a president intent on settling old scores.
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“We’re working on over a dozen cases, and we’ve gotten those orders in many of the cases in response to illegal behavior by the administration, and this is more retaliation,” Eisen said. However, he remained resolute. “Plenty of lawyers are going to stand up to it.”
The decision to revoke the clearances of prominent government figures raises further questions about the administration’s approach to national security and political dissent. As legal challenges mount, the move is expected to be scrutinized in the coming weeks, with critics decrying it as a dangerous precedent in presidential power dynamics.
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