Brennan Security Clearance Protest Update

There are now approximately 200 former national security officials who have signed the following statement:

In a recent statement 15 senior former senior intelligence officials expressed their strong opposition to actual or threatened removal of security clearances from former government officials. All of us believe it is critical to protect classified information from unauthorized disclosure. But we believe equally strongly that former government officials have the right to express their unclassified views on what they see as critical national security issues without fear of being punished for doing so. Our signatures below do not necessarily mean that we concur with the opinions expressed by former CIA Director Brennan or the way in which he expressed them. What they do represent, however, is our firm belief that the country will be weakened if there is a political litmus test applied before seasoned experts are allowed to share their views.

A copy of the statement with a list of current signatories is here.  The statement is an update to the statement that I mentioned here (when there were only 60 signatories) and references another statement by “15 senior former senior intelligence officials” that I mentioned here when the number was only 12 former officials.