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WASHINGTON — The State Department says former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s security clearance has been withdrawn at her request.
Clinton’s decision comes after Admiral William McRaven penned an op-ed in the Washington Post rebuking President Donald Trump’s decision to revoke former CIA Director John Brennan’s security clearance in mid-August, according to her spokesperson Nick Merrill.
“I would consider it an honor if you would revoke my security clearance as well, so I can add my name to the list of men and women who have spoken up against your presidency,” McRaven wrote in an editorial with the headline “Revoke my security clearance, too, Mr. President.”
On Aug. 30, Clinton’s representative wrote a letter to the Bureau of Diplomatic Security at the U.S. State Department asking for a withdraw of her clearance “immediately.”
“[Clinton] has no desire to have her clearance become part of an unprecedented partisan controversy over the clearance process, for the reason eloquently stated by Admiral William McRaven,” Clinton’s attorney wrote.
The late August letter was meant to be received quietly because the former secretary of state didn’t want her decision to make headlines and be used for “partisan purposes,” according to Merrill.
“Secretary Clinton has great respect for Admiral McRaven,” Merrill wrote in a tweet on Friday. “She read this message & decided to take the step of voluntarily withdrawing her security clearance, which she maintained after leaving her post as Secretary of State to write her book, customary for former Secretaries.”
Clearances for five other people Clinton designated as researchers have also been withdrawn, as well as clearance for aide Cheryl Mills.
The State Department disclosed Clinton’s request in a letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee.
The committee chairman, Sen. Chuck Grassley, authorized the letter’s disclosure following consultation with the department. The letter blacks out the names of four other Clinton researchers whose security clearances were withdrawn last month.
The Iowa Republican has been critical of Clinton’s handling of classified information and has urged administrative sanctions. The State Department stated that this update is part of their ongoing review of their “mishandling” of the former first lady’s non-government email server.