Trump yanking clearance only helps Mueller's investigation into obstruction

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The president’s move to strip former top officials of their ability to access classified information was the latest example of Mr. Trump successfully using the power of his office to exert influence over the political and legal maelstrom swirling around his administration.

He pressured the F.B.I. to fire Andrew G. McCabe, the bureau’s deputy director, and several members of the Mueller team. Mr. Trump helped his allies in Congress to strong-arm the Justice Department to hand over internal documents related to the Russia inquiry. And the president’s repeated attacks on Mr. Mueller’s investigators are meant to undermine the credibility of the investigation in the eyes of the public, lawmakers and even potential jurors.

And let’s not forget that President Trump fired FBI Director James B. Comey in the Russia affair’s critical moment when he decided to use presidential power to retaliate against and stymie those at the center of the investigation.

This latest effort, The Post reports,includes plans to cut off the security clearance of former FBI associate deputy attorney general Bruce Ohr, who communicated with Christopher Steele about the dossier even after Steele’s official relationship with the FBI ended. The Post’s Glenn Kessler has looked into Trump’s obsession with Ohr, finding that “there is little evidence to support Trump’s contention that Ohr helped Steele find dirt on Trump” or that anything Ohr reported about Steele’s information influenced the Russia investigation. But facts have never gotten in the way of Trump’s whims. The specifics of Ohr’s relationship with Steele are incidental to the main issue.

Trump is systematically attempting to damage reputations and livelihoods by yanking security clearances on purely partisan and political grounds, and hurting national security in the process. Worse, he is signaling that others who speak out or may have vital information about the Russia investigation will face retaliation. He is, in plain sight, attempting to harass and muzzle witnesses. It’s an atrocious abuse of the president’s power and an assault on free speech. And not that Trump cares, but his peevishness is injuring the presidency. Robert Litt writes for Lawfare Blog:

… it’s hard to imagine a stronger constitutional case than the president has just handed advocates of judicial review.  So far as is apparent, there was no process at all, let alone due process, or even any consultation with intelligence agencies in stripping Brennan’s clearance.  The reasons stated in the president’s memorandum appear pretextual, particularly in light of his subsequent Wall Street Journal interview seemingly acknowledging that his motive was Brennan’s role in the so-called “rigged witch hunt.” That he acted not because Brennan threatened national security but because Brennan criticized him is further shown by the list of others whose clearances have been threatened, who have in common only the president’s perception that they oppose him .?.?.

[Brennan] should have little difficulty in persuading a court that his clearance was revoked in retaliation for his exercise of his First Amendment right to criticize the president. That will then squarely present the issue of whether courts are powerless to prevent such abuse of the clearance system — and the result may be that the president’s control over security clearances, long jealously guarded, will have been weakened as a result of one president’s tantrum.

This tantrum is also extremely helpful to special counsel Robert S. Mueller III. Mueller is looking for evidence of Trump’s corrupt intent — evidence that his motives in firing Comey, attacking the attorney general and so on were for the purpose of derailing, if not ending, the Russia investigation. With every tweet and every retaliatory move, Trump hands Mueller another damning bit of evidence. One can imagine that, with regard to a possible obstruction of justice claim, Mueller hardly needs to talk to Trump at this point. He has a load of admissions already from Trump’s Twitter feed, which may be the best gauge of the president’s thoughts (unless one wants to count the NBC interview with Lester Holt confessing the Comey firing was about Russia, or the Wall Street Journal interview in which he confessed the security clearance rescissions are based on his anger over the Russia investigation).

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