A national security law expert flagged what he called "problems" with one of President Donald Trump's dozens of executive orders, which revoked the security clearances of about 50 signatories who signed the infamous Hunter Biden laptop letter five years ago.
In 2020, 51 former intelligence officials signed onto a public letter calling into question the authenticity of emails found on Hunter Biden's laptop. The officials released the letter following a New York Post story about Biden's emails and business dealings in Ukraine.
Major signatories included former CIA directors John Brennan and James Clapper. The letter suggested the laptop story had "all the classic earmarks of a Russian information operation.”
On Monday, Trump signed an executive order revoking their security clearances and accusing the former officials of "[coordinating] with the Biden campaign to issue a letter discrediting the reporting that President Joseph R. Biden’s son had abandoned his laptop at a computer repair business."
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"Signatories of the letter falsely suggested that the news story was part of a Russian disinformation campaign," the order said.
It later added: "The signatories willfully weaponized the gravitas of the Intelligence Community to manipulate the political process and undermine our democratic institutions. This fabrication of the imprimatur of the Intelligence Community to suppress information essential to the American people during a Presidential election is an egregious breach of trust reminiscent of a third world country. And now the faith of Americans in all other patriotic intelligence professionals who are sworn to protect the Nation has been imperiled."
Attorney Mark S. Zaid, who represents eight of the signatories, posted a legal take down of the order on X, and set aside the fact that no president has "ever done this before."
Zaid started off his threat by acknowledging presidents have "ultimate authority" when it comes to a person's access to classified information. Even so, he noted no president since the "Red Scare" in the 1950s has punished clearance-holders over First Amendment rights.
Additionally, said Zaid, while Trump's intent is to revoke all clearances with his executive order, this one "doesn't quite do that."
"Instructs Dir of National Intelligence, who is Executive Agent over clearances, to start revocation. Not sure why DNI needs to consult w/CIA. Accomplishes nothing. DNI controls appropriate database already," he wrote.
What's more, Zaid said to his knowledge, few of the 51 signatories "even maintain current eligibility or access to classified info, but that's another story."
"DNI doesn't control all clearances. Numerous agencies, like DoD, DOJ, DHS, FBI, etc., all maintain clearance eligibility for employees or contractors," he added.
Zaid flagged that people who have their clearances revoked are entitled to "procedural & substantive due process." The order, he said, does not override or reference that law, nor does it cite applicable statutes that could undo that obligation for due process.
What's more, the signatories, he said, did right by the law — and in "typical DC" fashion, "it both says everything & nothing at same time."
"Laptop letter was properly cleared by CIA prepub review staff not to contain classified info. I handle 1st Amendment matters all the time. Signatories fulfilled their lawful obligations. This EO implicitly threatens CIA staff for doing their job. We'll see what happens," he said.
Zaid concluded with a jab at Trump and his transition team and said Trump's order inadvertently opened the door to a legal challenge, even though the Supreme Court has ruled federal judges don't have jurisdiction over substantive clearance decisions.
"I thought Trump 2.0 was going to be better organized & prepared than this. They had weeks. But all I see is that many, not all, of Project 2025 & other MAGA loyalists who pushed this idea have little to no understanding of how security clearance process & laws work," Zaid wrote.
