August 20, 2018
Statement From Former National Security Officials
Regarding the Removal of Security Clearances
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.

Signed:
Gina Abercrombie-Winstanley, former U.S. Ambassador
Janet Armour, former CIA officer
Jennifer Atala, former USAID officer
Andrew P. Bakaj, former CIA officer and former official in the CIA’s inspector general’s office
John B. Bellinger, III former special assistant to the Director of Central Intelligence and former
Legal Counsel, NSC
Jeff Benjamin, former CIA analyst and deputy national intelligence officer
Rebecca Bill Chavez, former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Western Hemisphere
Affairs
Antony Blinken, former Deputy Secretary of State and Deputy National Security Advisor
Beth Bloomfield, former CIA officer and assistant national intelligence officer
Patty Brandmaier, former CIA senior intelligence officer
Rebecca Brocato, former Director of Legislative Affairs, NSC
James Bruce, former CIA analyst
William J. Burns, former Deputy Secretary of State
Nicholas Burns, former Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs
Daniel Byman, former CIA analyst and congressional intelligence committee staff member
Chuck Campbell, former CIA Deputy Inspector General, station chief, and area division chief
David W. Carey, former CIA Executive Director
Mary Carney, former DOJ national security division official
Milda M. Carroll, former CIA linguist
James O. Carson, former CIA analyst and manager
Welton Chang, former DIA analyst
Derek Chollet, former Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs
Paul Clarke, former NSC spokesperson
A. Denis Clift, former President, National Intelligence University

 Sanford Coats, former U.S. Attorney, Western District of Oklahoma
Eliot A. Cohen, former Counselor of the Department of State and former member of the Defense
Policy Advisory Board
Sylvia Copeland, former CIA analyst and manager
Mike Cotter, former U.S. Attorney, District of Montana
Lanie D’Alessandro, former NRO Inspector General CIA
Kyle S. Dabruzzi, former NCTC analyst
Loren Dealy Mahler, former Director of Legislative Affairs, NSC
Robert L. Deitz, former NSA General Counsel and former Senior Counselor to the Director, CIA
Jack Duggan, former CIA analyst
Jenny Durkan, former U.S. Attorney, Western District of Washington
Noah Eden, former branch chief, NCTC
Yael Eisenstat, former CIA officer and former NCTC officer
Tom Elmore, former CIA analyst and manager
Dianna H. English, former NSC Director for African Affairs
Rena Epstein, former CIA analyst and manager
Ronald Estes, former CIA station chief and area division chief
David B. Evans, former CIA open-source officer
Peggy Evans, former CIA analyst and operations officer, OMB senior officer, and Budget
Director, SSCI
Evelyn N. Farkas, former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Russia, Ukraine, and
Eurasia and former Executive Director, Commission on the Prevention of WMD Proliferation and
Terrorism
Peter D. Feaver, former Special Advisor for Strategic Planning and Institutional Reform, NSC
Gerald M. Feierstein, former U.S. Ambassador and Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of
State for Near East Affairs
Eric Feldman, former CIA assistant inspector general and former NRO inspector general
Jon Finer, former Chief of Staff and Director of Policy Planning, State Department
Stephanie Finley, former U.S. Attorney, Western District of Louisiana
Paul Fishman, former U.S. Attorney, District of New Jersey
Stephen J. Flanagan, former national intelligence officer and Special Assistant to the President
and Senior Director, NSC
Robert Fountain, former CIA analyst and manager
Paul Frandano, former CIA analyst and manager
Joshua A. Geltzer, former Senior Director for Counterterrorism and Deputy Legal Advisor to the
NSC and former Counsel to the Assistant Attorney General for National Security at the DOJ
Roger George, former CIA analyst and former national intelligence officer
Mike GIbson, former CIA manager and analyst
Deborah Gilg, former U.S. Attorney, District of Nebraska
Mary Beth Goodman, former NSC senior director and former foreign service officer
Ryan Greer, former State Department policy advisor for counterterrorism
Anne Gruner, former Deputy Director Weapons Intelligence, Nonproliferation and Arms Control
Center, CIA
Jay Gruner, former four-time CIA station chief and area division chief

 Steven L. Hall, former CIA station chief
Luke Hartig, former Senior Director for Counterterrorism, NSC staff
Laura Heard, former CIA analyst and manager
Gail Helt, former CIA analyst
Margaret H. Henoch, former CIA operations officer and manager
David Hickton, former U.S. Attorney, Western District of Pennsylvania
Jonna Hiestand Mendez, former CIA senior tech operations officer
Bruce Hoffman, former Scholar-in-Residence for Counterterrorism, CIA and former
Commissioner, 9/11 Review Commission
Paul Hollingsworth, former CIA station chief
Brett Holmgren, former Senior Director for Intelligence Programs, NSC
Vicki Huddleston, former U.S. Ambassador
Ralph Hughes, former CIA station chief
Robert Hultslander, former CIA officer
William Inboden, former Senior Director for Strategic Planning, NSC
Martin Indyk, former Assistant Secretary of State and U.S. Special Envoy for Israeli-Palestinian
Negotiations
George Jameson, former CIA legal and policy official
Deborah K. Jones, former U.S Ambassador
Dallas Jones III, former CIA analyst
Nate Jones, former director of counterterrorism, NSC staff
Jonathan H. Kaplan, former CIA officer and former official in the CIA Inspector General’s office
Art Keller, former CIA case officer
Abigail Keyes, former CIA analyst
Paul Kolbe, former CIA station chief
David Kris, former Assistant Attorney General for National Security
Sarah Labowitz, former State Department policy advisor
Anthony Lake, former National Security Advisor
John A. Lauder, former Director of CIA’s DCI Nonproliferation Center and former Deputy
Director of the NRO for National Support
Anne Lauer, former CIA analyst and manager
Barbara A. Leaf, former U.S. Ambassador
Michael LeFever, Vice Admiral (Retired), U.S. Navy
Michael E. Leiter, former Director, NCTC
Douglas Letter, former Director, Civil Division Appellate Staff, DOJ
Michele Lewis, former CIA officer
William Lewis, former CIA analyst and manager
Harry Litman, former U.S. Attorney, Western District of Pennsylvania
John MacGaffin, former CIA Associate Deputy Director for Operations
Ronald Machen, former U.S. Attorney, District of the District of Columbia
Kelly E. Magsamen, former Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Asian and
Pacific Affairs
Elizabeth Manak, former CIA analyst
Mark E. Matthews, former Special Assistant to the Director of Central Intelligence

 Kenneth J. Maxwell, former Assistant Special Agent in Charge, Counterterrorism Branch, New
York Field Office, FBI
Samir S. Mayekar, former Director of National Security, White House Office of Presidential
Personnel
Mary B. McCord, former Acting Assistant Attorney General for National Security, DOJ
Michael McFaul, former U.S. Ambassador
Barbara McQuade, former U.S. Attorney, Eastern District of Michigan
Antonio J. Mendez, former CIA senior tech operations officer
James N. Miller, former Under Secretary of Defense for Policy
Paul D. Miller, former CIA analyst and former Director NSC staff
Tom Minehart, former CIA analyst
Raymond A. Mislock Jr., former FBI agent and former CIA Director of Security
Michael Mislock, former CIA operations officer
Whitney Mislock, former CIA analyst
Lisa Monaco, former Assistant to the President for Homeland Security & Counterterrorism,
former Assistant Attorney General for National Security
Karen Monaghan, former CIA manager and analyst
Michael Moore, former U.S. Attorney, Middle District of Georgia
Margaret R. Munson, former Director for Administration, DIA and former Director, Defense
Security Service
Michael F. Munson, former Deputy Director, Defense Intelligence Agency and Director of Plans,
President George W. Bush’s Commission on Weapons of Mass Destruction
William D. Murray, former CIA officer and station chief
Malcolm Nance, former U.S. Navy cryptologist and former special intelligence collection officer
Bill Nettles, former U.S. Attorney, District of South Carolina
Tom Nides, former Deputy Secretary of State for Management and Resources
William M. Nolte, former CIA officer, former Deputy ADCI for Analysis, former Chancellor,
National Intelligence University System
Aaron O’Connell, former Director of Defense Policy and Strategy, NSC staff
Sean O’Keefe, former NASA Administrator and Secretary of the Navy
Wendy Olson, former U.S. Attorney, District of Idaho
Bruce Pease, former CIA analyst and manager
Kathy Pherson, former intelligence community official
Randy Pherson, former CIA analyst and former national intelligence officer
Channing Phillips, former U.S. Attorney, District of the District of Columbia
Thomas R. Pickering, Former Under Secretary of State and U.S. Ambassador
William Piekney, former CIA station chief and area division
Steven Pifer, former U.S. Ambassador and Foreign Service officer
Jeffrey Prescott, former Special Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs
Ripley Rand, former U.S. Attorney, Middle District of North Carolina
Nick Rasmussen, former Director NCTC
Martijn Rasser, former CIA analyst
Bruce Reidel, former CIA analyst and national intelligence officer
Elizabeth Reidel, former CIA analyst

 Chris Ribeiro, former CIA analyst
Michael Roosevelt, former CIA analyst
Chuck Rosenberg, former U.S. Attorney, Eastern District of Virginia and former Chief of Staff,
FBI
Daniel J. Rosenthal, former Senior Counsel to the Assistant Attorney General for National
Security at the DOJ, former Senior Associate Counsel to the Director of National Intelligence
Dennis Ross, former Director of Policy Planning, State Department, Special Assistant to the
President and Senior Director of the Central Region, NSC
Norman T. Roule, former CIA station chief and former ODNI Mission Manager for Iran
Barry Royden, former Director of Counterintelligence, CIA
Karen Rozbicki, former CIA analyst, operations analyst, and sourcing officer
Frank J. Ruocco, former CIA Deputy Director for Administration
Erin Ryan, former CIA analyst
Lucia Schoelwer, former CIA analyst, operational targeting officer, and intelligence educator
Michele Serocki Blum, former CIA linguist
Dana Shell Smith, former U.S. Ambassador
Wendy R. Sherman, former Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs
James M. Simon Jr., former CIA analyst and former Assistant Director of Central Intelligence for
Administration
Jennifer E. Sims, former Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Intelligence Coordination
Jeffrey Smith, former CIA General Counsel
L. Brit Snider, former CIA Inspector General and General Counsel of the Senate Intelligence
Committee
Mary Anne Sotos former CIA collection management officer
Ali Soufan, former FBI special agent
Suzanne Spaulding, former CIA Assistant General Counsel, former DCI Nonproliferation Center
Legal Advisor, and former Under Secretary for National Protection and Programs Division, DHS
Admiral James Stavridis, USN (Ret.), former Supreme Allied Commander, NATO
Carter Stewart, former U.S. Attorney, Southern District of Ohio
Seth Stodder, former Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security
Cindy Storer, former CIA analyst
Jake Sullivan, former Deputy Assistant to the President and National Security Advisor to Vice
President Joe Biden and former Director of Policy Planning, State Department
Kevin Techau, former U.S. Attorney, Northern District of Iowa
William Tobey, former Deputy Administrator, National Nuclear Security Administration
Anne Tompkins, former U.S. Attorney, Western District of North Carolina
Joyce Vance, former U.S. Attorney, Northern District of Alabama
John Vaudreuil, former U.S. Attorney, Western District of Wisconsin
Michael Vickers, former Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence
Samantha Vinograd, former Senior Advisor to the National Security Advisor
John Walsh, former U.S. Attorney, District of Colorado
Clint Watts, former FBI special agent
Stephen White, former CIA analyst
Harold Wilcox, former CIA analyst

 Douglas H. Wise, former CIA operations officer and former Deputy Director DIA
Stephen M. Young, former U.S. Ambassador