The Empty Brennan Gesture

Trump would do better to declassify the info Congress is demanding.

John Brennan is one of the fiercest partisans ever to serve as CIA director. He is also one of the chief architects of the narrative that Russia was interfering in the 2016 election to ensure that Donald Trump was elected President, and since leaving office he has tweeted attacks that match Mr. Trump’s for intemperance. On Wednesday the President returned the favor when the White House announced that Mr. Brennan’s security clearance was being revoked.

We’re all for challenging Mr. Brennan’s partisan motives and for investigating his behavior in office in promoting the Christopher Steele dossier that passed along uncorroborated smears about Donald Trump and Russia. He’s also been a leading critic of the House Intelligence Committee investigation into the events of 2016, perhaps because he doesn’t want his own actions exposed to public scrutiny.

But the more effective and politically healthy way to fight back would be for Mr. Trump to declassify all the documents under subpoena from Congress about the 2016 election. This includes information that would let the American people know whether our top law enforcement and intelligence agencies were abusing their power as part of an effort to tip the scales in the presidential contest.

Absent the full story that would provide the missing context, the revocation of Mr. Brennan’s security clearance looks petty without accomplishing anything useful.

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