[PJ] WASHINGTON -- Lawmakers said today that it would be within Moscow's known M.O. to orchestrate or join a campaign calling for the ouster of National Security Advisor Gen. H.R. McMaster.
The knives came out for McMaster among some on the right after Circa reported last week on an April letter in which McMaster tells former National Security Advisor Susan Rice that the NSC "will continue to work with you to ensure the appropriate security clearance documentation remains on file to allow you access to classified information."
"I hereby waive the requirement that you must have a ’need-to-know’ to access any classified information contained in items you 'originated, reviewed, signed or received while serving,' as National Security Adviser," the letter adds.
Intelligence officials told Bloomberg's Eli Lake that McMaster "concluded that Rice did nothing wrong" in using her authority to request that some U.S. names in FISA surveillance connected to the Trump-Russia investigation be unmasked. The Weekly Standard reported that revoking Rice's clearance would actually have been out of the norm and that McMaster wrote the letter to all former national security advisors as has been customary, and even the current clearance doesn't allow continued asking privileges for sensitive info. |