Speaking to The Daily Caller, James Williamson, a retired US Army Special Forces Colonel who has enjoyed clearance for top-level security documents for over 30 years, said he was "shocked" that Hillary Clinton was not on the list of names whose clearance the White House is currently considering revoking.
"Frankly, I was shocked that Hillary, the chief culprit, was omitted," Williamson, president of OPSEC Team, an advocacy group representing retired special forces and intelligence community officials, said.
"There is more than ample evidence that Hillary Clinton committed, whether its gross negligence, or, as [former FBI director James] Comey would like to say, extreme carelessness. Just from the documented evidence, there was enough to prosecute. If there's evidence to prosecute, then there's certainly grounds to pull somebody's clearance," the retired officer stressed.
Col. (ret) James Waurishuk, OPSEC Team's vice president, said Clinton's security clearance should have been removed a long time ago. "[Clinton] moved classified information from the State Department to a private server," he said. "Her clearance should have been immediately revoked and proper action taken to have her removed. She still carries that crime."
OPSEC Team lobbied then-Secretary of State John Kerry to suspend Clinton's security clearance in 2015 after finding out that the two-time presidential candidate had sent government emails through a private server in her house.
"The importance of a clearance can't be overstated in maintaining the national security of this country," Williamson said, pointing to fears that Clinton's server may have been hacked by foreign agents. "Like we've seen in the past, compromising any type of classified information can have truly lethal consequences where people die, and it's happened," he added.
Many Obama-era intelligence and security officials, including John Brennan, continue to enjoy high-level security clearance after quitting or getting fired. Brennan, Clapper, Hayden, Rice, McCabe and Comey have all been critics of the Trump administration. Following President Trump's summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Brennan called Trump's effort to start a détente with Moscow "nothing short of treasonous."
