Former secretary of state and two-time presidential candidate Hillary Clinton has had her security clearance withdrawn "at her request," according to a letter by Charles Faulkner of the US State Department to US Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Chuck Grassley.
According to a Daily Mail report, the request by Grassley to investigate whether Clinton still retained her security clearance was made more than a year ago.
The letter, published this Friday, says the clearance was revoked back in August. Five other people mentioned in the letter, one of them Cheryl Mills, Hillary's former chief of staff, retained their security clearances until September 20.
"At her request, former Secretary Clinton's security clearance was administratively withdrawn on August 30, 2018," the letter says. "On September 20, 2018, security clearances were administratively withdrawn for Cheryl Mills, [redacted], [redacted], [redacted], and [redacted]. As we previously informed the committee, these individuals had been granted access to classified information through a request made by Secretary Clinton designating them as researchers."
The "researcher" status of the five allowed them to retain their security clearances even after their time at the Department had ended, Politico reports.
Clinton's request reportedly came a week after US President Donald Trump revoked the security clearance of former CIA Director John Brennan, according to the Washington Examiner. At the time, the White House said Trump was reviewing several other clearances of former top officials, but Clinton's name was not on the list, Politico reports. The list did include former FBI Director James Comey, former CIA Director Michael Hayden, former National Security Adviser Susan Rice and former Deputy FBI Director Andrew McCabe, according to the Daily Mail.