President Trump’s revocation of former CIA Director John Brennan’s security clearance brings together in an unfortunate way two pathological trends in the Trump era, and highlights the conundrum of the former intelligence official who wishes to speak out against the president’s attacks on the Russia investigation and the intelligence community more generally.

President Trump's decision to strip former CIA Director John Brennan of his security clearance, announced yesterday, clearly lies within the president's authority. But was it the right thing to do?

Scarier than former CIA chief John Brennan losing his security clearance is the idea that he ever had one in the first place.