Former CIA director John Brennan said Wednesday that President Trump's decision to revoke his security clearance was "part of a broader effort ... to suppress freedom of speech & punish critics."

In a statement announcing his decision, Trump cited Brennan's "erratic conduct and behavior" and "frenzied commentary" attacking the White House as reasons to revoke his clearance.

Trump also said he is considering revoking the security clearances of other law enforcement and intelligence officials, many of whom have been critical of him.

Former CIA director John Brennan hit back at President Donald Trump Wednesday after White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders announced that Trump had decided to revoke Brennan's security clearance.

"This action is part of a broader effort by Mr. Trump to suppress freedom of speech & punish critics," Brennan tweeted. "It should gravely worry all Americans, including intelligence professionals, about the cost of speaking out. My principles are worth far more than clearances. I will not relent."

In a statement that Sanders read at the start of the White House press briefing on Wednesday, Trump cited Brennan's "erratic conduct and behavior" as the primary reason for revoking his clearance.

17 PHOTOS Former CIA Director John Brennan through the years See Gallery Former CIA Director John Brennan through the years CIA Director John Brennan speaks at a forum about "CIA's strategy in the face of emerging challenges" at The Brookings Institution in Washington, U.S. July 13, 2016. REUTERS/Carlos Barria WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 07: U.S. President Barack Obama (L) speaks as Acting CIA Director Michael Morell (R) and Deputy National Security Advisor for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism John Brennan (2nd L) listen while making personnel announcements during an event in the East Room at the White House, on January 7, 2013 in Washington, DC. President Obama has nominated Hagel for the next Secretary of Defense and Brennan to become the new director of the CIA. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images) James Clapper (R), Director of National Intelligence, testifies alongside CIA Director John Brennan (L), during a US House Committee on Intelligence hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, September 10, 2015. The committee held the hearing to examine worldwide cyber threats. AFP PHOTO / SAUL LOEB (Photo credit should read SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images) WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 31: Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism John Brennan (L), U.S. President Barack Obama's nominee to be CIA director, meets with U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence Chairman Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) at Feinstein's office at Hart Senate Office Building January 31, 2013 on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. Brennan met with Feinstein who will hold a hearing to start the confirmation process of Brennan's nomination. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images) Anti-war protesters shout slogans as John Brennan (R), President Barack Obama's pick to lead the CIA, arrives to testify before a full committee hearing on his nomination to be director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in the Hart Senate Office Building in Washington, DC, on February 7, 2013. AFP PHOTO/Jewel Samad (Photo credit should read JEWEL SAMAD/AFP/Getty Images) John Brennan, US President Barack Obama's pick to lead the CIA, testifies before a full committee hearing on his nomination to be director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in the Hart Senate Office Building in Washington, DC, on February 7, 2013. AFP PHOTO/Jewel Samad (Photo credit should read JEWEL SAMAD/AFP/Getty Images) UNITED STATES - MARCH 12: CIA Director John Brennan testifies during the Senate (Select) Intelligence Committee hearing on 'Current and Projected National Security Threats to the United States' on Tuesday, March 2013. (Photo By Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call) NEW YORK, NY - AUGUST 08: General Keith B. Alexander, Director of the National Security Agency (NSA) and Commander of U.S. Cyber Command (L); John O. Brennan, Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) (C); and Robert S. Mueller III, Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) (R), take part in a question-and-answer forum during the International Conference on Cyber Security (ICCS) on August 8, 2013 in New York City. The ICCS, which is co-hosted by Fordham University and the FBI, is held every 18 months; more than 25 countries are represented at this year's conference. (Photo by Andrew Burton/Getty Images) WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 11: Central Intelligence Agency Director John Brennan delivers remarks at the Council on Foreign Relations March 11, 2014 in Washington, DC. Brennan denied accusations by U.S. senators who claim the CIA conducted unauthorized searches of computers used by Senate Select Committee on Intelligence staff members in an effort to learn how the committee gained access to the agencyÃs own 2009 internal review of its detention and interrogation program, undermining CongressÃ oversight of the spy agency. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) Director of Central Intelligence Agency John Brennan speaks during a press conference at CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia, December 11, 2014. The head of the Central Intelligence Agency acknowledged Thursday some agency interrogators used 'abhorrent' unauthorized techniques in questioning terrorism suspects after the 9/11 attacks. CIA director John Brennan said there was no way to determine whether the methods used produced useful intelligence, but he strongly denied the CIA misled the public. AFP PHOTO/JIM WATSON (Photo credit should read JIM WATSON/AFP/Getty Images) WASHINGTON, USA - SEPTEMBER 10: CIA Director John Brennan testifies during a House Select Committee on Intelligence hearing on Cyber Security and the threat of Cyber Attacks in Washington, USA on September 10, 2015. (Photo by Samuel Corum/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images) Former CIA director John Brennan testifies before the House Intelligence Committee to take questions on ?Russian active measures during the 2016 election campaign? in the U.S. Capitol in Washington, U.S., May 23, 2017. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque Former CIA director John Brennan testifies before the House Intelligence Committee to take questions on ?Russian active measures during the 2016 election campaign? in the U.S. Capitol in Washington, U.S., May 23, 2017. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque Former CIA director John Brennan is sworn in to testify before the House Intelligence Committee to take questions on ?Russian active measures during the 2016 election campaign? in the U.S. Capitol in Washington, U.S., May 23, 2017. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Director John Brennan participates in a session at the third annual Intelligence and National Security Summit in Washington, DC, U.S. on September 8, 2016. To match Special Report USA-CIA-BRENNAN/ REUTERS/Gary Cameron/File Photo CIA Director John Brennan arrives at the Senate Intelligence Committee hearing on "diverse mission requirements in support of our National Security", in Washington, U.S., June 16, 2016. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas CIA Director John Brennan testifies before the Senate Intelligence Committee hearing on "diverse mission requirements in support of our National Security", in Washington, U.S., June 16, 2016. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas Up Next See Gallery Discover More Like This HIDE CAPTION SHOW CAPTION of SEE ALL BACK TO SLIDE

The president also said Brennan's past actions call into question "his objectivity and credibility."

Among other things, Trump pointed to Brennan's statement to Congress in 2014 when he denied that CIA officials had improperly accessed the computer files of congressional staffers.

"The CIA's inspector general, however, contradicted Mr. Brennan directly, concluding unequivocally that agency officials had indeed" accessed those files, the statement said.

Trump also pointed to Brennan's more recent statement to Congress that the US intelligence community did not make use of the so-called Steele dossier in its January 2017 assessment of Russia's interference in the 2016 US election. That statement has been backed up by several senior former intelligence officials, as well as the former top lawyer for the Director of National Intelligence.

Trump also claimed in his statement that Brennan has "leveraged" his status and access to sensitive information to "make a series of unfounded and outrageous allegations, wild outbursts on the internet and television, about this administration."

"Mr. Brennan's lying and recent conduct characterized by increasingly frenzied commentary is wholly inconsistent with access to the nation's most closely held secrets and facilities, the very aim of our adversaries, which is to sow division and chaos," the statement said.

Shortly after Sanders made the announcement, CNN reported that the White House had not consulted Dan Coats, the Director of National Intelligence, on the decision.

The president also said that he is considering revoking the clearance of several other former intelligence and law enforcement officials — many of whom have been critical of him — in the coming weeks.

Those people include:

Former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper

Former FBI director James Comey

Former NSA director Michael Hayden

Former acting attorney general Sally Yates

Former national security adviser Susan Rice

Former FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe

Former FBI agent Peter Strzok

FBI lawyer Lisa Page

Justice Department official Bruce Ohr

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