The president's comments come after more than a dozen former top intelligence officials, including former Secretary of Defense Bob Gates, released a letter describing Trump's decision as a political one that has "everything to do with an attempt to stifle free speech." | Dominick Reuter/AFP/Getty Images Trump: I 'never respected' Brennan

President Donald Trump on Friday said he "never respected" former CIA Director John Brennan and warned that he may strip security clearances from other current and former officials "very quickly."

While speaking with reporters on the South Lawn Friday, Trump doubled down on his action to remove Brennan's clearance, which has sparked accusations that Trump is abusing his power and trying to silence his critics.


The president's comments come after more than a dozen former top intelligence officials released a letter on Thursday, describing Trump's decision as a political move that has "everything to do with an attempt to stifle free speech."

"There's no silence," Trump said Friday, pushing back on that claim. "If anything, I'm giving him a bigger voice. Many people don't know who [Brennan] was. And now, he has a bigger voice and that's OK with me because I like taking on voices like that."

The White House announced Wednesday that it was revoking Brennan's clearance and reviewing the clearance of a number of other former officials, including former National Security Agency Director Michael Hayden and former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, who both signed on to the letter.

One significant late add to the letter was former Defense Secretary Bob Gates, who has remained mostly tight-lipped about Trump's administration.

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Former acting CIA Director Michael Morell on Twitter confirmed that Gates signed on to the statement, adding that Gates was out of cellphone range when the letter was being drafted.

Gates, who ran the Pentagon under Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama, was critical of both Trump and Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton during the 2016 election — describing the president as "beyond repair" and “willfully ignorant about the rest of the world, about our military and its capabilities, and about government itself.”

But the former defense secretary has stayed relatively silent since Trump won the presidential election.

The authors of the letter warn that Trump's decision sends an “inappropriate and deeply regrettable” message to other officials who want to publicly share their political opinions.

Brennan has openly criticized the president's policies and his administration.

Trump's decision to revoke and review other security clearances comes as the president is continuing to put pressure on special counsel Robert Mueller to end the Russia investigation, which Trump has partially blamed Brennan for.

Brennan was among the intelligence officials that met with Trump at Trump Tower days before his inauguration, and briefed him on evidence that the Russian government had sought to interfere in the election.

"I've never respected him, I've never had a lot of respect," Trump said.

He instead called on Mueller to look at "all of the people that got fired." He added that Bruce Ohr, who still works for the Justice Department and is having his security clearance evaluated by the White House, should be investigated along with his wife, Nellie, who worked for Fusion GPS during the 2016 elections.

Ohr has come under scrutiny after it was revealed he had contact during the 2016 election cycle with Fusion GPS founder Glenn Simpson and former British spy Christopher Steele, who compiled a dossier that described a complex conspiracy of Trump and his campaign working with the Kremlin to influence the outcome of the presidential election. Trump has denied the dossier findings.

Trump said he suspects that he will "be taking" away Ohr's clearance "very quickly."

"I think Bruce Ohr is a disgrace with his wife, Nelly. For him to be in the Justice Department and to be doing what he did, that is a disgrace," Trump said, adding that he believes Ohr's actions disqualify Mueller's investigation.

The president also said that Mueller is conflicted in the investigation, a claim Trump has made in the past. He said one issue is Mueller's prior relationship with former FBI director James Comey. Mueller has widened the FBI probe to include possible obstruction of justice by Trump.

Trump, however, said he will let Mueller finish his investigation.

"Let him write his report. We did nothing. There is no collusion," Trump said. "If he was doing an honest report, he would write it on the other side because when you look at criminality and you look at problems, take a look at what they did, including colluding with the Russians, the other side."

CLARIFICATION: This story has been updated to clarify that Michael Morrell served as acting CIA director.