Democratic politicians and national security experts were up in arms over the news that President Donald Trump was revoking the security clearance of former CIA Director John Brennan.

The highly unprecedented move was perceived by many to be a thinly-veiled attempt to intimidate a prominent critic of Trump.

Here is a sampling of some of the reactions from top Democrats, lawyers, and national security experts.

Wednesday's announcement that President Donald Trump was revoking the security clearance of former CIA director John Brennan caused an outpouring of shocked, confused, and dismayed reactions from Democratic members of congress, as well as several prominent national security and intelligence experts.

Citing "erratic conduct and behavior" as the reason for Brennan's clearance being revoked, the White House statement also accused Brennan, who has frequently criticized Trump since leaving the CIA in 2017, of using his clearance to "make a series of unfounded and outrageous allegations, wild outbursts on the internet and television, about this administration."

While making the announcement in the Wednesday afternoon press briefing, press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said the White House was also reviewing the statuses of security clearances for several other former national security officials for potential revocation. Those officials have also publicly criticized Trump.

Democratic politicians and national security experts immediately began expressing their confusion and disappointment for what they view as a politically motivated and even despotic use of political power to punish a dissenter.

Here are the reactions of some of the powerful people who spoke out: