Representative Matt Gaetz (R-FL) has had a busy week. Just days after ousting Representative Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) from the House Speakership, he has introduced a bill preventing officials from publicly disclosing national security clearances.
Named the "Security Clearance Revolving Door Act," this bill would make an official publicly stating their security clearance punishable by a $ 1,000 fine or up to a year in prison. More specifically, officials cannot publicly say they have a national security clearance while in the middle of an investigation allowing access to classified information.
According to Rep. Gaetz's press release, the impetus for the bill comes from a sworn affidavit by 51 intelligence officials claiming the Hunter Biden laptop was a "Russian disinformation campaign," only for the laptop's authenticity to be confirmed two years later.
Rep. Gaetz claimed in his press release that the 51 used their national security clearances to bolster the legitimacy of their falsehood, and this bill is designed to prevent such an incident from happening again.
Additionally, Gaetz said the intelligence and security community has been "weaponized against Americans to control and influence their political beliefs, especially if they align with President Donald Trump."
"These intel officers used their national security clearances as the imprimatur of legitimacy for their lies in order to influence the 2020 presidential election. In order to ensure that this never happens again, we must pass the Security Clearance Revolving Door Act," Gaetz concluded.
Gaetz has been ferociously critical of the intelligence and security community, putting officials' feet to the fire in multiple hearings. In July, Gaetz interrogated FBI Director Christopher Wray on alleged abuse of Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act warrants and bluntly asked if he was "protecting the Bidens."
More recently, Gaetz grilled Attorney General Merrick Garland if evidence could be brought forth that Hunter Biden was no longer selling "the appearance of access to Joe Biden" and why the Biden Administration dissolved the China Initiative created by former President Donald Trump in light of the discovery of Chinese money going through the supposed Biden shell companies.
In each hearing, Wray and Garland gave non-committal answers, serving Gaetz more ammunition for this new bill.
