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Posted on 08/11/2026 11:34:28 AM PDT by Red Badger
Former Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall said Monday that he was suing the Trump administration, after the Department of Defense revoked his access to classified information for allegedly leaking classified information regarding the Qatar-gifted Air Force One.
Kendall told CNN that he had learned of the revocation through a tweet by the Department of Defense, saying he intended to sue and had hired national security attorney Mark Zaid to represent him against the government. “More to come,” said Zaid in a post on X confirming his hiring.
In a Friday post on his official X social media account, Pentagon chief spokesman Sean Parnell accused Kendall of “unauthorized disclosure of classified information regarding Air Force One’s capabilities to a media outlet”, claiming that the Pentagon had revoked his “eligibility for access to classified information and his ability to hold any sensitive position”.
Kendall told the Associated Press late on Friday that he was “completely mystified” by the accusation. “No one has said anything to me about what I’m asserted to have revealed and I can’t imagine what it could be”.
While Kendall had overseen the VC-25B program building replacements for the VC-25As used to transport the President as part of his role leading the Department of the Air Force, he left the post in January 2025, with the Qatari royal family gifting the Boeing 747-8 to the United States following a state visit by Donald Trump in May 2025.
In July, Kendall was quoted in the New York Times saying the rapid conversion of the 747-8 into the VC-25B Bridge didn’t permit “normal” Air Force One modifications. “Frankly, I’m surprised to see this plane used outside the U.S.,” said Kendall of Trump’s use of the aircraft to travel to an early July NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey.
Trump used an older VC-25A on the first leg of his return flight from the summit, with the New York Times and several other publications reporting that the VC-25B Bridge’s lack of security and command and control functions led to the older aircraft’s use amidst Trump’s attempts to pressure Iran at the time.
Late on Monday, the New York Times reported that Trump had not actually used the VC-25A due to what officials said was an assassination threat from Iran. Trump secretly boarded a third U.S. Air Force aircraft for the flight from Turkey to the United Kingdom, with his departure from the VC-25A concealed using a catering container.
The White House has aggressively attempted to hunt down leaks regarding the new aircraft’s capabilities, with government officials telling CNN that Trump has “privately seethed” over the leaks.
On July 23, the Department of Justice withdrew subpoenas against three New York Times journalists seeking their phone records and grand jury testimony about their sources, after a federal judge said the subpoenas would be quashed due to sloppy legal work if they were not first withdrawn.
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No retired nor fired person should be given clearances.
Do we have a deal?
When you’re retired you’re still under the Commander-In-Chief’s command.
Sue? No one has a right to classified information. The President can restrict it to whomever he wants?
Roger that! Even ex prez.
C’mon, Frank. Take it like a man.
You don’t need access unless recalled. You can side-gig the tv shows on your own dime.
uh, guilty.
Just before I retired I was in the process of completing my 5 year review for my TS/SCI, they didn’t complete it before my retirement but asked if I wanted it completed. I said hell no, there is no way I want to work in or with the gov’t again. They should revoke it when you retire, and if you do go into a contract type job that requires a clearance, your new company should pay for it.
He’s outa the job
Why does he need access to classified info?
Nevermind, we know its part of staying in the good ol’ boy network
“Tell ya what,Frankie....you go ahead with your lawsuit and if you wind up losing in the end we’ll put you up against the wall. Drop the lawsuit and you lose you pension but no prison and no firing squad.
Do we have a deal?”
He should take the risk if he is innocent. He will wait until no one is looking and drop it.
Exactly. Once you are out of government service you are not supposed to handle any sensitive data...............
I can see reasons for sometimes keeping someone in the loop after they retire if they are a real expert in a narrow field, Charlie Beckwith (created Delta Force) for example, kept his hand in after he retired, there are lifetime experts in regions of the world, or the use of missiles in modern warfare, in intelligence fields or science, or code breaking for example, I can see the reason for extending their clearances in a limited way so that they can get a phone call, or come in to help work out an issue.
“Frankly, I’m surprised to see this plane used outside the U.S.,” said Kendall of Trump’s use of the aircraft to travel to an early July NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey.”
He may not have revealed classified information per se, but anyone with half a brain could have figured out what he was suggesting.
‘Oh dear, I can’t imagine what I might have said!’, he wrings his hands and says in a fit of consternation... all the while suggesting to me that an idiot/political operative like him **never should have gotten security clearance in the first place**!
The bigger question is why anyone should think that a Federal judge, Judicial branch, has the authority to countermand an order involving national security decisions by the Executive branch.
I think it is high time for the Trump administration to send out officials and barge into the judges’ chambers and take notes and overrule decisions.
It says right there he was blabbing about something that could get the President killed.
It was:
1. Stupidity
2. Incompetence
3. Treason
4. All of the above
Take your pick...............
I think the privilege of clearance is for the benefit of the government, not the former employee.
Former.
No need to have access if not currently employed by US govt in a position worthy of clearance.
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