"In the case of former CIA Directors, the agency 'holds' their security clearance and renews it every five years for the rest of their lives, however, that requires former CIA Directors to behave like current CIA employees."
CBS News, July 23
Security clearances are apparently for sale to the media for trafficing in in leaked classified information.
Here’s how it works. Let’s say you have a clearance but no need to know. Someone on the inside can leak (i.e decide you have a NTK) and pass info to you. No crime has been committed, just a bad decision. On the other hand, no clearance means a crime has been committed by both people an are liable to 10 years in prison.
Worked for Comey
You also probably thought spies were supposed to be working for the good of their country.