By james art 
DES MOINES, Iowa — President Donald Trump should reconsider his decision to release the security clearances of three former top national security officials, the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee said Sunday.
That protection isn’t just for them, it’s for the public, said Sen. Tom Cotton, a loyal Trump supporter who nonetheless opposes the president’s targeting of those he perceives as adversaries. Cotton said a president must maintain qualified individuals interested in serving the White House, and that can sometimes require increased security for staff.
The Arkansas senator said he would encourage Trump to “reconsider the decision on these people” — former national security adviser John Bolton, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Brian Hook, Pompeo’s former senior policy adviser. All were involved in the planning and deliberation of the deadly drone strike against Iranian General Qassem Soleimani in January 2020.
“The threat to anyone involved in President Trump’s strike against Qassem Soleimani is constant. It’s real,” Cotton said during an appearance on “Fox News Sunday.” “Iran is committed to retaliating against all these people.”
Trump revoked security protections for the three that took effect last week, despite the fact that they faced threats from Iran to take a hard line against the Islamic Republic during the Trump administration.
Trump terminated the protective security details of his former national security adviser John Bolton, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and his former deputy Brian Hook. Security protections have been regularly expanded by the Biden administration because of credible threats to the men’s lives. Cotton said he has seen recent intelligence that shows all three former Trump staffers remain targets of Iran.
It’s another sign of the steps Trump is taking just days after returning to the White House to target those he perceives as adversaries.
Bolton, who was fired during the president’s first term in 2019, later wrote a book that the Trump administration tried unsuccessfully to block on the grounds that it disclosed national security information.
Trump became angry with Pompeo several months ago, saying publicly that he would not play a role in his new administration. And last week, Trump fired Hook from his presidentially appointed position on the board of the Wilson Center, a national security think tank.
“Better to be safe than sorry because it’s not just about these people who helped President Trump carry out his policies in his first term,” Cotton said. “It’s about their families and friends, innocent bystanders every time they’re out in public.”
Cotton also suggested that Trump’s decision to remove their security protections could have a chilling effect on the president’s ability to hire the most qualified advisers in the future.
“It’s also about the president being able to find good people and get good advice,” Cotton said. “They may be hesitant to do so, or they may be hesitant, if they are in office, to give him the advice he needs to carry out the policies he decides on.”
Asked last week about his decision, Trump told reporters: “Do you want to have a large number of people guarding people for the rest of their lives? I mean, there are risks to everything.”
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