James Clapper, a former Obama official who has become a frequent critic of President Donald Trump over the years, was banned from attending a graduation ceremony for a K9 officer whose CIA training he had sponsored in memory of his late wife.
Clapper, who was Obama's director of national intelligence from 2010-17, learned from the group that trained the yellow Labrador, Susan, named for Clapper's wife, that his name had been removed from a list of guests for the event, held at the end of May at a CIA training facility in Herndon, Virginia, reported The Atlantic on Friday.
The CIA reportedly told the nonprofit group that trains the dogs for the CIA that Clapper needed to be removed from the list because of an executive order from Trump earlier this year stripping the veteran intelligence agent, 84, and others of their security clearances.
"Susan" and other detection canines are used by the CIA to sniff out hidden explosives such as car bombs.
Clapper hasn't commented publicly about being removed from the guest list to watch "Susan" graduate.
His late wife, a former National Security Agency employee, was an animal lover who had volunteered at a local animal shelter, according to her obituary in 2023, and had "doted" on their family dog, Augusta.
Trump has often compared people he dislikes to being "like a dog," notes The Atlantic.
He once compared Clapper to a dog as well, saying he and a fellow Obama-era official started to "choke like dogs" during a Senate hearing about the Trump-designated "Russia hoax," which he accuses Clapper and others of orchestrating.
On his first day back in the White House, Trump signed a sweeping executive order stripping the security clearances of more than four dozen former intelligence officials.
Clapper's name was first on the list.
The CIA, meanwhile, interpreted Trump's order to mean that Clapper, whose security clearance was gone, meant that he should not be allowed to step onto the agency's property, even to watch a K9 graduation ceremony.
A representative from the nonprofit organization that trained Susan, the K9, got a notice from the CIA to notify Clapper, a representative told The Atlantic.
The White House and CIA have not commented on the report.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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