Brennan memoir slated for October, says Trump blocked him from accessing records

Former CIA Director John Brennan will release a memoir titled “Undaunted: My Fight Against American’s Enemies, at Home and Abroad” in October, Macmillan Publishers announced Tuesday. 

According to Macmillan, Brennan’s book “pulls back the curtain on the inner workings of the Agency, describing the selfless, patriotic, and invisible work of the women and men involved in national security.”

The Washington Post on Wednesday reported that Brennan had told the outlet that the administration blocked his access to classified records while he was writing the book, records that other former CIA directors have been able to access before their manuscripts are reviewed.

Brennan was CIA director from 2013 to 2017, and President Trump has accused him of being a key figure in the “deep state” conspiracy to undermine his campaign and discredit his election.

Mark Zaid, an attorney who has represented government whistleblowers and former intelligence agency employees who have gone on to write memoirs, told the Post that the blocking of the records was “unprecedented, as far as I know.”

“This is demonstrative, once again, of a vindictive, political president whose actions have nothing to do with actual national security decisions,” he said. 

White House spokesman Judd Deere confirmed to The Hill that Trump directed the CIA to withhold the records based on Brennan’s “erratic behavior and the President’s belief that access to classified information should be solely for the benefit of the government and the American people.”