Security clearances have been politicized by the CIA. If they don’t like the appointee or it is someone who will try to change the politicized organization, they only have to deny the security clearance.
It happened in February to Robin Townley, an African affairs specialist and close aide to then-White House National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, who held top level security clearance for years. He was blocked for political reasons.
This is the deep state – the establishment – at work.
It was  a bureaucratic power play by opponents of both Flynn and Townley inside intelligence agencies.
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Angelo Codevilla, an intelligence expert, said the denial of clearances was engineered by the CIA and came despite Townley’s holding of the high level clearance for many years when he worked at the Defense Intelligence Agency.
The CIA didn’t want to deal with the president’s choice, they want their choice, so they abused their power. Even junior clerical officers are granted this high-level clearance.
“The CIA did not want to deal with him,” Codevilla stated. “Hence, it used the power to grant security clearances to tell the president to choose someone acceptable to the agency, though not so much to him.”
There is a lot of intrigue in our government, including in the White House, where there is a more liberal faction led by the President’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and a dwindling conservative faction led by Steve Bannon.
Recently the Kushner team wanted to push Sebastian Gorka out of the White House. They tried to force him into another federal agency because he has few responsibilities, but his job was saved by President Trump and Steve Bannon. Trump said he needs Seb Gorka because he is an invaluable member of his team, especially as a communicator throughout the media.
This came amid “security clearance” issues and a mounting controversy over his alleged involvement with a far-right Hungarian group that is said to have collaborated with the Nazi regime during the World War II.  Born in 1970, Gorka obviously had nothing to do with that. He has managed to weather it.
They can’t always use security issues to exert power. Sometimes they use identity politics or other forms of influence. The establishment wins more than it loses, using the media and other covert alliances.
Trump’s second choice for Secretary of the Army, Mark Greene, a Tennessee senator and a retired Army Flight surgeon, was forced to withdraw his nomination mainly because he is a Christian. His stands were misrepresented and he was unfairly accused of being anti-transgender.
Popular conservative and former U.N. Ambassador Ric Grennell was turned down by Rex Tillerson, in favor of Kay Bailey Hutchison, who holds a large stake in Exxon Oil. She is the establishment choice.
The left, especially left-wing media, are allied with some deep state actors who leak and manipulate the government. They re the unionized, left-wing bureaucrats and special interest groups, the bureaucrats whose power grows as government grows. There’s nothing mysterious about it and it’s not a conspiracy theory. It is the power of the unelected and unaccountable in government or tied to it.
Governing is hard, especially when all the special interests often win.
