Former Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall has announced he will take legal action against the Trump administration following the Pentagon's decision last week to revoke his security clearance. The move came after accusations that he disclosed classified information to the media regarding the new Air Force One aircraft.
The Defense Department pulled Kendall's eligibility for classified access and his ability to hold any sensitive position on Friday, according to a post on X by Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell. The post alleged that Kendall had revealed classified details about the presidential aircraft's defensive capabilities.
Speaking on CNN's OutFront with Erin Burnett on Monday, Kendall said he learned of the revocation only through Parnell's social media post. "I was initially mystified, because I couldn't think of anything I'd ever said that was classified," he said. "I had tried very hard not to say anything classified and was quite sure I had not."
The controversy stems from Kendall's comments to The New York Times last month about safety concerns with the new Air Force One, which was converted from a Qatari luxury jet gifted to the U.S. Kendall warned that the retrofitted plane had "a lot of shortfalls" compared with the older aircraft and posed "a measure of risk." The Times reported that the Secret Service had advised President Trump not to use the plane for a trip from a NATO summit in Turkey due to its lack of advanced antimissile systems.
In a related development, The Washington Post reported Monday that Trump secretly flew out of Ankara on an alternate military aircraft while the White House claimed he was aboard Air Force One. The operation was conducted without the knowledge of reporters and some White House staff who believed they were on the same plane as the president.
Kendall, who served as Air Force secretary from 2021 to 2025 under the Biden administration, expressed bewilderment at the Pentagon's action. "I don't know anything about that airplane," he said of the Qatari jet. "I have made the observation that an airplane that you've spent one year on and $400 million will not be as capable as an airplane you spend five years on and $2 billion. That's inherently obvious."
Kendall believes the administration targeted him because of his outspoken criticism since leaving office. "I'm gonna sue them," he declared. "What happens to me is not terribly important. This does not have an enormous impact on me. I will lose some income because of it, and I will lose some opportunities because of it, but, you know, this is one of over a hundred cases where our government has taken away people's security clearances very arbitrarily, often for political reasons, as a way to attack political enemies, apparently."
Kendall has retained attorney Mark Zaid and insists there was no legitimate basis for the revocation and that he was denied due process. "Nobody from the government ever talked to me about this. Nobody asked me any questions. I have no idea what they think I said. I've had no opportunity to defend myself. Those are just basic due process rights that we should all have as Americans," he said.
The case adds to a growing list of security clearance revocations under the Trump administration, which critics argue are politically motivated. For more on this trend, see the Pentagon's action against Kendall. The broader implications for government accountability are also discussed in this analysis of presidential deflections.
