Former Air Force Secretary says he’ll sue Trump administration to restore his security clearance

Former Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall on Monday said he’ll sue to force the Trump administration to restore his security clearance, which it revoked Friday after claiming he had disclosed sensitive information about the Qatari-gifted jet now serving as Air Force One.

Kendall, a West Point graduate who served as President Joe Biden’s head of the Air Force, said on CNN Monday that he’ll sue the administration, noting it has a history of retaliating against critics by stripping their clearances. “As my mother taught me years ago, you stand up to bullies,” said Kendall, who has denied disclosing classified information.

Mark Zaid, a prominent national security attorney who sued the administration after his own clearance was revoked by the Trump administration, confirmed in a post on X that Kendall had hired him. “More to come,”” Zaid wrote.

Zaid specializes in helping a variety of military and civilian clients maintain security clearances in the face of investigations.

Last year he became a target of the Trump administration’s efforts to strip security clearances from people they perceived to be enemies when he was named among 14 other people in an executive order signed by Trump. In a March 2025 executive order, Trump named former President Joe Biden and members of his family, Biden-era Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco, and...