AP Photo/Kevin Wolf
The Pentagon “REVOKED” former Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall’s security clearance Friday after accusing him of improperly sharing classified details about Air Force One with the press.
Top Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell posted on X:
Effective immediately, the Department of War has REVOKED former Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall’s eligibility for access to classified information and his ability to hold any sensitive position.
This action follows his unauthorized disclosure of classified information regarding Air Force One’s capabilities to a media outlet.
Safeguarding classified information is a non-negotiable duty. Those who violate that trust forfeit the privilege of access and any role requiring it.
Kendall led the Air Force from 2021 until 2025 under former President Joe Biden, having spent decades prior working in national security. He now serves as a senior fellow at the left-leaning Center for American Progress.
In July, President Donald Trump’s administration subpoenaed four journalists from The New York Times over their reporting on security issues with the new Air Force One, a gift from the Qatari royal family, even seeking phone records from the relatives of those involved. The Department of Justice was later forced to withdraw the subpoenas, with Judge Arun Subramanian of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York grilling the government’s lawyers over whether they’d even followed the legal standards for subpoenaing journalists.
While the Times‘ initial story on the matter was published on July 8, a July 25 story from the outlet quotes Kendall as having said of the gifted plane, “People need to be aware it has a lot of shortfalls compared to Air Force One; they do add a measure of risk.”
Also in July, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth released a video vowing to crack down on Pentagon leakers. However, he drew immediate criticism over his own history of mishandling sensitive national security information — namely the 2025 SignalGate scandal. Trump, in the same month, called leakers “people that are cowards,” “unpatriotic,” and “treasonous.”
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