Seven former CIA directors, including retired Gen. David Petraeus and Leon Panetta, are among 13 former top national-security officials who signed a letter of protest over President Donald Trump’s “ill-considered and unprecedented” removal of former CIA Director John Brennan’s security clearances. “We all agree that the president’s action… has nothing to do with who should and should not hold security clearances—and everything to do with an attempt to stifle free speech,” the officials wrote in the letter, which was sent to The Daily Beast and also signed by five former CIA deputy directors, former Director of National Intelligence James R. Clapper, and ex-Pentagon chief Robert Gates. “Decisions on security clearances should be based on national-security concerns and not political views,” the letter concluded.

—Kimberly Dozier