After daring to tell the truth about security clearances and how they are profitable for those who hold them, conservative commentator Paris Dennard was the victim of a verbal blow up on CNN, eventually leading to another analyst telling him to “get out.”
The panel was discussing the recent revocation of a security clearance for former Central Intelligence Agency director John Brennan.
The fireworks began when Dennard made a claim that former government officials with said security clearances can land top jobs in Washington.
Senator Rand Paul first suggested Brennan was profiting off of his clearance by divulging secrets in his role as an analyst for both NBC News and MSNBC since February. He demanded Brennan’s be revoked, something President Trump finally agreed to last week.
“Is John Brennan monetizing his security clearance?” Paul posted on social media. “Is John Brennan making millions of dollars divulging secrets to the mainstream media with his attacks on (President Trump)?”
Dennard went with that angle, suggesting that monetizing one’s security clearance happens in Washington, and CNN counterterrorism analyst Philip Mudd promptly burst into flames at the insinuation.
“Zero. I get zero dollars from consulting companies that deal with U.S. government. Are we clear?”
Counterterrorism analyst Phil Mudd takes exception to commentator Paris Dennard’s suggestion that he benefits financially from his security clearance https://t.co/oyEZ3i3gKI pic.twitter.com/rA2OgcJ0re
— CNN (@CNN) August 18, 2018
“If you have a security clearance, especially high-level security clearance, your contracts and consulting gig pay you a lot more money because of the access that you have,” Dennard claimed.
Mudd fired back hysterically:
“Profitable, Paris? When I am required to sit on an advisory board, let me ask you one question, how much do you think I’m paid to do that at the request of the U.S. government? Give me one answer, and you’ve got 10 seconds? How much?”
Dennard responded by calmly pointing out he wasn’t referring to government contracts.
“The consulting firms that they form and that you all get is because you get more money … for having the security clearance,” he countered. “Stop acting like that doesn’t happen. That’s the truth.”
Mudd said he had no private sector relationships that require a security clearance, then told Dennard to leave.
“We’re done. We’re done. Get out!”
How did this lunatic Philip Mudd ever have security clearance? What a nut. Great job by Paris Dennard keeping his cool. CNN should be embarrassed.
— Bob Quick (@bquicker) August 19, 2018
Dennard wouldn’t back down, explaining to Mudd that it wasn’t his show and he had no right to segregate him from the panel. But Mudd wouldn’t stop.
“Twenty-five years in the service and this is the s**t I get?” Mudd exclaimed. “Get out!”
Facts, however, are on Dennard’s side.
Even the left-leaning Huffington Post fact-checked how much a security clearance is worth and determined it to be a “valuable asset.”
“Security clearances give job applicants a financial advantage over uncleared colleagues that likely amounts to thousands of dollars a year,” they wrote.
“For the vast majority of people with security clearance, losing that credential could cost them dearly.”
So Mudd is clearly getting outraged over something that’s factually accurate, and his response is one that, had it occurred on Fox News, would have been called into question as racist.
Philip Mudd’s emotional instability should have made it impossible for him to EVER have a clearance.
Revoke his as well as @JohnBrennan’s. @PARISDENNARD manages this loon admirably. https://t.co/1YuZvyOywC
— Sebastian Gorka DrG (@SebGorka) August 19, 2018
This isn’t the first time Mudd has lost control of his emotions on live television.
When discussing the Florida school shooting in February, Mudd broke down into a stream of crocodile tears in a sad, sad display.
“I can’t do it, Wolf,” he whimpered to CNN’s Wolf Blitzer. “I’m sorry, we can’t do it.”
This Will make you cry
CNN counterterrorism analyst Philip Mudd broke down in tears on Wednesday while discussing the Florida school shooting live on CNN.
A child of God is dead. Can not we acknowledge in this country that we cannot accept this?”
#guncontrol #GunControlNow pic.twitter.com/RFna4uWONV
— PoliticsVideoChannel (@politvidchannel) February 15, 2018
How is it that a guy like Mudd, an emotionally unstable mess, has a security clearance in his own right?
Dennard later stated on Twitter that, “I stand by every word in this exchange.”
Even if a CNN analyst tried to kick him to the back of the bus by telling him to “get out.”
Well done holding your ground, Paris. Well done.
