Chairman of the House Committee of Homeland Security Michael McCaul is sponsoring a bill that could revoke the security clearance of Hillary Clinton or anyone who exercises "extreme carelessness" with classified information, and said Wednesday the legislation sends a "strong message" to people who hold such clearances about "what the standard really is."
"If Mrs. Clinton was still in the State Department, she would have been not only reprimanded but her security clearance most likely would have been revoked," the Texas Republican told
Fox News' "Fox & Friends" program.
"We possibly would have been talking about her termination from the State Department as secretary rather than her coronation now as the nominee for the Democratic Party."
FBI Director James Comey has called Clinton's handling of sensitive email through her private server as "extreme carelessness," said McCaul, so his bill states that "if you exercise extreme carelessness rather than gross negligence, your security clearance will be revoked or any application will be denied."
McCaul is also circulating a
petition online in support of his bill.
The bill can't target Clinton specifically, and McCaul noted that the matter is a "broader issue" than this as well.
"She compromised, as the FBI director said, possibly some of the top, most sensitive programs in the federal government," McCaul said. "She had the top diplomat possibly compromising top classified information to our top adversaries.
"I find that deeply disturbing. It is, in my judgment, gross negligence, and I think she put national security at stake here."
The former secretary and current Democratic presumptive presidential nominee is not facing criminal charges, McCaul continued, because of the "double standard" she and her husband, former President Bill Clinton, have enjoyed for decades.
"They demonstrated once again the law doesn't apply to them, they can get away with stuff," said McCaul. "I've had a security clearance since 1990. If I did this, my security clearances would be revoked, and not only that, most importantly, she took devices into countries where our foreign adversaries are.
"When I go into these countries, I'm told not to take these devices in because they can get this information."
Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, has introduced a companion bill to McCaul's in the Senate, even though the legislation faces a likely veto threat. But more importantly, McCaul said, the bills' proponents are trying to make a statement that the decision on Clinton is not fair to others in the intelligence communities who play by the rules.