BREAKING: TRUMP ADMIN FINDS LEAKER - ESCORTED OUT BY POLICE
Pentagon Revokes Frank Kendall's Classified Access—But It Has Not Said What He Allegedly Disclosed
The former Air Force secretary denies revealing classified material, leaving the central allegation unresolved in public.
The Pentagon has taken immediate action against a former senior Biden administration defense official over what it describes as an unauthorized disclosure involving one of the most security-sensitive aircraft in the U.S. government.
Former Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall has lost his eligibility to access classified information and his ability to hold a sensitive government position after the department accused him of disclosing classified information about Air Force One's capabilities to a media outlet.
But the central fact behind that decision remains undisclosed.
The Pentagon has not publicly identified the specific information it says Kendall revealed, the media organization that allegedly received it, or whether the matter has been referred for criminal prosecution.
Kendall also disputes the accusation.
He told The Associated Press that he was “completely mystified” by the action and said he had always been extremely careful not to disclose classified material. He separately told The Wall Street Journal that no one had told him what he was alleged to have revealed.
That makes the case more complicated than a straightforward announcement about a confirmed security breach.
The government has imposed a significant administrative consequence. But it has not publicly shown the evidence behind the allegation, and Kendall says he does not know what classified information he supposedly disclosed.
Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell announced the decision Friday 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,” Parnell wrote.
He said the action followed Kendall's “unauthorized disclosure of classified information regarding Air Force One's capabilities to a media outlet.”
Parnell framed the decision as a matter of protecting national security information.
“Safeguarding classified information is a non-negotiable duty,” he wrote. “Those who violate that trust forfeit the privilege of access and any role requiring it.”
The administration currently uses “Department of War” as an authorized secondary title for the Department of Defense. The statutory department remains the Department of Defense, even though the Pentagon and White House now use the War Department title in public communications.
The timing of the action has drawn attention because it follows a series of reports about the Qatari-donated Boeing 747-8 that President Donald Trump has begun using as a presidential aircraft.
The Wall Street Journal recently compared that aircraft with the older VC-25A jets traditionally used as Air Force One.
According to the Journal, the newer aircraft does not have every capability built into the older presidential fleet. The report said the Qatari-donated jet cannot refuel in midair and lacks some of the structural hardening associated with protection from the effects of a nuclear blast.
The report also described differences involving defensive systems, onboard air stairs, baggage handling, food storage and other features.
Kendall was quoted in recent reporting about the aircraft, including stories examining whether the rapid conversion of the donated 747 could provide the full range of capabilities normally associated with presidential airlift.
Earlier in July, Kendall told The Wall Street Journal that retrofitting a Boeing 747 with the full set of protections normally expected for presidential use should take roughly three to four years.
That estimate was notable because the Qatari aircraft was converted on a far shorter timeline.
The aircraft underwent a roughly $400 million retrofit and entered service this summer. Trump used it on domestic travel and flew it to Turkey, but later returned from a NATO summit aboard one of the older presidential aircraft amid heightened security concerns connected to the conflict with Iran.
The Air Force has defended the conversion process, saying the work was completed without accepting risk to security, safety or secure communications. It has also acknowledged that several highly complex engineering modifications planned for the future purpose-built presidential aircraft were intentionally excluded from the donated jet's conversion.
Those distinctions matter because “Air Force One” is not simply a luxury transport mission.
The presidential airlift fleet is designed to preserve secure communications, command capability, survivability and continuity of government during emergencies and national security crises.
Some details about those capabilities are necessarily classified because revealing them could expose vulnerabilities or give potential adversaries information about how the aircraft might respond to a threat.
That is why an unauthorized disclosure involving presidential aircraft capabilities would be treated seriously if substantiated.
It is also why the absence of public detail matters.
The Pentagon has not said which statement, document or technical fact crossed the line from information already discussed publicly into classified material.
Nor has it publicly tied the revocation to a specific Wall Street Journal or New York Times passage.
That leaves outside observers unable to determine from the public record whether the dispute concerns a specific technical capability, Kendall's broader description of the aircraft's limitations, or some other information that has not been reported.
Kendall's background makes the allegation especially significant.
He served as secretary of the Air Force from 2021 until January 2025 and previously held senior Pentagon acquisition positions during the Obama administration.
His connection to the presidential aircraft modernization program stretches back more than a decade.
In 2015, while serving as undersecretary of defense for acquisition, technology and logistics, Kendall coordinated with then-Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James on the decision to select Boeing's 747-8 platform for the next generation of presidential aircraft.
The Air Force said at the time that the 747-8 was the only U.S.-manufactured aircraft that, once fully missionized, could meet the capabilities required for the presidential support mission.
That history gave Kendall extensive familiarity with both the replacement program and the kinds of requirements the government places on presidential aviation.
It also means the revocation could have consequences beyond symbolism.
Former officials may retain eligibility to work on classified projects, serve in advisory roles or consult for defense companies after leaving government. Losing that eligibility can close off work that requires access to sensitive information.
What the action does not establish, at least publicly, is whether Kendall committed a crime.
Parnell did not announce a criminal referral, and the Pentagon declined to provide additional information when asked whether Kendall could face prosecution.
The dispute also comes amid a broader administration effort to investigate leaks involving the presidential aircraft.
After reporting last month about security limitations on the Qatari-donated plane, the Justice Department subpoenaed journalists in an effort to identify confidential sources. Those subpoenas were later withdrawn.
That background raises two separate issues that should not be collapsed into one.
One is whether classified information about presidential aircraft capabilities was improperly disclosed.
The other is whether the government has publicly established that Kendall was the person who made such a disclosure.
So far, the Pentagon has answered the first question only as an allegation and has taken administrative action against Kendall on that basis.
Kendall has answered with a denial.
What remains missing is the information that would allow the public to evaluate the dispute for itself.
The revocation therefore settles one immediate issue: Kendall no longer has eligibility to access classified information or hold a sensitive position requiring it.
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What it does not settle is the more important question behind the decision—what, exactly, the Pentagon believes he disclosed, and whether additional action will follow.
