The Japan Times - Trump urges Microsoft to fire ex-Biden administration official

"It is my opinion that Microsoft should immediately terminate the employment of Lisa Monaco," Trump said in a post on Truth Social.

Since taking office in January, the Republican president has taken a number of punitive measures against his perceived enemies and political opponents.

Former FBI director James Comey, a prominent Trump critic, was indicted on two criminal counts on Thursday and Trump said Friday he hopes "there are others."

Trump, in his call for Microsoft to fire Monaco, noted that she served as deputy attorney general in the Joe Biden administration, when criminal cases were brought against him.

"Monaco has been shockingly hired as the President of Global Affairs for Microsoft, in a very senior role with access to Highly Sensitive Information," he wrote. "Monaco's having that kind of access is unacceptable, and cannot be allowed to stand.

"She is a menace to US National Security, especially given the major contracts that Microsoft has with the United States Government," he added. "The US Government recently stripped her of all Security Clearances, took away all of her access to National Security Intelligence, and banned her from all Federal Properties."

Trump was the target of several investigations after leaving the White House in 2021.

The FBI raided his Mar-a-Lago home in 2022 as part of a probe into mishandling of classified documents and Trump was charged by Special Counsel Jack Smith with plotting to overturn the results of the 2020 election.

Neither case came to trial, and Smith -- in line with a Justice Department policy of not prosecuting a sitting president -- dropped them both after Trump won the November 2024 vote.

K.Yamaguchi--JT