Politics

President Joe Biden says Donald Trump should not receive post-presidency intelligence briefings

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On Friday, President Biden said that former President Trump should not receive intelligence briefings, which is traditionally offered to all former Presidents.

During an appearance on “CBS Evening News” with Norah O’Donnell, Biden said that former President Trump should not have access to classified information in the form of the briefings usually given to ex-presidents, citing Trump’s “erratic behavior.” Asked by O’Donnell whether Trump should receive the briefings, Biden replied, “I think not.” White House press secretary Jen Psaki, during her daily press briefing Monday, when asked whether the Biden administration would provide Trump with intelligence briefings, said that she had raised the question with Biden’s national security team and that the issue was “under review.”

Explaining his reason for wanting to withhold sensitive information from Trump, Biden said, “because of his erratic behavior unrelated to the insurrection.” In Friday’s interview, O’Donnell pressed Biden on his past characterizations of Trump. “You’ve called him an existential threat. You’ve called him dangerous. You’ve called him reckless,” she said. Biden replied, “Yeah, I have. And I believe it.” When asked to describe his “worst fear” were Trump to continue receiving classified information, to which he had unrestricted access as president, Biden said, “I’d rather not speculate out loud. I just think that there is no need for him to have the — the intelligence briefings.” He added, “What value is giving him an intelligence briefing? What impact does he have at all, other than the fact he might slip and say something?” [MSN].

Last month, before Biden’s inauguration, the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee also said Trump should be denied access to official secrets after he left office. “There is no circumstance in which this president should get another intelligence briefing, not now and not in the future,” Rep. Adam B. Schiff (D-Calif.) said on CBS’s “Face the Nation.” Schiff helped lead the first impeachment effort against Trump, starting more than a year ago, after Trump suggested to the president of Ukraine that his country should investigate Biden — at the time a potential rival for the presidency — and his family. “Indeed, there were, I think, any number of intelligence partners around the world who probably started withholding information from us because they didn’t trust the president would safeguard that information and protect their sources and methods,” Schiff said. “And that makes us less safe” [FOX].

ARTICLE: OWEN LEE BRZDEK

POLITICS EDITOR: CARSON CHOATE

PHOTO CREDITS: ANCHORAGE DAILY NEWS

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