Biden says Trump should no longer receive confidential intelligence briefings

Biden says Trump should no longer receive confidential intelligence briefings

by

When asked in an interview with “CBS Evening News” anchor Norah O’Donnell whether he thought Trump should receive an intelligence briefing if he asked, Biden said, “I don’t think so.”

“I prefer not to speculate out loud,” said Biden when asked what he fears could happen if Trump continues to receive instructions. “I just think there’s no need for him to have the – the intelligence briefings. What is the value of giving him an intelligence briefing? What impact does it have, other than the fact that he can slip up and say something?”

Former presidents have traditionally been allowed to request and receive intelligence instructions.

A senior administration official previously told CNN that Trump has not filed any requests at this time. There are many ways in which intelligence can be presented, the official said, something that the intelligence community would formulate if any requests were made.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki told CNN on Thursday that “the intelligence community supports requests for intelligence briefings made by former presidents and will review all requests received, as they have always done.”
Trump was not known to read the President’s Daily Summary completely or regularly, the highly confidential summary of the nation’s secrets when he was in office. Instead, he was informed orally two or three times a week by his intelligence workers, CNN reported.

Former Trump Deputy Principal Director of National Intelligence, Sue Gordon, wrote in a Washington Post article after the US Capitol insurrection last month that Trump “can be extraordinarily vulnerable to bad actors with bad intentions” , once he leaves office.

Gordon, an intelligence veteran over 30, also said in 2019 that one of Trump’s most common responses to intelligence briefings was to doubt what was being reported.

In the clip from the interview that aired on Friday, Biden declined to say whether he would vote to convict Trump in next week’s impeachment trial if he were a senator.

“Look, I ran like hell to defeat him because I thought he was inadequate to be president,” said Biden. “I saw what everyone watched, what happened when that – that crew invaded the United States Congress. But I’m not in the Senate right now. I’m going to let the Senate make that decision.”

In comments after the January uprising, Biden told reporters, “I have said for now, well, more than a year, (Trump) is not fit to serve. He is one of the most incompetent presidents in the history of the United States of America. “

Last week, Biden told Kaitlan Collins of CNN that he thought the impeachment trial “has to happen.”

The House of Representatives impeachment Trump last month on charges of inciting the Capitol insurrection that left five people dead.

In a pre-trial petition filed on Tuesday, House impeachment managers accused Trump of being “uniquely responsible” for the deadly riots, saying the former president’s actions spreading false conspiracy theories that the election was stolen prompted its supporters to attack the Capitol and try to disrupt the peaceful transfer of power by preventing Congress from certifying the election.

The House’s impeachment managers on Thursday asked Trump to testify at his Senate impeachment trial, but his legal team quickly rejected the invitation.

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story mischaracterized the intelligence briefings that former presidents receive.

This story has been updated with additional information.

Kevin Liptak, Jim Acosta, Jeremy Herb and Manu Raju of CNN contributed to this report.

.Source