The President of the United States, Donald Trump, has pledged to give his successor access to the country’s most secure secrets, intelligence services reported.
The decision means President-elect Joe Biden will have access to the latest information on major national security threats around the world.
A government official said Tuesday that Trump allowed Biden to receive the President’s Daily Brief (PDB), the highly ranked briefing the nation’s intelligence services have been preparing for the highest government leaders.
The official said the logistics of when and where Biden would receive the briefing for the first time are still being worked out, The Associated Press reported.
Biden has worked from his home in Wilmington, Delaware and from a temporary room in a local theater.
An office of the Director of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) told Reuters News that “ODNI will seek assistance from the transition team in accordance with the Presidential Transition Act.”
“This afternoon the White House approved ODNI to advance the deployment of the PDB as part of support for the transition,” said the unnamed official.
The decision comes a day after the General Services Administration (GSA) cleared the way for the beginning of formal transition planning for the von Biden administration prior to his inauguration as 46th President of the United States on Jan. 20.
Trump continues to sow doubts about the November 3 election outcome and has not officially admitted, but his administration is increasingly preparing for the handover.
Biden said the shift in power “has already started” and that his team “won’t be as far behind the curve as we thought we might be in the past”.
“There is a lot of direct discussion and I have to say the public relations work has been sincere. So far it has not been frowned upon. And I don’t expect it. So yeah, it’s already started, ”Biden said in an interview slated to air Tuesday night on NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt.
Trump has still refused to admit and vows to continue fighting in court even after giving the green light to GSA Administrator Emily Murphy to coordinate with Biden’s transition team.
I would like to thank Emily Murphy of the GSA for her unwavering commitment and loyalty to our country. She has been harassed, threatened, and abused – and I don’t want this to happen to her, her family, or GSA employees. Our case continues STRONG …
– Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 23, 2020
Murphy was under increasing pressure from members of Congress to declare Biden the obvious winner and begin the formal transition process.
“Our democracy and the orderly transfer of power from one president to another must not be undermined by a candidate’s inexplicable reluctance to accept the clear results of an election or the inaction of government officials like you,” said Adam Schiff, Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee , had said in a letter to Murphy dated November 23rd.
Biden unveiled his national security team earlier in the day, his first substantial signal of how he will turn away from Trump’s international politics.
Antony Blinken, a well-respected longtime foreign policy advisor to Biden, will serve as secretary of the US State Department.
Alejandro Mayorkas, a Cuban-American attorney and former director of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service, will be the secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
Diplomat Linda Thomas-Greenfield is appointed Ambassador to the United Nations. Jake Sullivan, a national security adviser under Biden when he served as vice president, will be the national security adviser to the White House.
Avril Haines, a former deputy director of the CIA, has been selected as director of National Intelligence, America’s top espionage job. She would be the first woman to hold the post.
Former Secretary of State John Kerry will be a special envoy on climate change.
Comments are closed.