The original story is/was shocking when it first was published but not now since President Biden seems to be correcting the perceived wrong of the original story from the NY TIMES.
An update reported below may or may
not clarify the issue:
“Biden
Bars Trump From Receiving Intelligence Briefings, Citing Erratic Behavior”
President Biden said there was “no need” for former President Trump
to get the briefings, traditionally given to ex-presidents as a courtesy and to
keep them informed if their advice is needed.
Now this story is more recent
and a decision vis-à-vis as to whether it implies info to the former president
(NY TIMES above) and how Mr. Biden may or may not hold his ground as stated in
this version of the same story here from POLITICO that seems to show the Intel Agencies are preparing docs
for Trump to have access to – which in my view is insane.
The POLITICO article above has this recent story headline:
“Intel
agencies eye brief for Trump, amid fears he could spill secrets”
It’s standard practice to share classified information with
presidential nominees, but the decision to brief Trump if he becomes the GOP
nominee this year is loaded with political and potentially legal risks.
WASHINGTON (NY TIMES) — President Biden said earlier that he would
bar his predecessor, Donald J. Trump, from receiving intelligence briefings
traditionally given to former presidents, saying that Mr. Trump could not be
trusted because of his “erratic behavior” even before the January 6 attack on
the Capitol.
NOTE:
THE FINAL DECISION IS ALWAYS THE EXECUTIVE’S AUTHORITY.
The move was the first time that
a former president had been cut out of the briefings, which are provided partly
as a courtesy and partly for the moments when a sitting president reaches out
for advice. Currently, the briefings are offered on a regular basis to Jimmy
Carter, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama.
Mr. Biden, speaking to Norah
O’Donnell of CBS News, said Mr. Trump’s behavior worried him, saying: “Unrelated to the
insurrection that gave rise to the second impeachment.”
He then added: “I just think that there is no need for him to have
the intelligence briefings. 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?”
The former chairman of the House
Intelligence Committee, Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA), said just before Biden’s
inauguration, that Mr. Trump’s access to any classified information should be
cut off saying: “There is no circumstance in which this president should get
another intelligence briefing, not now and not in the future. If 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. And
that makes us less safe. We’ve seen this president politicize intelligence, and
that’s another risk to the country.”
The question of how Trump handles intelligence came up several times during his presidency.
For example, shortly after he fired the FBI director James Comey in May 2017, Trump met with the Russian FM and Russian ambassador in the Oval Office.
Those two in the Oval Office chuckled when Trump told them that. The
topic was about a highly classified piece of intelligence about the Islamic
State that came from Israel. The Israelis were outraged.
Also, later in his presidency, Trump took a photograph with his phone of a classified satellite image showing an explosion at a missile launch pad in Iran. Some of the markings were blacked out first, but the revelation gave adversaries information — which they may have had, anyway — about the abilities of American surveillance satellites.
Trump’s aides later said
that because he declined to read intelligence reports — preferring an oral
briefing — as he did not see the “S” and “U” markings indicating “Secret” / “Unclassified.”
But there was a deeper worry about how Mr. Trump could use intelligence now that he has retreated to Mar-a-Lago, his club in Florida.
The former president has talked openly about
the possibility of running for the White House again, perhaps under the banner
of a third party. The fear was that he would use, or twist, intelligence to fit
his political agenda, something he was often accused of in office.
Among those arguing to cut off Mr. Trump’s access was Susan M. Gordon, a career CIA officer who served as deputy director of national intelligence until 2019, when she left after being passed over for director.
In an opinion article in The Washington Post, Ms.
Gordon, one of the most respected intelligence officers of her generation,
wrote that the danger of providing intelligence to a president whose business
deals might make him beholden to foreign investors and lenders was just too
great.
Gordon frequently briefed Trump
saying: “His post-White House security profile, as the professionals like to
call it, is daunting especially after January 6” adding: Any president is by
definition a target and presents some risks. A former President Trump, even
before January 6 events, he might be unusually vulnerable to bad actors with
ill intent.”
My 2 Cents: Biden was correct as the NY TIMES wrote and now he should say and do that again now as the Intel Community considers giving Trump access in any form.
I say: Don’t
give him any intelligence access. If Trump were to win in November, then the
whole issue is moot, He would have full access – and deliver a horrible mess.
Who would benefit, probably: Putin,
Xi, Orban, or Kim Jong-un, et al. Why, what for: Money, favors, leverage, hell who knows?
Thanks for stopping by.
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