President Biden will let his intelligence team make the final call on whether to entrust his predecessor Donald Trump with classified briefings that traditionally are being given to former US leaders, according to the White House.
“The president was expressing his concern about former president Trump receiving access to sensitive intelligence,” press secretary Jen Psaki told The Washington Post.
…but he also has deep trust in his own intelligence team to make a determination about how to provide intelligence information if at any point the former president Trump requests a briefing.
Biden previously argued against providing Trump with any classified intelligence, saying in an interview with CBS News on Friday it would be a bad idea “because of his erratic behavior, unrelated to the insurrection,” referring to the storming of the US Capitol building in Washington by a group of Trump supporters on January 6.
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?
Limited intelligence briefings are traditionally given to former presidents upon their request or when a sitting president reaches out for advice, and Trump could become the first ex-commander-in-chief to be denied such a “courtesy.”
Accused of “inciting” a mob attack on the Capitol, even though he condemned the rioters, Trump who is no longer in office has been impeached for a second time by the Democrat-controlled House. His trial in the Senate is scheduled to begin next week.
