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Republican Senator Promises To 'Step In' To Help Biden Get Classified Info

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Several Republican senators are saying that regardless of President Donald Trump’s lawsuits concerning last week’s election, it is time that presumptive potential President-elect Joe Biden is given daily intelligence briefings.

One GOP senator, James Lankford of Oklahoma, has gone so far as to say that he will take action on Friday to help Biden access the daily briefing given to the president.

“This needs to occur so that regardless of the outcome of the election, whichever way that it goes, people can be ready for that actual task,” Lankford told KRMG-AM, according to USA Today.

“If that’s not occurring by Friday, I will step in,” added Lankford, who is a member of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.

Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, who has raised questions over alleged voting irregularities, indicated Thursday that he was on board with having Biden, a former senator and vice president, get the briefings, according to The Guardian.

Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa also agreed, according to CNN reporter Manu Raju.

“If in fact [Biden] does win in the end, I think they need to be able to hit the ground running,” said Republican Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, a member of Senate Intelligence Committee. “I just don’t know any justification for withholding the briefing.”

White House spokesman Judd Deere told USA Today that the Trump administration “is following all statutory requirements.”

Some said that national security concerns require preparation for all eventualities.

Sen. Angus King of Maine, an independent who caucuses with Democrats, said that if there is a transition, it could be a period of potential vulnerability.

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“The transition is inherently a dangerous period,” King said.

“There are clear national security implications here, and you want the incoming administration to be as fully as informed as possible about where the danger areas are,” he added.

The issue of briefings is not the only bone of contention concerning the intelligence community, where a battle of whether the Trump administration should oust CIA director Gina Haspel has spilled into the Twittersphere.

Cornyn responded on Twitter.

Donald Trump Jr. then entered the debate.

Amid the arguing over Haspel, Republican Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah said he’s all for moving full speed ahead with a transition.

“It’s very much in our national interest, in our foreign policy interest, national security interest, to make sure that if there’s a new team that may become the leadership team, that they be given all access as quickly as possible,” Romney told NBC News.

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Jack Davis is a freelance writer who joined The Western Journal in July 2015 and chronicled the campaign that saw President Donald Trump elected. Since then, he has written extensively for The Western Journal on the Trump administration as well as foreign policy and military issues.
Jack Davis is a freelance writer who joined The Western Journal in July 2015 and chronicled the campaign that saw President Donald Trump elected. Since then, he has written extensively for The Western Journal on the Trump administration as well as foreign policy and military issues.
Jack can be reached at jackwritings1@gmail.com.
Location
New York City
Languages Spoken
English
Topics of Expertise
Politics, Foreign Policy, Military & Defense Issues




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