White House has signed off on Joe Biden getting the President's Daily Brief
November 24, 2020. Summarized by summa-bot.
Three weeks after the election, the White House has given formal approval for President-elect Joe Biden to receive the President's Daily Brief, a White House official told CNN Tuesday.
(CNN)Three weeks after the election, the White House has given formal approval for President-elect Joe Biden to receive the President's Daily Brief, a White House official told CNN Tuesday.
Coordination on when Biden will receive his first briefing is currently underway, but the move is another step toward a transition of power that President Donald Trump held up for weeks after it was clear he lost the 2020 election.
But Biden has yet to receive an intelligence briefing because of Trump's effort to overturn the results of the election, which cause confusion inside the federal government over whether a transition could begin.
CNN previously reported the decision was Trump's and the access to the PDB could have been granted before the GSA administrator made the transition official Monday.
ODNI, which is overseen by Trump's handpicked intelligence chief John Ratcliffe, previously referred all questions about Biden and the PDB back to the White House, underscoring the fact that the decision regarding Biden's access to the nation's most highly classified secrets rested with Trump.
A Biden transition official told CNN they had no comment on the decision to give the President-elect a classified briefing.
The ODNI official said this transition period could include providing an overview of the agency and related operations in addition to supporting the delivery of intelligence briefings.
In recent days, more Republicans had come forward to urge Trump to allow Biden to receive classified intelligence briefings, including his longtime ally South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham.
