President Joe Biden said his predecessor should not receive intelligence briefings because he expressed fears that former President Donald Trump could reveal sensitive information. Biden said “I don’t think so” when CBS News anchor Norah O’Donnell asked if Trump should receive intelligence briefings. And it’s not just about the uprising at the Capitol, but rather “ his erratic behavior unrelated to the uprising, ” Biden said when asked why.
Asked to explain, Biden declined to go into detail about what kind of damage Trump could do with sensitive information. “I’d rather not speculate out loud,” Biden said. “I just think he doesn’t need the intelligence briefings. What is the value of giving him an intelligence briefing? What impact does he have at all, other than the fact that he slips and says something? “
After Biden’s comments, the White House clarified that there was no formal policy change and that it would still be up to the intelligence community to decide whether Trump would receive a briefing if he asked. The president expressed concern that former President Trump would have access to sensitive information, but he also has a deep confidence in his own intelligence agency to determine how to provide intelligence if former President Trump at any time requires a Briefing asks, “said Jen Psaki, the White House press secretary. According to CNN, Trump has yet to request a briefing.
Former presidents have traditionally been allowed to request and receive information briefings. And Biden isn’t the first to say the tradition shouldn’t continue with Trump. Rep. Adam Schiff, the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, said last month that Trump “cannot be trusted” with classified information. “There is no circumstance in which this president should receive another intelligence briefing – not now, not in the future,” said Schiff. Susan Gordon, who was the former deputy director of Trump’s National Intelligence Service from 2017 to 2019, wrote an op-ed before Biden was inaugurated arguing that it was a national security risk to hand over classified information to the former president. “My recommendation, as a 30-plus-year veteran of the intelligence community, is not to give him any briefings after January 20,” wrote Gordon. “With this simple act – which is the sole prerogative of the new president – Joe Biden can mitigate some aspect of the potential national security risk posed by private citizen Donald Trump.”
In another part of the interview, Biden said he considers it unlikely. A $ 15 federal minimum wage plan would eventually remain in the Covid-19 aid package. “I put it in there, but I don’t think it will survive,” said Biden. He vowed that raising the minimum wage would be the subject of future legislation, although he suggested it would be slow. “As President of the United States, I am prepared for a separate minimum wage negotiation to work my way up from what it is today,” Biden said. “No one should work 40 hours a week and live on the poverty wage and if you earn less than $ 15 an hour, you are living on the poverty wage.”
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