Trump's payback to Biden: In what can be termed a payback from US President Donald Trump, the new US administration in its latest move is set to revoke former President Joe Biden's access to government secrets. It would end the daily intelligence briefings that Biden receives. In a post on social media, the US President accused Biden of setting a precedent in 2021 by instructing the Intelligence Community to stop him (Trump) from accessing details on national security.
Trump unleashes 'vengeance'
The move is being seen as Trump's latest vengeance, as he promised during his election campaign. Earlier, Trump revoked security clearances from more than four dozen former intelligence officials.
Trump wrote in his post, "There is no need for Joe Biden to continue receiving access to classified information. Therefore, we are immediately revoking Joe Biden's security clearances and stopping his daily intelligence briefings."
When Biden did the same to Trump
Previously, Biden made the same decision when he was the president, as he ended Trump's intelligence briefings after the 45th president allegedly helped spur efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election and incited the January 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol. Biden attributed Trump's “erratic” behaviour to the decision.
Asked in an interview with CBS News what he feared if Trump continued to receive the briefings, Biden said he did not want to “speculate out loud” but made clear he did not want Trump to continue having access to such information.
“I just think that there is no need for him to have the intelligence briefings,” Biden said.
“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?” In 2022, federal agents searched Trump's Florida home and seized boxes of classified records.
He was indicted on dozens of felony counts accusing him of illegally hoarding classified records and obstructing FBI efforts to get them back. He pleaded not guilty and denied wrongdoing.
Moreover, Trump is well within his rights to end the briefings for Biden because it is a sitting president's decision on whether a past president should continue to have access to classified information.
(With AP inputs)
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