This nonsense with the Trump administration holding up the transition to President-elect Joe Biden isn’t just the usual dumb politics: it’s also putting the United States at risk in terms of national security.
“As the 9/11 Commission report highlighted, avoiding disruption in national security policymaking between administrations is critical to prepare for an uncertain threat environment,” Sen. Mark Warner wrote in a letter to Emily Murphy, the administrator of the General Services Administration, who needs to provide the sign-off needed to begin the transition.
“President-elect Biden and his transition team should already be receiving classified briefings that will prepare them to protect our country immediately upon taking office,” Warner noted in the letter. “Their ability to respond appropriately to any threats early in his term depends on the knowledge and perspective that these briefings provide.”
Oh, yeah, 9/11 – good point, there.
That happened in 2001, eight months into the first term of the George W. Bush presidency, which we remember came after the contested election of 2000.
We weren’t sure for weeks who was going to be our president – the Democratic nominee, Al Gore, didn’t concede until Dec. 12.
Bush’s chief of staff, Andy Card, said last week in an interview on “The News with Shepard Smith” that “had been a longer transition and there had been cooperation, there might have been a better response, or maybe not even any attack.”
Keep that in mind as President Trump keeps fighting the lost cause.
“President-elect Biden’s transition team must immediately have access to the career professionals in all federal agencies to understand the current challenges they face. This access is especially important in the Intelligence Community, where public information about the current activities of the agencies is not available,” said Warner, the vice chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee.
Another issue: “the delay in ascertaining President-elect Biden as the apparent winner of the presidential election impedes conducting background investigations to vet personnel for high-level positions in the new administration. This may unnecessarily slow confirmation of officials like the Director of National Intelligence and the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, vital positions in the effort to protect our country from foreign threats,” Warner wrote.
“There is no plausible reason for you to continue to delay in making this ascertainment. Further delay will damage our national security, and I urge you to proceed with this common sense step immediately.”
Story by Chris Graham
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