President-elect Joe Biden will begin obtaining the nation’s most classified intelligence information after the White House signed on Tuesday to provide him with the Presidential Daily Report as the transition progresses.
The incoming president’s access to the top-secret briefing is the highlight of the transition and is seen as key to the orderly transfer of presidential responsibilities to a new leader.
All government agencies are now participating in briefings a day after President Donald Trump’s administration formally acknowledged that Biden likely won, even though the president himself has not yet conceded, a transition official said on condition of anonymity.
An intelligence official said Biden’s team would meet with current intelligence officials on Monday to review more details of the transition.
Biden had been receiving intelligence reports as a presidential candidate, part of a long tradition of facilitating the transition from power. But Trump’s refusal to concede the presidential race hampered Biden’s ability to receive the most sensitive presidential report before the General Services Administration formally recognized Biden as the winner on Monday.
Trump’s decision to allow Biden to obtain the top-secret information came on the same day that the president-elect formally announced key members of his national security team. Among them is Avril Haines, a former high-level CIA official whom Biden will nominate as Director of National Intelligence.
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