US elections: Biden’s team demands access to security briefings given to Trump

Joe Biden’s transition team is getting tough and demanding access to critical national security reports amid Donald Trump’s continued refusal to admit electoral defeat.

Biden has reportedly been prohibited from receiving daily intelligence reports given to the president, which include summaries of threats to national security.

Jen Psaki, an official on Biden’s transition team, said they were “moving forward with the transition,” but direct engagement with federal agencies “would help significantly.”

“It’s been six days, but with each passing day, it becomes more worrying that our national security team and the president-elect and vice-president-elect [Kamala Harris] We don’t have access to those threat assessments, intelligence reports, real-time information about our commitments around the world, “he said.

“Real-time information is needed to deal with current crises,” he added. “It is imperative that our team and our experts have that access.”

Psaki said that Biden would be briefed by national security experts next week.

It comes as Trump made his first public comments since losing to Biden, in an appearance in the White House Rose Garden.

The president provided an update on Operation Warp Speed, which is his administration’s effort to accelerate the development and distribution of a coronavirus vaccine.

He briefly alluded to the election result and reiterated his opposition to the closures.

“I’m not going to a lockdown. Hopefully the ah – whatever happens in the future, who knows what administration it will be, I guess time will tell – but I can tell you this administration will not go to a lockdown,” he said. Trump.

Meanwhile, the US news networks have called up the final group of states, finally giving a full electoral result.

Trump has been called the winner in North Carolina, while Arizona and Georgia have been called by Biden.

The Trump campaign is still taking legal action, and there are counts to come in both Georgia and Wisconsin, so there’s still a bit of an asterisk here. But none of those factors are likely to change any of the results.

So, assuming nothing changes, Biden has won 306 electoral votes, the same number Trump won four years ago.

Trump’s lack of help with transition is ‘catastrophic’

Former White House Chief of Staff John Kelly criticized Trump for not helping with the transition to a Biden administration.

“The delay in transition is a growing national health and safety crisis,” Kelly said in a statement.

“It is easy for the current administration to start reporting to Mr. Biden, Ms. Harris, the new chief of staff, and ALL identified cabinet members and senior staff.”

Kelly added: “The downside of not doing so could be catastrophic for our people, regardless of who they voted for.”

“The current administration does not have to give in, but it must do the right thing in case the constitutional system declares that it lost,” he said.

“This is not about the Republican Party or the Democratic Party. It is not about the President or Mr. Biden. This is about America and what is best for our people.”

“Mr. Trump should order that the transition process begin immediately. It is the right thing to do and the moral thing to do.”