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When Donald Trump refuses to cooperate with Joe Biden, it could make the United States more vulnerable to terrorism and espionage.
When Donald Trump delays preparations for Joe Biden, he exposes the entire country to danger. Photo: Carlos Barria, Reuters / NTB
Outgoing President Donald Trump refuses the government apparatus to cooperate with election winner Joe Biden and his people. The upshot is that Biden may run into trouble when he takes office on January 20 of next year.
The tradition is that the winner of the election will have access as soon as possible to the daily press conference that the US intelligence services put together for the president. This gives the incoming president an overview of the issues he has to deal with from day one in the White House.
Trump refuses to let Biden speak to intelligence services.
Nor can the government apparatus begin to eliminate the people Biden employs, writes Foreign Policy magazine.
This means that the people who take office on January 20 cannot prepare properly.
Reminiscent of September 11
The last time the work to seize power was delayed was in 2000, when the US Supreme Court finally gave George W. Bush the electoral victory more than a month after the election. The NBC television company has spoken with Bush’s chief of staff, Andy Card.
Remember the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, less than eight months after Bush took office. Card says that if one had had a longer transition period, possibly there would have been a better prepared government, and perhaps no attack at all.
– This is very serious, he says.
The claim that the short transition period had such dire consequences is not new. The Commission of Investigation of the terrorist attacks wrote the same.
The United States stands out in the West in that much of the civil service is replaced by an election change. Joe Biden and his people will fill 4,000 jobs. Away from all these you need security clearance. But they need the help of their predecessors to get used to the job.
Kamala Harris has already been cleared for security, after working with intelligence in the Senate. But many others who will take responsibility will have to wait for authorization. Photo: Andrew Harnik, AP / NTB
Unable to access secure IT systems
Another potential problem for Biden is that he also does not get help from government IT security experts. The Wall Street Journal writes that it makes transition work vulnerable to espionage. The corona pandemic means that transition work relies even more than usual on a secure IT infrastructure, as most people work from home.
Donald Trump has ordered that they receive no help from the country’s leading experts in obtaining computer systems. Usually, the winner of the election can take over a finished IT system to prepare their policy. Biden doesn’t have that luxury now.
“Hackers love bad acquisitions,” The Hill wrote recently. The online newspaper recalls the obligations of the outgoing government to help those who are in its way.
“While this process is important in many ways, it is crucial in terms of security policy,” the newspaper wrote, adding: “President Trump does not seem to care.”
The online newspaper Fedscoop writes that Biden’s website has a .com address. It is considered much less secure than government websites, which end in “.gov.”
The Wall Street Journal writes that Biden’s transition team is likely a very tempting target for spies from China, Russia, and other hostile powers. Biden’s folks tell the newspaper that they have placed a great emphasis on IT security and using the best systems available.
According to Forbes and various other media outlets, Biden and his people use Google software. They have bought the most secure systems from the computer giant.
