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“I think, especially in classified briefings, the answer is yes,” said Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa, who as president pro tempore is the highest-ranking Republican in the House.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, a close Trump ally who urged the president over the weekend not to back down and amplified unsubstantiated claims of voter fraud, told CNN Thursday that he believes Biden should receive intelligence reports from now on.
“Yeah, I think it should,” Graham said when asked if Biden had access to the intelligence briefing. Graham, a Republican from South Carolina, said he has not shared his thoughts with the White House, but said, “I hope so,” when asked if he expects Biden to host the briefings soon.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune of South Dakota also told CNN that Biden should have access to classified reports.
“Well, I think it probably makes sense to prepare for all contingencies,” Thune said when asked if Biden should receive reports. “And as these electoral challenges play out in the courts, I have no problem, and I think it is important from a national security point of view, continuity. And you’ve seen other members suggest that. I think it makes sense. “.
Another influential Republican, Sen. Rob Portman of Ohio, said, “yeah, I don’t think that will hurt,” for Biden to start getting the reports.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell declined to comment with CNN on Thursday when asked about the comments from Lankford and Grassley. Earlier this week, McConnell said from the Senate floor that Trump was “100% within his right to investigate allegations of wrongdoing and weigh his legal options.”
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy declined to say whether Biden should receive classified intelligence reports.
When asked by CNN if he agreed with Grassley and Lankford, McCarthy cited an earlier quote from Biden himself, saying that “access to classified information is useful, but I am not in a position to make any decisions on those issues anyway” and that. “It would be nice to have. It’s not critical.”
“I think I should support Joe Biden,” said McCarthy, a Republican from California. “He is not president right now. I don’t know if he will be president on January 20, but whoever it is will get the information.”
When asked if the General Services Administration should approve the necessary documentation, Grassley said “we should do what we did” after the controversial 2000 election.
Lankford said Wednesday that he will intervene if the Trump administration has not allowed Biden access to daily presidential intelligence briefings by the end of the week.
“There is no loss of him receiving the briefings and being able to do so,” Lankford told KRMG radio station, noting that he is on a key committee related to government oversight and that he has already begun to engage on this issue.
Lankford said that if no progress is made on the issue by Friday, he will step in and say: “This must happen so that regardless of the outcome of the election, in whatever way it is, the people can be ready for that real task. “
Several other Republican senators have also asked that Biden have access to security briefings. When asked earlier this week whether Biden should be allowed to begin receiving the Presidential Daily Report, Republican Senator Marco Rubio, acting chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, told reporters: “I don’t think he is prejudging the claims. President’s legal statements in any way. to begin transition work just in case. “
This story was updated with additional developments on Thursday.
CNN’s Zachary Cohen, Sarah Fortinsky, and Kristin Wilson contributed to this report.
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