“I think – especially on classified briefings – the answer is yes,” said Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa, the chamber’s most senior Republican as a pro-presidential tempor.
Trump’s close ally Sen. Lindsay Graham, who urged the president over the weekend to accept and disclose baseless allegations of voter fraud, told CNN on Thursday that he believed Biden would receive intelligence from now on.
“Yeah, I think he should do that,” Graham said when asked about Biden’s entry into the intelligence briefing. Graham, a South Carolina Republican, said he had not expressed his views with the White House, but said, “I hope so too,” when asked if Biden would receive a briefing soon.
South Dakota Senate Majority Whip John Thuen also told CNN that Biden should have access to classified briefings.
“Okay, I think being prepared for all the contingencies probably makes sense,” Thuen said when asked if Buden should get a briefing. “And as these election challenges go on in court I have no problem, and I think it’s important from a national security perspective, consistently. And you’ve seen other members suggest it. I think this makes sense.”
Another influential Republican, Sen. Rob Portman of Ohio, said, “Yeah, I don’t think it hurts.” Biden began getting briefings.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell declined to comment to CNN on Thursday when asked about Senate Nford and Grassley’s comments. Earlier this week, McConnell said from the Senate floor that Trump has 100% in his right to investigate allegations of irregularities and to reduce the weight of his legal options. “
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy declined to say whether Biden should receive classified intelligence briefings.
When asked by CNN if he agrees with Grassley and Lancford, McCarty instead quoted himself as quoting Biden’s earlier quote, saying “access to classified information is useful but I’m not in a position to decide on those issues anyway” That would be nice. It’s not critical. “
“I think I just had to stand with B Dan,” said McCarthy, a California Republican. “He’s not the president right now. I don’t know if he’s going to be president on January 20, but he’s got the information.
Asked whether the general service administration should sign the required paperwork, Grassley said that after fighting the 2000 election, “we should do what we did.”
Lankford said Wednesday it would intervene if the Trump administration did not allow Biden to attend the president’s daily intelligence briefings by the end of the week.
Lankford told radio station KRMG that he sits on a key committee overseeing the government and that he has already begun to engage on the issue, noting that “there is no harm in getting him briefed and able to do so.”
Lankford said if no progress is made on the issue by Friday, they will step in and say, “This needs to happen so that, regardless of the outcome of the election, whatever happens, people will be ready for that real work.”
Several other GOP senators have also called on Biden to enter the security briefing. Asked earlier this week if Baiden should be allowed to receive a presidential daily briefing, the acting chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Republican Sen. Marco Rubio told reporters: “I don’t think it biases the president’s legal claims in any way. Only in case the transition work begins.”
The story has been updated on Thursday with additional developments.
CNN’s Zachary Cohen, Sarah Fortinsky and Kristin Wilson contributed to this report.
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