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- Sen. James Lankford said he would intervene if President-elect Joe Biden did not get access to presidential daily intelligence briefings by Friday.
- President Donald Trump has refused to concede the election, and it’s limiting the privileges Biden has as the incoming president.
- The projected election results haven’t been acknowledged by the head of General Services Administration, a Trump appointee.
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Republican Sen. James Lankford, of Oklahoma, said he would intervene if President Donald Trump’s administration does not grant President-elect Joe Biden access to presidential daily intelligence briefings by Friday.
“There is no loss from him getting the briefings and to be able to do that, and if that’s not occurring by Friday, I will step in as well, and to be able to push and to say this needs to occur so that regardless of the outcome of the election … people can be ready for that actual task,” Lankford told Oklahoma radio station KRMG.
Trump has refused to concede in this election and has falsely alleged voter fraud. His refusal to recognize Biden as the President-elect has meant that Biden’s transition team is behind on several privileges afforded to incoming presidents, including the president’s daily briefing, which contains important classified national security information.
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NBC News reported that the Office of the Director of National Intelligence said that Biden still hasn’t been granted access to those briefings because the projected election results have not been acknowledged by the General Services Administration.
Emily Murphy, the head of the GSA and a Trump appointee, has to acknowledge Biden's win and so far has not. Additionally, there have been very few within the ranks of GOP lawmakers who have recognized Biden as president-elect.
Lankford also added that Vice President-elect Kamala Harris already has clearances as a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee. He also said that a bipartisan 9/11 report showed that a shortened transition in 2000 contributed to a lack of security preparedness ahead of the attacks, CNN reported.
"There's nothing wrong with Vice President Biden getting the briefings to be able to prepare himself and so that he can be ready — the president's already getting those," Lankford said.