Senior Republican senator say Joe Biden should get intelligence briefings
Senior Republicans say Joe Biden needs access to intelligence briefings, while refusing to recognise him as president-elect.
Senior Republicans have called for Joe Biden to be given access to White House intelligence briefings even while they refuse to recognise him as the winner of the election.
The move reflects the growing tension between Donald Trump’s refusal to recognise Mr Biden’s victory and the need to help prepare the president-elect for office.
Most Republicans have sided with the president as he has pushed ahead with legal challenges to the election result, claiming widespread electoral fraud.
But senior Republican Senators Chuck Grassley, Lindsey Graham and John Cornyn each said on Friday (AEDT) they would support Mr Biden receiving briefings, even as they refused to recognise him as the president-elect.
“Whether he actually gets the product itself, I think the information needs to be communicated in some way,” Senator Cornyn said. “If, in fact, he does win in the end, I think they need to be able to hit the ground running.”
When asked if Mr Biden should receive intelligence briefings – which are standard for all incoming presidents during the transition period – Senator Graham said ‘I think so,’ while Senator Grassley said “I have no problem with that.’
The majority of Republicans have stuck with the president as he has pursued his legal quest to overturn the election result even though the campaign has so far failed to convince any courts that election fraud took place.
But each day several more Republicans are declaring Mr Biden the winner of the election as it becomes increasingly clear that Mr Biden’s victory will stand.
The Republican Governor of Ohio and strong Trump supporter, Mike DeWine, said on Friday “we need to consider the former vice president as the President-elect.’
Republican Senator Pat Toomey also said Mr Biden was “likely to be certified as the president-elect relatively soon” after the legal disputes had been resolved. “That’s all part of this process. It’ll be done soon enough and I think the outcome will be clear,” he said.
Mr Trump continued his pattern this week of staying inside the White House with no official duties while firing out tweets alleging electoral fraud.
“From 200,000 votes to less than 10,000 votes. If we can audit the total votes cast, we will easily win Arizona also!’ he tweeted.
From 200,000 votes to less than 10,000 votes. If we can audit the total votes cast, we will easily win Arizona also! https://t.co/3eZHjdZL98
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 12, 2020
Trump’s legal team have launched numerous lawsuits across at least six states alleging fraud or mishandling of vote counting. There will also be recounts of the vote in two states, Wisconsin and Georgia. But legal experts believe the president has no chance of overturning the result in any single state, much less across at least three states as he would need to do to defeat Mr Biden.
“REPORT: DOMINION DELETED 2.7 MILLION TRUMP VOTES NATIONWIDE. DATA ANALYSIS FINDS 221,000 PENNSYLVANIA VOTES SWITCHED FROM PRESIDENT TRUMP TO BIDEN. 941,000 TRUMP VOTES DELETED. STATES USING DOMINION VOTING SYSTEMS SWITCHED 435,000 VOTES FROM TRUMP TO BIDEN.†@ChanelRion @OANN
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 12, 2020
Democrat leaders have attacked Republicans for supporting the president’s legal quest, accusing them of ignoring the surging coronavirus and the need to negotiate a new coronavirus relief bill.
“The Republicans should stop their shenanigans about an election that President Trump has already lost and focus their attention on the immediate issue at hand – providing relief to a country living through the COVID health and economic crisis,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said. He accused Republicans of “deliberately casting doubt on our elections for no other reason but fear of Donald Trump.”
To Senate Republicans:
— Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) November 12, 2020
Joe Biden will be the next President.
Kamala Harris will be the next VP.
It is past time to get to work for the American people.
Americans need help to fight the COVID crisis. We don't have time for games.
We must pass the Heroes Act in the Senate.
Democrat House leader Nancy Pelosi said “It’s most unfortunate that the Republicans have decided that they will not respect the will of the people.”
White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany did not say when the president would re-emerge from the White House after the most reclusive week of his presidency.
‘You’ll hear from the president at the right moment ... right now he’s letting this litigation play out, letting his lawyers take the lead on this while he stays hard at work for the American people on COVID and other matters,” she said.
Meanwhile Mr Biden, who will be only the second Catholic president after John F Kennedy, spoke with Pope Francis on Friday.
“The president-elect thanked His Holiness for extending blessings and congratulations and noted his appreciation for His Holiness’ leadership in promoting peace, reconciliation, and the common bonds of humanity around the world,” the Biden team said. “The president-elect expressed his desire to work together on the basis of a shared belief in the dignity and equality of all humankind on issues such as caring for the marginalised and the poor, addressing the crisis of climate change, and welcoming and integrating immigrants and refugees into our communities.”
(Cameron Stewart is also US Contributor for Sky News Australia)
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