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Although it has been a custom that former presidents still receive or be granted access to intelligence briefings, there has been speculation on whether former president Donald Trump may be an exception to the rule. When the question was posed, the White House said that the intelligence community will make the decision should Trump request for briefings.
The White House has said that the intelligence community will be the one reviewing any requests for briefings made by Trump, as was the case for his predecessors. Trump has yet to make any requests to do so. Some critics have since raised concerns about the now-former president’s access to intelligence briefings and classified information now that he is no longer Commander-in-Chief.
“The intelligence community supports requests for intelligence briefings by former presidents and will review any incoming requests, as they always have,” said White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki on Thursday to CNN.
Throughout his term as president, Trump has often been at odds with the intelligence community, his resistance to intel warnings about Russia has also resulted in his national security team briefing him less about related threats. Trump also did not always read the briefings given to him, making him unaware of any intelligence threats to the country and all over the world. Trump has also often sided with Russia and has often evaded questions surrounding possible Russian hacking or interference in the US.
In the time leading up to his first impeachment, Trump dismissed the inspector general of the intelligence community Michael Atkinson. Atkinson informed Congress about the anonymous whistleblower complaint, the complaint being that Trump was alleged to have looked into getting incriminating information about Joe Biden while withholding the allotted security aid to Ukraine.
Meanwhile, Trump is facing his second impeachment trial in the Senate which is scheduled to take place next week. Trump’s attorneys have responded to a request by House Democrats to testify under oath regarding his involvement in the January 6 riots at the Capitol. The riots led to his second impeachment by the House on a bipartisan vote for the single article of impeachment which was the incitement of insurrection. Trump’s legal team said that the former president will not voluntarily testify under oath.
House Impeachment Manager Jamie Raskin wrote to Trump asking for him to testify and explain his reasons for disputing factual allegations. Raskin then noted that should Trump refuse, an adverse inference would be made.
