White House press secretary not aware of Trump request for intelligence briefing

[February 09, 2021]    WASHINGTON (Reuters) - White House press secretary Jen Psaki said on Monday she was not aware of any request from Donald Trump for an intelligence breifing, but reaffirmed that President Joe Biden would allow intelligence officials to make the decision on whether to grant access to them for the former Republican President.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki said on Monday she was not aware of any request from Donald Trump for an intelligence briefing, but reaffirmed that President Joe Biden would allow intelligence officials to make the decision on whether to grant access to them for the former Republican President.

"If at any point the former president requests a briefing, so that is not currently applicable, but if he should request a briefing, (President Joe Biden) leaves it to (his intelligence team) to make a determination," White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki told reporters in a briefing on Monday.

She later clarified that she was not aware of any request from Trump for the briefings, which former U.S. presidents traditionally receive even after they have left office.

The Office of the Director of National Intelligence did not immediately respond to a request for confirmation of the lack of briefing requests so far.

Biden stated in a CBS interview on Friday that he did not support Trump having access to intelligence briefings, citing his "erratic behavior" and the concern he might share information.

(Reporting by Andrea Shalal and Alexandra Alper; Editing by Heather Timmons and Chizu Nomiyama)

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