越来越多的共和党参议员周四呼吁特朗普政府开始给当选总统乔·拜登机密情报简报，这表明唐纳德·特朗普总统拒绝承认选举的支持者可能正在国会山的盟友中减弱。
共和党议员对拜登开始接受安全简报给予了不同程度的批准，几位支持特朗普的参议员建议，在可能需要数周时间的正式投票认证之前，他们应该开始做为预防措施。
其他人，包括缅因州的参议员苏珊·科林斯，更强烈地主张政府继续过渡，停止阻挠简报会。
“当选总统拜登现在应该正在接受情报简报，”柯林斯说。“那真的很重要。这可能是过渡中最重要的部分……因为我们希望当选总统，假设他获胜，在第一天就做好准备。”
尽管拜登在多个摇摆州获得了大量赞成票，但鲜为人知的总务管理局尚未正式“确定”选举获胜者，这使得这位前副总统无法获得旨在确保平稳过渡的关键资源——包括机密情报简报。
前官员们表示，政府不提供这些信息可能会对国家安全构成风险——共和党参议员约翰·图恩(John Thune)本周重申了这一说法，他表示，他认为拜登应该有权获得机密情报。
“我认为从国家安全的角度来看，连续性很重要，”图恩说。
参议院情报委员会的共和党主席、佛罗里达州的参议员马尔科·卢比奥表示支持拜登接受简报，但对他的回答进行了回避，以配合总统通过零星的法律挑战推翻选举的努力。
卢比奥说:“我不认为这损害了总统在法庭上或其他方面的任何要求，以确保每一个意外都得到考虑。”。“谈到国家安全，我们应该尽一切可能确保，无论下一任总统的结果如何，无论是现任总统还是副总统拜登，都做好了充分准备。”
专家警告说，外国对手经常试图在过渡时期利用美国的弱点，使信息的连续性成为新政府的一个关键因素。
弗利&拉德纳·LLP公司的国家安全律师兼合伙人克里斯托弗·斯威夫特博士说:“拜登的过渡具备思考、计划和准备的能力是绝对关键的，因为改变国家的命运不是一蹴而就的事情。”。
“如果拜登团队希望适应新出现的挑战，或者能够应对迫在眉睫的危机，”斯威夫特继续说道，“他们需要了解正在发生什么——以及全球棋盘上的棋子在哪里。”
例如，在2000年有争议的选举之后，9/11委员会报告确定，乔治·布什就职前的压缩过渡时间表“阻碍了新政府确定、招募、清除和获得参议院对关键任命者的确认”——并最终削弱了政府应对恐怖袭击的能力。
国家情报局局长办公室本周表示，在美国总务管理局正式宣布拜登为获胜者之前，它“不会与拜登的过渡团队接触”，也不会批准当选总统的简报。
但专家表示，情报界并不依赖于美国国家安全局的“查明”大卫·普里斯(David Priess)是一名前情报简报者，也是《总统的秘密之书:给美国总统的情报简报的未披露故事》的作者，他说简报可以在国家情报总监(当然，也可以是总统)的指导下“独立于美国安全总局的决定”开始。
“1963年的总统过渡法案及其更新没有提到总统每日简报(PDB)或当选总统的情报简报，”普里斯说。“允许当选总统参观PDB的习俗就是这样——一种习俗——这是总统可以自行决定做或拒绝做的事情。”
周四，另一个支持拜登简报的著名声音是共和党参议员林赛·格雷厄姆(Lindsey Graham)，他是总统在参议院最坚定的盟友之一。
其他加入合唱的共和党人包括密西西比州参议员罗杰·威克、南达科他州参议员迈克·查维斯、得克萨斯州参议员约翰·科宁和特德·克鲁兹、密苏里州参议员罗伊·本特和威斯康星州参议员罗恩·约翰逊。
参议员乔希·霍利(Josh Hawley)。他建议拜登应该获得他和当选副总统卡马拉·哈里斯在选举前收到的候选人风格的简报，这相当于重大地缘政治事态发展的淡化来源——而不是当选总统通常有权获得的高度机密的《总统每日简报》。尚不清楚拜登是否继续收到这些候选人风格的简报。
周三晚些时候，俄克拉荷马州参议员詹姆斯·兰福德(James Lankford)承诺，如果拜登没有获得情报，他将在周五“介入”，随后澄清说，他将“接触”美国总务管理局，以确保他们为权力的平稳过渡做准备。到周四，兰福德收回了他的评论——他指出，他只是说拜登应该得到与他作为候选人一样的简报。
在华盛顿的其他地方，与特朗普结盟的国会议员和接近总统的助手周四坚称，正如众议院共和党领袖凯文·麦卡锡周四所说，这些简报“没有必要”。
“一次一个总统，”麦卡锡说。“[拜登]现在不是总统。我不知道他是否会在1月20日成为总统，但无论是谁都会得到信息。”
周四上午，在福克斯新闻(Fox News)的一次离奇采访中，白宫新闻秘书凯丽·麦克纳尼(Kayleigh McEnany)以特朗普竞选顾问的身份出现在节目中，她向白宫提出了一个关于此事的问题。
“我还没有和总统谈过这件事，”麦克纳尼说。“这对于白宫来说更是一个问题，但我会说，在预期的过渡方面，所有法律都得到遵守，尽管我们预计特朗普政府将继续执政，我们将看到我们的诉讼进展如何。”
就拜登阵营而言，它似乎没有受到过渡延迟的影响。周二，当选总统表示，他的过渡团队正在推进明年1月掌权的计划，称特朗普拒绝让步是“尴尬”。
Growing number of Senate Republicans support intel briefings for Biden
A growing number of Republican senators on Thursday called on the Trump administration to start giving President-electJoe Bidenclassified intelligence briefings, a sign that support for President Donald Trump’s refusal to concede the election may be waning among his allies on Capitol Hill.
GOP lawmakers offered varying degrees of approval for Biden to begin receiving security briefings, with several Trump-aligned senators suggesting that they should begin as a precaution pending official certification of the vote, which could take weeks.
Others, including Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, advocated more forcefully for the administration to move on with the transition and stop blocking the briefings.
"President-elect Biden should be receiving intelligence briefings right now,” Collins said. “That is really important. It is probably the most important part of the transition … because we want the president-elect, assuming he prevails, to be ready on Day One."
Despite substantial vote margins in Biden’s favor across multiple swing states, the little-known General Services Administration has yet to officially "ascertain" an electoral winner, leaving the former vice president without access to crucial resources meant to ensure a smooth transition – including classified intelligence briefings.
Former officials said the administration not providing them could pose a risk national security – a claim echoed this week by Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., who said he believes Biden should have access to classified intelligence.
"I think it's important from a national security standpoint – continuity," Thune said.
The Republican chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida expressed support for Biden receiving briefings, but hedged his answer to align with the president’s efforts to overturn the election with a scattershot of legal challenges.
"I don’t think it prejudices any of the president’s claims in court or otherwise to ensure that every contingency is being accounted for," Rubio said. "When it comes to national security, we should do everything possible to ensure that, whatever the outcome for the next president, whether it’s the current one or Vice President Biden, are fully prepared."
Experts warned that foreign adversaries often seek to take advantage of American vulnerabilities during the transition period, making the continuity of information a critical element for new administrations.
"It is absolutely crucial that the Biden transition has the ability to think, plan, and prepare, because turning the ship of state is not something that happens quickly," said Dr. Christopher Swift, a national security lawyer and partner at Foley & Lardner LLP.
"If the Biden team wants to adapt to emerging challenges or be in a position to respond to immediate crises," Swift continued, "they need to understand what’s happening -- and where the pieces are on the global chess board."
After the contested election in 2000, for example, the 9/11 Commission Report determined that the compressed transition timeframe ahead of George W. Bush's inauguration "hampered the new administration in identifying, recruiting, clearing, and obtaining Senate confirmation of key appointees" – and ultimately impaired the government’s ability to respond to the terrorist attacks.
The Office of Director of National Intelligence said this week that it "would not have contact" with Biden's transition team or grant the president-elect briefings until the GSA officially declares him the winner.
But experts said the intelligence community is not beholden to the GSA "ascertainment." David Priess, a former intelligence briefer and author of "The President's Book of Secrets: The Untold Story of Intelligence Briefings to America's Presidents," said briefings could begin “independent of the GSA decision” at the direction of the Director of National intelligence or, of course, the president.
"The Presidential Transition Act of 1963 and its updates do not mention the President’s Daily Brief (PDB) or intelligence briefings for the president-elect," Priess said. “The custom of allowing the president-elect to see the PDB is just that— a custom — and it’s something the president can do, or refuse to do, at his discretion."
On Thursday, another notable voice in support of briefing Biden is Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., one of the president’s staunchest allies in the Senate.
Others Republicans joining the chorus include Mississippi Sen. Roger Wicker, South Dakota Sen. Mike Rounds, Texas Sens. John Cornyn and Ted Cruz, Missouri Sen. Roy Bunt, and Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson.
Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., suggested Biden should be granted the candidate-style briefings he and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris received prior to the election, which amount to a watered-down source of major geopolitical developments – not the deeply classified President’s Daily Brief, to which a president-elect is typically entitled. It was not clear whether Biden has continued receive those candidate-style briefings.
Late Wednesday, Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., pledged to “step in” on Friday if Biden hadn’t been granted access to the intelligence, later clarifying that it he would “reach out” to GSA to ensure they are preparing for a smooth transition of power. By Thursday, Lankford walked back his comments – noting that he only meant Biden should be offered the same briefings he received as a candidate.
Elsewhere in Washington, Trump-allied members of Congress and aides close to the president maintained Thursday that these briefings were "not necessary," as House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy said Thursday.
"One president at a time," McCarthy said. "[Biden] is not president right now. I don't know if he will be president Jan. 20, but whoever is will get the information."
During a bizarre interview on Fox News Thursday morning, White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany – appearing on the program in her capacity as an adviser to the Trump campaign – referred a question on the matter back to the White House.
"I haven't spoken to the president about that," McEnany said. “That would be a question more for the White House, but I will say that all laws are being followed with regard to an expected transition though we expect to continue on as the Trump administration, and we will see how our litigation goes."
For its part, the Biden camp seems unperturbed by transition delays. On Tuesday, the president-elect said his transition team is forging ahead with plans to take power in January, calling Trump's refusal to concede an "embarrassment."
