Biden has spoken with some GOP senators, chief of staff said

President elect Joe bidenJoe Biden Brewery Launches New Biden Beer Described As ‘Harmless And Not Too Bitter’ Deb Haaland Says ‘Of Course’ She Would Serve As Home Secretary Under Biden State Department Won’t Give messages to Biden from foreign leaders: MORE report has spoken to some Republican senators and Republican governors in recent days, his future White House chief of staff said on Thursday, even as many GOP lawmakers defend President TrumpDonald John Trump State Department Won’t Give Biden Messages From Foreign Leaders: Arizona GOP AG Report Says People Voted Republican, But Not Trump On The Money: Biden Wins US Economic Engines | Progressives hail Biden’s picks for the economic transition team | Restaurants go seasonal with winter closures during pandemicthe refusal to concede the election.

“Joe Biden spoke to Republicans. He spoke to Republican senators, Republican governors,” Ron Klain said on MSNBC.

Klain did not specify who Biden spoke to in the GOP, but noted that he still had not spoken to the Senate Majority Leader Mitch mcconnellAddison (Mitch) Mitchell McConnell Education employment drops 8.8%: Pew Puerto Rico sparks congressional interest after election, Trump supporter Robert Jeffress urges Christians to pray for President-elect Biden PLUS (R-Ky.).

“There will be a time and a place for Joe Biden and Senator McConnell,” Klain said. “They obviously don’t need to introduce themselves to each other.”

Klain defended the secrecy around which Republicans spoke with Biden, saying the president-elect had “private conversations with individuals” and that the calls would be detailed “when both sides agree to read the calls.”

He added that the calls were a mixture of Biden’s outreach to Republicans and vice versa. But conversations indicate that at least some GOP members are interacting privately with the Democrat as he prepares to take office, even as many Republicans publicly support Trump’s refusal to lose the election.

While a few senators, like Sens. Mitt RomneyWillard (Mitt) Mitt Romney Trump supporter Robert Jeffress urges Christians to pray that President-elect Biden Romney takes down his post in Biden Biden cabinet ignores Trump and GOP in election (R-Utah) and Susan collinsSusan Margaret Collins Why Susan Collins Won Sullivan Wins Re-election in Alaska, Giving Republicans 50 Senate Seats Biden Ignores Trump and GOP in Election MORE (R-Maine), Biden called president-elect, most Republican lawmakers on Capitol Hill have defended Trump’s right to pursue lawsuits in key battlefield states like Pennsylvania and Michigan, though some of these lawsuits are either dismissed or would not apply. enough votes to change the result.

Trump himself has been spreading bogus claims about the change in votes, and it doesn’t look like he will officially concede.

In a bit of change, several Senate Republicans called on Biden for access to intelligence briefings after the senator. James lankfordSenator James Paul Lankford GOP says Biden should have access to intelligence briefings McConnell says he would vote Trump-backed coronavirus deal in Senate Senators push for sanctions against Turkey after reports from Ankara used the Russian system to detect US-made jets MORE (R-Okla.) Said the Democrat should get the briefings and “step in” if they don’t happen by Friday.

The calls come as the office of the Director of National Intelligence does not interact with the Biden campaign because the General Service administration did not certify Biden as a winner.