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“There is no loss for him to have the briefings and to be able to do it,” Lankford told KRMG radio station, noting that he sits on the Senate Oversight Committee and that he has already started to engage on this issue.
The Oklahoma Republican said if no progress was made on the issue by Friday, he would step in and say, “This has to happen so that whatever the outcome of the election, whatever the the way it unfolds, people can be ready for this real task. “
Lankford’s comment comes as Biden and his senior advisers are yet to receive the President’s Daily Brief, the highly classified intelligence briefings on pressing national security issues their future predecessor has been offered on a daily basis.
The Office of the Director of National Intelligence said Monday that Biden’s lack of access stems from the fact that the election has yet to be verified by the General Service administration – a clear indication that Biden’s transition team does not receive the same information that presidents-elect usually receive. .
It’s still unclear whether the race needs to be verified before the president-elect can legally receive the briefings. Biden said that daily briefings “would be useful, but not necessary”.
Lankford also referred to the abbreviated transition of 2000 on Wednesday, which a bipartisan 9/11 report said contributed to a lack of security preparedness ahead of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
“There is nothing wrong with Vice President Biden receiving the briefings so that he can prepare and be ready – the President already has them,” Lankford said, adding that the Vice President elected Kamala Harris, a Democratic senator from California. , also has the proper permissions to begin receiving briefings, as she sits on the Senate Intelligence Committee.
Sen. Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the Intelligence Committee, also called on Biden to receive the briefings.
“As has been done in all other transitions, the president should order that Biden and his team receive the PDB, as has been done in the past, even in the contested 2000 election,” Warner said on Wednesday. . “It is simply irresponsible to hold this back in these uncertain times.”
Like most of his fellow Republicans, Lankford didn’t go so far as to acknowledge that Biden is the president-elect after every major news agency projected his victory on Saturday.
Lankford has defended the president’s numerous legal disputes, saying the best thing right now is for Trump to go through the court process and “get real answers” before the Electoral College votes in December.
There is no credible evidence of widespread electoral fraud in this election.
In the meantime, Lankford said: “Joe Biden can just keep running and say, ‘I’m the president-elect,’ and great if you mean that, go ahead and be able to do your prep work. president may say, “Not so fast. I have some questions to answer. “Great, go ask them.”
Lankford has hinted that if the president is unable to follow through with his lawsuits, it could fuel conspiracies among Trump supporters.
But judges were quick to dismiss cases that tried to raise the possibility of voting irregularities, while election experts make it clear that Biden’s margin of victory is too wide for the court cases to be overturned and the cases to be overturned. existing courts process too few votes, if any, to matter.
Asked about concerns in the Pentagon over the sacking of Defense Secretary Mark Esper on Monday and other administration measures that called into question a peaceful transfer of power, Lankford replied: “I can assure you there is will have a peaceful transition of power in the United States. ”
Lankford downplayed the importance of Esper’s dismissal in the days following the election, saying it was “obviously long planned” and not just “from just one small event from months ago” .
He said, however, that he personally would not have made the change “with the next two months” – appearing to refer to the two-month period until the inauguration – again without fully acknowledging Biden as as elected president.
“It was a clear signal with behind-the-scenes preparation for a smooth transition to the Pentagon,” Lankford said.
CNN’s Manu Raju, Zachary Cohen, Alex Marquardt and Katelyn Polantz contributed to this report.
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