intelligence briefing

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CIA Director: Trump Had Us Pause Intelligence to Ukraine

Ratcliffe indicates the pause may soon be lifted

(Newser) - The flow of weapons and intelligence from the US to Ukraine has been temporarily put on ice, CIA Director John Ratcliffe said in a Wednesday interview. Speaking with Fox Business' Maria Bartiromo, Ratcliffe said, "Trump had a real question about whether President Zelensky was committed to the peace process,...

Biden Makes Decision on Giving Trump Access to Intel Briefings

President says former leader's 'erratic behavior' means there's 'no need' for him to get sensitive info

(Newser) - Earlier this week, the White House was said to have been mulling whether to allow Donald Trump to have access to intelligence briefings, a courtesy typically extended to former presidents to keep them up to date in case their advice is sought in the future. President Biden has since announced...

White House May Cut Off Briefings for Trump

Current and former officials question whether former president can be trusted with secrets

(Newser) - Presidents usually receive national intelligence briefings even after leaving office. The Biden administration is reconsidering that policy, the Hill reports. There have been calls to stop the briefings for former President Trump from Democrats, as well as former Trump aides, saying he can't be trusted with classified information. Rep....

GOP Senator Says He'll Go to Bat for Biden on Intel Briefs

James Lankford of Okla.: I'll 'step in' if president-elect isn't given access by Friday

(Newser) - President Trump still hasn't conceded to Joe Biden, and the president-elect still hasn't been given access to transition funding and intelligence briefings. In pushing to get those resources, it looks like Biden will have a new ally come Friday: GOP Sen. James Lankford of Oklahoma says he'll...

Biden: I'm Now Getting Intel Briefings. Here's a Warning

Presumptive Democratic nominee says Russia, China, and others are trying to undermine election

(Newser) - Joe Biden said Friday night he's begun receiving intelligence briefings as he warned that Russia, China, and other adversaries were attempting to undermine the upcoming US election in November. The presumptive Democratic presidential nominee wasn't specific and offered no evidence while addressing a virtual fundraiser with more than...

3 Senators Just Got Briefed on UFOs
3 Senators Just
Got Briefed on UFOs
Jun 20, 2019 9:20 AM CDT

3 Senators Just Got Briefed on UFOs

The classified Pentagon briefing happened Wednesday

(Newser) - The list of lawmakers who have received briefings on Navy encounters with UFOs has gotten a bit longer. The vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Mark Warner, was among three senators to receive a classified Pentagon briefing on the issue Wednesday, reports Politico , which cites "a growing number...

Biden: We Were Briefed on Trump Dossier

He says Obama asked: 'What does this have to do with anything?'

(Newser) - President Obama received a briefing last week on a dossier with allegations of compromising material being held by the Russians on his successor, Joe Biden has confirmed. Biden says intelligence chiefs also briefed him on the dossier, but neither his officer nor Obama's requested more information, CNN reports. Biden—...

Trump: It's Time to 'Move On' From Russian Hacking

But he has agreed to intelligence briefing

(Newser) - Donald Trump thinks it's time to "move on" from allegations that Russian hackers interfered with the election he won—but he has agreed to meet with intelligence officials to get the facts. "It's time for our country to move on to bigger and better things,"...

Michael Moore on Trump: Don't Forget 8/6/01 Intel Briefing

The president's job is to keep us safe, and Trump will fail with this attitude: Moore

(Newser) - As of Tuesday, Donald Trump has had the chance to attend 36 daily presidential national security briefings, per Michael Moore's tally. As of a week ago, the president-elect said he had attended, at most, three. Moore joins the chorus of those who see this as a deal-breaker, and he...

Trump Slammed Obama for 'Skipping Briefings'

2014 attack was based on dubious report

(Newser) - Donald Trump says he doesn't need daily intelligence briefings because he's a "smart person," but it wasn't that long ago that he criticized President Obama for supposedly skipping briefings, NBC News reports. "Fact--Obama does not read his intelligence briefings nor does he get briefed...

Obama Takes Heat for Skipping Briefings

White House calls kerfuffle 'ridiculous'

(Newser) - President Obama is taking heat today, after Washington Post columnist Marc Thiessen accused him of routinely playing hooky from his daily intelligence briefing. According to a conservative think tank's analysis of Obama's public schedule, he attended briefings only about 43.8% of the time during his first 1,...

Bush Dismissed a Raft of 9/11 Warnings

It wasn't just the Aug. 6 briefing

(Newser) - Most of us are familiar with the White House briefing from August 2001 labeled "Bin Laden Determined to Strike in US." What's not so well known is the host of briefs that the Bush administration received beforehand. Those memos reveal "significantly more negligence than has been...

Oops: Secret Service Leaves Gun in Romney's Plane

Meanwhile, candidate is about to receive security briefings

(Newser) - There was something of a scare aboard Romney's charter jet yesterday, when a gun was found in the bathroom. The firearm turned out to be Secret Service gun presumably accidentally left there by a member of his security detail, CBS News reports. A member of the Service quickly retrieved...

Cheney Told CIA to Hide Counterterror Program

Panetta has since ended still-secret program

(Newser) - Dick Cheney ordered the CIA to withhold information from Congress about a secret counterterrorism program for 8 years, CIA chief Leon Panetta has told congressional intelligence committees. The revelation, leaked by two intelligence insiders to the New York Times, serves the latest volley in the fierce dispute over how fully...

Pelosi: I'm Not Talking About CIA Anymore

(Newser) - Don't look for Nancy Pelosi to shed any more light on what she may or may not have known about the CIA’s interrogations. At a press conference today—her first since she accusedthe agency of misleading her and Congress—the House speaker clammed up, reports the Hill. “I...

CIA 'Briefed Truthfully' in '02: Panetta

(Newser) - CIA director Leon Panetta today denied Nancy Pelosi’s claim that the agency misled lawmakers in a 2002 briefing, the Hill reports. In a memo to employees, Panetta said “CIA officers briefed truthfully on the interrogation of Abu Zubaydah, describing ‘the enhanced techniques that had been employed.’...

Pelosi: CIA Misled Me on Waterboarding

(Newser) - House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said today she was not complicit in the government’s decision to waterboard terrorist suspects, and she claimed the CIA misled her about whether the interrogation technique considered torture by many was being used. “To the contrary … we were told explicitly that waterboarding was...

Bush, Obama Will Sit Down Monday

Transition moving quickly between president, successor

(Newser) - President George W. Bush will meet with Barack Obama early next week to discuss plans for transition, the Washington Post reports. Obama received his first intelligence briefing this morning, and key staffers have been given expedited security clearances. “We face economic challenges that will not pause to let a...

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