GuShiio.com ① U.S. President Trump announced on social media on Friday that he would “fire” Biden;
② Trump will revoke the former U.S. president’s access to classified information and stop him from receiving daily intelligence briefings.
Cailian News, February 8 (Editor Xiaoxiang)U.S. President Trump announced on social media on Friday that he would “fire” Biden-revoking the former U.S. president’s access to classified information and stopping him from receiving daily intelligence briefings.
Trump wrote in a post on his social media platform Truth Social,”Joe Biden does not need to continue to obtain confidential information. As a result, we will immediately revoke Joe Biden’s security clearance and stop his daily intelligence briefings.”
Trump pointed out that Biden set this precedent in 2021, when Biden directed the intelligence community to prevent the 45th President of the United States from obtaining national security details that should have been “courtesy enjoyed by former presidents.”
Clearly, Trump’s latest move is partly a “revenge” for what he encountered four years ago– -In February 2021, Biden also terminated Trump’s security briefing, saying he believed Trump did not need to have access to such secret information. Biden said in an interview at the time,”What is the value of giving him (Trump) intelligence briefings?”
Prior to this, previous presidents of the United States were basically reserved the right to obtain briefings.
Trump also once again questioned Biden’s health in his latest post.
Trump said,”(Special Prosecutor) Robert Hull’s report shows that Biden had a poor memory and even at his” peak “he could not be trusted to handle sensitive information. I will always protect our national security-Joe (Biden), you are fired. Make America great again!”
In recent years, Biden and Trump, who have become “sworn enemies”, have often attacked each other.Trump did not attend Biden’s inauguration in 2021 and nicknamed him “Sleepy Joe” because he had too little schedule. Biden often said Trump’s ideas posed a threat to democracy and called him a “loser.”
Normally, the current president has the sole authority to obtain briefings from former presidents. According to senior sources in successive administrations, part of the reason for allowing former presidents to receive intelligence briefings is that if current presidents seek advice from them, they can be kept informed.
Will it be necessary to “settle scores later”?
Trump’s latest move also raises doubts about whether the “liquidation” scenario of his predecessor during Biden’s term will be repeated.
During Biden’s administration, the U.S. Department of Justice filed a federal criminal case against Trump, accusing him of retaining confidential documents after leaving the White House in 2021.
U.S. prosecutors said at the time that Trump withheld sensitive military secrets he knew should not have access to, shared them with others, and instructed his aides to hinder efforts to retrieve classified documents. Trump pleaded not guilty. The charges filed by special prosecutor Jack Smith at the time included false statements and deliberate retention of national defense information, but those charges were eventually dropped in November last year after Trump won the presidential election.
Sergio Gor, director of the White House Office of Personnel, also said on X on Friday that Trump fired Colleen Shogan, director of the National Archives, late Friday. It was when Shagan was in charge of the National Archives that the agency discovered that Trump had taken confidential files home and referred the matter to the Justice Department.
According to a person familiar with the matter, Xiao Gen learned of his dismissal via email while posting on social media.
Biden had previously retained confidential material from his time as vice president, prompting an investigation into his handling of the material. But Biden voluntarily turned in the documents and allowed federal agents to search his home. The investigation did not lead to any charges.
Notably, Trump also signed an executive order on Friday directing the attorney general to review and evaluate any action taken by the federal government during the Biden administration that they believe violates Second Amendment rights.The Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution provides for the right of individuals to hold arms.
