Joe Biden Should Deny Donald Trump Classified Candidate Briefings

Trump already shattered the norm Biden seeks to uphold, and without imposing accountability, voters will never get a real airing of Trump's national-security crimes

(Photo by Department of Justice)

When Donald Trump secured enough delegate commitments last week to become the Republican Party’s de facto nominee, it gave rise to a national-security question: Should Trump receive the same intelligence briefings afforded by custom to all presidential candidates (including himself in 2016) when they become major-party nominees? 

Trump after all is under indictment for stealing and concealing the country’s most closely guarded secrets, and has disclosed this information to patrons of his private golf clubs, including to foreign nationals. He’s also financially compromised in manners known and unknown, and corrupt to the marrow. 

Wouldn’t providing him classified briefings all but guarantee recidivism? Shouldn’t President Biden, thus, deny him these briefings to guard against further harm to the country?

The literalist answer to the question is probably “no”—that is, Trump can be briefed without risking another major security breach. The practical answer also seems to be “no”—that is, Biden does not plan to block the briefings.

But the wiser answer is “yes”—Biden should make a point of denying Trump access to any classified materials, whether they contain sensitive secrets or not, as a measure of accountability for flagrant violations of norms and laws, and to refocus public attention on one of Trump’s many betrayals of the country.

Biden as president has the power to interrupt Trump’s strategic decision-making loop so that he can’t set the terms of the election from news cycle to news cycle. These are rare opportunities; Biden should not squander them. 

WHERE’S THE BRIEF

Confusion over this issue abounds, so it’s worth breaking down the kinds of information Trump might possibly put at risk. I count four.