FBI Vetting Obama, McCain Aides

The FBI has begun briefing both the John McCain and Barack Obama campaigns regarding terrorist activities and the actions of rogue states.

According to London's Sunday Telegraph, this is the first time that U.S. intelligence officials have briefed both major-party nominees in advance of the election. The rationale is that by keeping both McCain and Obama in the loop, terrorists or foreign powers at odds with the United States won't be able to exploit the power vacuum after Election Day.

An official involved in the briefings told the Sunday Telegraph: "There has been no specific threat but the assessment is that someone will try something. It could be a terrorist attack on U.S. assets overseas. It could be the leader of a rogue state chancing his arm."

Martha Kumar, director of the White House Transition Project, an independent group that advises the transition teams of both campaigns, told the Sunday Telegraph: "The times of changing of power are soft times, times of vulnerability. Just look at what has happened around the world, including in Great Britain. You had the failed bombings in London and then the attack at Glasgow airport three days after Gordon Brown took office. In Spain the Madrid bombings were three days before the presidential election."