The Biden administration will brief former President Donald Trump on national security matters if he secures the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, Politico reported.
Sources told Politico that Trump, who is headed to a third Republican nomination and a rematch against President Joe Biden, would get access to classified documents regardless of the outcome of his trial in Florida, where he faces charges of hoarding top-secret records at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida and concealing them from government investigators.
The documents case has long been seen as the most legally perilous of the four criminal prosecutions that Trump is facing this year.
After the Democrats and Republicans officially nominate their presidential candidates this summer, the nominees are offered a one-time intelligence briefing before the general election. The practice dates to Harry Truman's presidency in 1952.
The CIA gave the briefings until the 2004 election, when the Director of National Intelligence took over.
One former senior U.S. intelligence official told Politico he would be "afraid about giving [Trump] stuff. I mean, who knows what kind of riff he would do."
John Bolton, Trump's former national security adviser, said the Florida court case could justify holding back the candidate briefing.
"We haven't faced this situation before. But I think the logic could well dictate to Biden he's not going to give Trump an intelligence briefing," Bolton said.
Solange Reyner ✉
Solange Reyner is a writer and editor for Newsmax. She has more than 15 years in the journalism industry reporting and covering news, sports and politics.
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