Former President Donald Trump said this week he will decline to participate in routine intelligence briefings for presidential candidates because he said he believes Democrats will try to accuse him of leaking classified information.

During campaigns, candidates for the White House are kept in the loop by the country’s security apparatus on consequential issues that they might be forced to deal with early in their terms if they are elected.

Trump, who in August 2016 had never been elected to public office at any level of government, received his first intel briefing as he prepared to face Hillary Clinton in the general election. In 2020 as the sitting president, he received briefings throughout the entirety of the campaign.

This time around, Trump told the Daily Mail he is not participating in such briefings. The outlet reported:

The Republican nominee told the Daily Mail he’s refusing to sit down with security agencies this election season because he fears Joe Biden’s team will accuse him of leaking confidential information, but also because he claims to just already be in the know. It’s a break from the norm for a presidential hopeful. Non-incumbent nominees of major parties often begin receiving security briefings in late August and receive them occasionally until Election Day.

Trump, who has been accused by the Justice Department of mishandling classified materials, said Thursday, “Well, I could [receive the briefiings] if I wanted them but I don’t want them.”

Trump says he TURNS DOWN intelligence briefings to avoid accusations of leaks.#trump pic.twitter.com/3J1XBxgmTc

— Daily Mail Online (@MailOnline) August 22, 2024

“Number one, I know what’s happening,” he said. “It’s very easy to see what’s happening.” He accused Vice President Kamala Harris of being an incompetent “Marxist.” Trump concluded:

I don’t want that because as soon as I get that they’ll say that I leaked it, so the best way to handle that situation is, I don’t need that briefing. They come in, they give you a briefing. And then two days later they leak it and then they say you leaked it, so the only way to solve that problem is not to take it. I don’t want it. I’ll have plenty of [briefings] when I get in.

The post Trump Refusing Routine Intel Meetings, Says Dems Will ‘Leak’ Classified Info and Blame Him: ‘I Don’t Need Their Briefing’ first appeared on Mediaite.

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