Chinanews, December 5th, a comprehensive report, US media reported that the Trump administration this week prevented President-elect Biden's transition team from meeting with officials of the Pentagon intelligence agency.
On December 4, Sue Goff, a spokesman for the US Department of Defense, denied the news and said that the Biden team "has not been denied any visit."
According to the US "Washington Post" citing information from current and former US officials, the Department of Defense rejected the Biden team’s request this week, preventing the Biden team from interacting with the heads of the National Security Agency, the Defense Intelligence Agency and other military spy agencies. contact.
For most of this week, members of the Biden team met with officials from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and the Central Intelligence Agency, which are also US intelligence agencies but independent of the Department of Defense.
Data map: US President-elect Biden.
Photo by China News Agency reporter Chen Mengtong
On the 4th local time, Sue Goff denied the news, saying that the Biden team "has not been denied any visit" and the requested meeting may be held as early as next week.
Another US media pointed out that a senior defense official stated that a briefing on military affairs has been held for members of the Biden transition team on the 4th, involving high-level policies and international security issues, but there was no relevant briefing.
According to reports, some officials said that the rejection letter forwarded to the Biden team this week was due to some seemingly trivial procedural obstacles.
One of them said that the Pentagon has repeatedly asked the Biden team to provide a list of people who will participate in the visit, a list of issues, and the estimated time spent.
An anonymous Department of Defense official pointed out that in view of the sensitivity of related issues, Biden’s transition team members inappropriately contacted relevant agencies directly to arrange visits and briefings, but were told that they needed to submit an application to the Pentagon.
In response, a spokesperson for the Biden transition team declined to comment, and officials from the National Security Agency and the Defense Intelligence Agency also declined to comment.
Previously, on November 23, the General Services Administration (GSA) had written to Biden, informing him that it would provide him with the resources and services required for the presidential transition process.
U.S. government departments have successively initiated power transfer and transition procedures.