Any extent to which his access might be restricted is a blessing, and if the current administration has a final veto, I hope they exercise it liberally. Wasn't Bush 41 getting getting PDBs and intelligence reports for years after his presidency, in part because of his own personal interest in the items as former head of the CIA?
Any extent to which his access might be restricted is a blessing, and if the current administration has a final veto, I hope they exercise it liberally. Wasn't Bush 41 getting getting PDBs and intelligence reports for years after his presidency, in part because of his own personal interest in the items as former head of the CIA?
Ex-Presidents can be "read-in" on things if the current administration asks them for input/advice. The sitting President clears them for access to it (on the basis of their having been President and having had access).
There is no requirement or law granting ex-Presidents access. You don't automatically get a top-secret weekly newsletter because you were President. All of this is basically at the discretion of the sitting President/Administration.
The same thing applies for ANY ex-administration member. Your access to this material ended when you left office, any access granted is either because you just changed jobs (thus having appropriate access) or because someone with access has granted you access to specific things for specific reasons (usually entailing you providing feedback or advice).
Frankly, if I was in the Biden Administration, NONE of the members of the previous administration would have access to ANYTHING. They are all untrustworthy.
And members of the GoP with access (Senators and Congressmen) cannot provide these materials to Trump, legally. It would be a crime. They are NOT the classifying authority. That is the current President.
There may be rules or regulations that grant them this authority, but I doubt it, unless things have changed a GREAT deal since I worked with classified material.
Any extent to which his access might be restricted is a blessing, and if the current administration has a final veto, I hope they exercise it liberally. Wasn't Bush 41 getting getting PDBs and intelligence reports for years after his presidency, in part because of his own personal interest in the items as former head of the CIA?
Ex-Presidents can be "read-in" on things if the current administration asks them for input/advice. The sitting President clears them for access to it (on the basis of their having been President and having had access).
There is no requirement or law granting ex-Presidents access. You don't automatically get a top-secret weekly newsletter because you were President. All of this is basically at the discretion of the sitting President/Administration.
The same thing applies for ANY ex-administration member. Your access to this material ended when you left office, any access granted is either because you just changed jobs (thus having appropriate access) or because someone with access has granted you access to specific things for specific reasons (usually entailing you providing feedback or advice).
Frankly, if I was in the Biden Administration, NONE of the members of the previous administration would have access to ANYTHING. They are all untrustworthy.
And members of the GoP with access (Senators and Congressmen) cannot provide these materials to Trump, legally. It would be a crime. They are NOT the classifying authority. That is the current President.
There may be rules or regulations that grant them this authority, but I doubt it, unless things have changed a GREAT deal since I worked with classified material.
I appreciate the explainer. That's pretty reassuring.