Biden transition team to begin getting Pentagon intelligence briefings Monday: report

Members of President-elect Joe Biden’s transition team will receive briefings from Pentagon intelligence agencies on Monday, defense officials told CNN.

 “They are meeting with DoD intelligence agencies Monday and Tuesday of this week,” a senior defense official told the network.

The move follows news from last week that Biden’s team members were set to meet with military-run spy agencies this week, despite reports that the Trump administration was blocking these meetings.

The Department of Defense denied claims it was blocking such efforts, CNN reports, instead pointing the finger at the transition team for the apparent delay.

“We can’t help them if they can’t read an org chart,” a defense official said to CNN.

According to CNN, several officials said Biden’s team had not followed agreed upon arrangements when they reached out directly to intelligence agencies.

Another defense official told the news network, “That was more of an internal issue for the Biden team than a DoD issue.”

Officials also denied that Kash Patel, the new Pentagon chief of staff, had any hand in the transition process with one official saying, “Kash has delegated much of his responsibility to Tom (Muir).” The official added that Patel had not “edited or modified” briefing materials.

Biden’s transition process had been stalled for a little over two weeks after he was projected to be the winner of the presidential election. On Nov. 23, the General Service Administration ascertained Biden as the winner, allowing his transition team access to federal funds and allowing team members to begin coordinating with federal agencies.

According to Pentagon officials, this week’s meetings were scheduled prior to the reports that the administration was denying Biden’s team access to security agencies. Defense officials also shared that 47 interviews are currently scheduled for next week, including some with Deputy Secretary of Defense David Norquist.

Meetings on policy and international issues have reportedly already taken place. Due to the pandemic and the preferences of Biden’s team, nearly all of these meetings have been conducted virtually and not at the Pentagon, according to officials.