Trump says he is cutting off Biden's access to intelligence material

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump announced Friday that he was moving to “immediately” cut off former President Joe Biden’s access to intelligence information.

“There is no need for Joe Biden to continue receiving access to classified information,” Trump wrote in a post to Truth Social. “Therefore, we are immediately revoking Joe Biden’s Security Clearances, and stopping his daily Intelligence Briefings.”

Biden’s office did not immediately provide a comment Friday night.

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Presidents do not have security clearances. Rather, the intelligence community operates to provide the president with material of all levels of classification.

Former presidents are traditionally allowed to receive intelligence briefings if they are being consulted about events that occurred during their administration.

A month after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, Biden said in an interview with CBS News that Trump should not receive intelligence briefings, pointing to Trump’s “erratic behavior unrelated to the insurrection.” His comments came in response to a question about whether Trump should receive intelligence briefings.

“I just think that there is no need for him to have the intelligence briefings. What value is giving him an intelligence briefing?” Biden added. “What impact does he have at all, other than the fact he might slip and say something?”

Trump was charged in June 2023 in a case accusing him of mishandling classified material after leaving office. He pleaded not guilty, and a Florida judge nominated by Trump later dismissed the case. During the Biden administration, the Justice Department moved to appeal the judge’s decision, but days into Trump’s second term, his administration dropped the appeal, putting an end to the case.

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Trump referenced Biden’s comments, saying in Friday’s post that Biden “set this precedent in 2021.”

Trump also cited a report from former special counsel Robert Hur, who said in a 2024 report that Biden had “poor memory.”

Hur’s comments came in a report detailing his decision not to prosecute Biden for his handling of classified documents.

“We have also considered that, at trial, Mr. Biden would likely present himself to a jury, as he did during our interview of him, as a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory,” the report said.

Last month, Trump moved to revoke security clearances of 50 former intelligence officials, a move that legal experts called unprecedented.