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Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe is defending his decision to minimize all in-person election security briefings to Congress in favor of written reports after he accused several members of Congress of leaking information “within minutes” of meeting.
On “Sunday Morning Futures” Ratcliff said he had been going into great detail in briefing “not just the oversight committees but every member of Congress” but that stops now.
Ratcliffe told host Maria Bartiromo, “Within minutes of one of those briefings ending, a number of members of Congress went to a number of different outlets and leaked classified information for political purposes. To create a narrative that simply isn’t true, that somehow Russia is a greater national security threat than China.”
“I don’t mean to minimize Russia,” he added. “They are a serious national security threat, but day in, day out, the threats that we face from China are significantly greater. Anyone who says otherwise is just politicizing intelligence for their own narrative.”
Ratcliffe informed lawmakers that his office “will primarily meet its obligation to keep Congress fully and currently informed leading into the Presidential election through written finished intelligence products.” He explained that it would better protect sources and methods while maintaining “the highest analytic standards.”
House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff used this new method to accuse the Trump administration of pushing a false narrative to downplay interference from the Russians in the 2020 election.
Schiff told CNN’s “State of the Union”, “They’re going to put it in writing now instead of giving an oral briefing. That doesn’t make any sense unless the goal is not to allow members of Congress, the representatives of the American people, to ask questions.”
“Concealing the truth is concealing Russians are again intervening to help the president in his reelection,” he added.
Joe Biden was also quick to criticize the Trump administration, “President Trump is hoping Vladimir Putin will once more boost his candidacy and cover his horrific failures to lead our country through the multiple crises we are facing. And he does not want the American people to know the steps Vladimir Putin is taking to help Trump get re-elected.”
