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Biden should receive national security briefings

Defending the nation is a non-partisan issue

American presidents need to hit the ground running, especially when it comes to national security. We have too many enemies in the world to let our guard down for even a few hours.

President Donald Trump continues to challenge results of the Nov. 3 election through court challenges. That is both his right and entirely understandable.

It does not appear that the president’s attorneys will be able to prevail to the extent needed to mount a successful challenge to the election. Unless something entirely unforeseen by anyone occurs, Joe Biden will become president on Jan. 20.

Trump has ordered federal agencies not to cooperate with Biden’s transition team. That will make things inconvenient for the Biden administration. It will slow action on some of his initiatives — and because Biden has vowed to reverse many of Trump’s executive orders, an attempt to slow him down is understandable.

One action by the White House could prove dangerous, however. It is refusal to provide intelligence briefings to Biden.

Because of the complexity of national security and, again, the need for new presidents to be up to speed immediately, most presidents in the past have authorized such briefings for those about to take over the country’s highest post.

Trump should do that, too. National security is not a matter of partisanship — in any way. Biden should be briefed on it so that, when he takes office, there will be no lag in Oval Office readiness.

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