Wednesday morning [August 17, 2016], Republican nominee Donald Trump will be set to receive his first classified briefing from the intelligence community in New York.
First reported by ABC News, the briefing is to take place at the FBI’s offices, however it is to be conducted by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.
Briefings such as this one have been a standard procedure since the 1950s for presidential candidates. According to the Director of National Intelligence, James Clapper, the briefings are generally broad, and sensitive topics remain uncovered until an individual becomes the president.
News of this briefing comes amidst concerns among top officials and the general public on whether or not Mr. Trump can handle the responsibility that comes with classified information following revent inflammatory remarks, stating that Russia should find the 30,000 emails that are missing “from Hillary Clinton’s email account.”
“How would the CIA and the other intelligence agencies brief this guy? How could they do that?” Senate minority leader Harry Reid told the Huffington Post. “I would suggest to the intelligence agencies, if you’re forced to brief this guy, don’t tell him anything, just fake it, because this man is dangerous.”
On the flip side of things, last month House Speaker Paul Ryan made a similar case to Director Clapper in regard to Hillary Clinton, claiming that her mishandling of information proves her unfit to receive a briefing on classified information.
Clapper maintains that both nominees and their respective Vice President picks are to “receive these briefings by virtue of their status as candidates,” and do not require “separate security clearances”.
