Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) wants the U.S. intelligence community to “dumb down” briefings for former President Donald Trump now that the 2024 presidential race is now up to him and President Joe Biden.
During an interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” moderator Kristen Welker asked Schiff if he believed Trump should begin receiving sensitive information once he officially becomes the GOP’s presidential nominee given his classified documents case.
Welker asked, “U.S. intelligence officials are planning to provide briefings for Donald Trump once he, if he, officially secures the nomination despite the fact that he’s facing 40 felony charges for his handling of classified documents. As the former chair of the House Intelligence Committee, do you think it’s appropriate for him to receive intelligence briefings?”
Schiff admitted that briefing presidential nominees “is the practice,” but said that things should be different in Trump’s case as “we’ve never had a situation where one of the candidates for president has been so criminally negligent when it comes to handling — if not worse — when it comes to handling classified information.”
“So I have to hope and knowing the intelligence community, as I do, that they will dumb down the briefing for Donald Trump. That is they will give him no more information than absolutely necessary. Nothing that would reveal sources or methods. Because we can’t trust that he will do the right thing with that information, he’s been so reckless. So yes, it does concern me, it is part of a long tradition. They will be wary of what they share with him and they should,” he added.
WATCH: Fmr. Intel Chair @RepAdamSchiff (D-Calif.) says he hopes the intelligence community will “dumb down” Trump’s briefings once he claims the nomination.
Schiff: “We can’t trust that he will do the right thing” with classified information revealing sources and methods. pic.twitter.com/AovCNLHkYe
— Meet the Press (@MeetThePress) March 10, 2024
Trump’s federal criminal case in Florida prosecuted by special counsel Jack Smith alleges that he went to his Mar-a-Lago home with boxes of classified documents at the White House. Smith also accused the GOP presumptive nominee of misleading federal investigators when they went to the home to search for the documents.
Trump has however, pleaded not guilty in the case, as he says the case and others brought against him is part of a politically motivated “witch hunt.”
