The Pentagon blocked members of President Joe Biden’s incoming administration from gaining access to critical information about current operations, including the troop drawdown in Afghanistan, upcoming special operations missions in Africa and the Covid-19 vaccine distribution program, according to new details provided by transition and defense officials.
The effort to obstruct the Biden team, led by senior White House appointees at the Pentagon, is unprecedented in modern presidential transitions and will hobble the new administration on key national security matters as it takes over positions in the Defense Department on Wednesday, the officials said.
Biden openly decried the treatment his aides were receiving at the Pentagon in December, calling it “nothing short, in my view, of irresponsibility” after meetings were canceled ahead of Christmas. He said his people were denied information on the SolarWinds hack, and said his team “needs a clear picture of our force posture around the world and our operations to deter our enemies.”
But people involved with the transition, both on the Biden team and the Pentagon side, gave POLITICO a more detailed picture of what was denied, saying briefings on pressing defense matters never happened, were delayed to the last minute, or were controlled by overbearing minders from the Trump administration's side.
“Defense has traditionally been a bipartisan business between and among professionals, and this is terrible optics for those who want to copy this pettiness in the future,” said Mackenzie Eaglen, a fellow at the conservative American Enterprise Institute. The effort to block the transition from key national security information is “useless, poor form, and horrible precedent.”
This story is based on conversations with 10 Pentagon and Biden officials involved in the transition, most of whom spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive conversations.
Tensions between the Pentagon and the Biden agency landing team emerged almost the moment the General Services Administration authorized the transition to begin in late November after an initial delay following the election. While the military side of the house — the Joint Staff and the geographic combatant commanders — were more cooperative, the civilian side set up roadblocks at every turn.
“They really should not be allowed to get away with this. It’s just completely irresponsible and indefensible,” said one transition official. “To play politics with the country’s national security is just really unacceptable.”
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Take the Bait... Ben Hiden swallowed the bait and ate Trump's cake while doing it... Any nonsense about removing him from office under cover of Martial Law would be unconstitutional and... and treason. No military officer with half a mind would act to remove a President that has been duly sworn in as President.. there are only three ways to legally remove a President ... Impeachment (removal for a fraudulent election requires impeachment), the 25th Amendment, and Death.
We must not violate the law in dealing with this problem... we allowed it to manifest now we must adapt and improvise to remove the cancer in our midst.
"We allowed it to manifest"?..........We did nothing of the sort. We were steam rolled! We discovered that the whole damn Gov. from dog catcher to Biden Xi Puppet is rotten to the core and no longer deserves our willing consent. The Good ones are quickly beaten into submission. We discovered we are no longer a Represntative Republic but a Godless,Kleptocratic Kakistocracy. We should refuse any and all willing consent en masse. They are the enemy within. THE WHOLE DAMN LOT OF THEM! They are beneath me,.
I am sorry Phil that you were only recently aware of the depth of the corruption in DC... However, many of us have been writing and warning about the corruption for over 10yrs... going back to the 9/11 incident and earlier. Both Parties and most informed individuals have been aware of the creeping crude syndrome holding DC in its arms... and did nothing about it.... leading us to the point of no return and massive civil disobedience in leveraging our numbers and disgust in ways that will solve our problems.
I've known. My frustration is in the apathy towrds it., I learned to hate the Dems. from Clinton. That's who taught a generation that CHARACTER DOESN'T MATTER!!!.........We've been in a crash and burn nose dive ever since. Trump is the ONLY man that was up for the job and they crushed HIM and US for it. I'm outraged at their destruction of freedom FOREVER!!!.........They will completly wipe the cobcept oot of existence,nrever to return., I like REALLY hate termALL for it too!...........Not for me but for HUNANITY AS A WHOLE!!!! They are so evil!!!
I sincerely sympathize with you... however, hate and anger will not solve our problems.
We must reform, focus and return to the battle... refreshed and willing to engage novel forms of civil unrest; while, encouraging the Red States to massively engage the doctrine of anti-commandeering, to defeat federal government overreach. There are ways out of this mess if we can motivate the State's to act... on them.
The Bait has gone sour.... left in the water to long... it has fallen off the line.
Because we have a Government full of traitors. SO SICK OF IT!!!!
They don't realize God is at work for those He loves!
Sometimes that work may mean EXILE and suffering for one's rebellion... Grace may abound but the physical penalty for sin has not been removed from our body... our bodies remain under the law... they get sick, and we die. Nations are windows into the soul of their people... What does our soul look like today?
P/S Berry ... the only god at work here is the god of this world... Satan.