Interesting that this was at the suggestion of Al Gore.
Tuesday November 28 12:15 PM ET
White House to Start Security Briefings for
Bush
By Jim Wolf
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House said on Tuesday it would start
daily national security and intelligence briefings for George W. Bush (news -
web sites)'s team to ensure a smooth transition if the Texas governor sustains
his claim to have been elected the next president.
President Clinton (news - web sites)'s chief of staff, John Podesta, said White
House National Security Advisor Samuel Berger would contact the Bush team
later in the day to set up the sessions with Central Intelligence Agency briefers
normally given to a president-elect.
``We want to make sure that Governor Bush has up-to-date security
information, intelligence information,'' Podesta said in an interview on CNN.
The offer to brief Bush, a Republican, was at the suggestion of Vice President
Al Gore (news - web sites), Podesta said.
Gore, the Democratic presidential nominee, is contesting Florida's decision on
Sunday to award its decisive 25 electoral votes to Bush, enough to assure his
election in perhaps the closest U.S. presidential race in history.
Gore already has access to intelligence and national security briefings on a
daily basis as a member of the Clinton administration, Podesta said.
``We want to be helpful to both sides ... so that the new administration can hit
the ground running,'' Podesta said.
Podesta discussed tentative transition arrangements on Monday night with
Andrew Card, Bush's White House chief of staff designate.
Among other things, Podesta offered Justice Department (news - web sites)
help for background checks on Bush's choices for Cabinet and other
government jobs that ultimately will require security clearances.
Card said he had had a ``good'' telephone conversation with Podesta. In an
interview on ABC's ``Good Morning America,'' he said any failure by Bush to
begin making transition efforts would be ``irresponsible'' given the
responsibilities he may assume when a new president is sworn in on Jan. 20.
Podesta defended the decision by the General Services Administration -- which
doles out both the $5.3 million earmarked for the incoming administration and
temporary office space in the capital -- to hold off until there was a ``clear''
winner.
Both Bush and Gore have legal challenges pending growing out of the disputed
vote tally in Florida from the Nov. 7 election. |
