Retired U.S. Admiral Michael Mullen is arguing a presidential transition period can be a threat to national security if not handled properly.
NBC’s Chuck Todd pointed out the Bush administration’s willingness to work with the Obama administration during his transition period.
Todd told Mullen, “Now we have one American president boxing in another American president.”
He asked Mullen what message that sends to the world.
“One of the things that I learned in the job that I had is you don’t want to, you’d like to do all you can to not box in the president… to give any president as many options and as much space as possible. So, this is obviously the opposite case right now,” Mullen said.
He accused the Trump administration of “trying to lock in as many options as, as many issues as possible to make it much more difficult for President-elect Biden to govern. And actually, historically, that has just never been the case.”
Watch his comments below:
NEW: Admiral Mike Mullen tells @ChuckTodd "national security issues do not wait" for presidential transitions. #MTP
— Meet the Press (@MeetThePress) November 29, 2020
Mullen: "This is going to be a particularly difficult transition in that arena … and our enemies always try to look and take advantage of a transition period." pic.twitter.com/ey15fJUFp8
Mullen stressed “national security issues do not wait” for presidential transitions.
He continued, “Our allies, our friends, and our enemies, look at us at a time of real fragility in that regard and our enemies always try to look and take advantage of a transition period.”
The Trump administration permitted Biden to receive intelligence briefings on Tuesday, as IJR previously reported.
“Following the statutory direction of the Presidential Transition Act, ODNI will provide requested support to the transition team,” an official at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence said.
They added, “This afternoon the White House approved ODNI to move forward with providing the PDB (president’s daily brief) as part of the support to the transition.”
Several have expressed concern about Trump’s failure to concede and the effects on national security including Trump’s former chief of staff, John Kelly, and former Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Director John Brennan, as IJR previously reported.
