State Department Blocks Joe Biden's Access To Messages From Foreign Leaders
Foreign leaders have given the State Department dozens of messages for President-elect Joe Biden. However, the department refuses to give him or his transition team access to those messages. These messages are currently sitting at the State Department, guarded by the Trump administration.
State Department officials told CNN on Wednesday that President Trump’s administration is leaving no stone unturned in a bid to prevent Biden from accessing the messages he received from leaders around the world after being projected the president-elect on Saturday.
The State Department ideally supports all sorts of communications for the President-elect, which explains why numerous countries began sending messages to the State once the election results were revealed. With Trump refusing to accept the election results and accusing Democrats of stealing the election, Biden cannot access State Department resources. As a result, none of the incoming messages have been received by Biden.
In an attempt to nullify this restriction placed on Biden's access to the letters, the Biden transition team conducted calls with foreign leaders without requiring any assistance from the State Department. However, a source familiar with the situation told CNN that they would prefer using the State Department resources instead.
Realizing that the State Department will not help them get in touch with Biden, some foreign leaders reached out to former Diplomats from the Obama administration for help. The Biden team is trying to handle the non-sensitive calls and even release readout of those calls, The Hill reported.
Biden's team is independently getting in touch with foreign governments, holding numerous calls with leaders, including Canada's Justin Trudeau and Germany's Angela Merkel. These calls were arranged without any logistical and translation support that the State Department operations center traditionally provides.
It is worth noting that Obama made calls to foreign leaders using his own cell phone when he was President-elect, according to a State Department official who arranged those calls for the former president at the time. Aside from the State Department blocking Biden from receiving messages, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo refused to even acknowledge Biden's victory on Tuesday.
Pompeo received backlash on Tuesday for saying there will be a smooth transition to a second Trump administration. He cracked a smile after Biden was widely accepted to have won the presidential election.
Moreover, Biden is being blocked from getting the President's Daily Brief, which alludes to intelligence briefings a President gets. If the Trump administration continues to block a smooth transition ahead of Inauguration Day on Jan. 20, the Biden administration will be subject to several concerns the day he takes office.