U.S. spy agencies are preparing to deliver a classified briefing to Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, the nation’s intelligence director said Thursday, despite deep unease among many spy officials with the real estate mogul’s pro-Russian rhetoric.
National Intelligence Director James R. Clapper Jr. indicated that Trump and Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton are eligible to receive intelligence briefings within days of the conclusion of the Democratic National Convention.
“Now is the appropriate time, since both candidates have been officially anointed,” Clapper said during public remarks at a security conference here.
Amid reports that some intelligence officials have deep reservations about sharing sensitive information with Trump, Clapper said that “it is not up to the administration and not up to me personally to decide on the suitability of presidential candidates. The American electorate is deciding on the suitability of the next commander in chief.”
But Clapper’s remarks came amid new signs of deep discomfort with Trump among the upper ranks of the intelligence community. In a measure of that growing animosity, one senior intelligence official said Wednesday that he would decline to participate in any session with Trump.
Some current and former U.S. intelligence officials have also expressed concern about Clinton, who was recently reprimanded by Comey for her “careless” handling of sensitive material in the emails. But unlike Trump, Clinton has participated in hundreds of intelligence briefings in her career and had access to classified material while working in the White House and the Senate.
The practice of briefing presidential candidates after conventions dates back decades, and typically involves — at least initially — sharing broad assessments of foreign events and threats.
Clapper said that the White House in the coming days would contact the Trump and Clinton campaigns, offering “fairly general” overviews on issues including the threat posed by the Islamic State and other terror groups.