Last Updated on November 17, 2020
Former Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden said during a press conference Monday, that although he does not receive intelligence briefings because he is not the President, his running mate Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) is using her placement on the United States Senate Select Committee on Intelligence to obtain classified information.
Speaking in front of a blue background emblazoned with the slogan “Office of the President Elect,” Biden said “And uh, so, it would make it a lot easier if the President were to participate, you have a number of Republicans suggesting that….”
“The good here is that my colleague is still on the Intelligence Committee so she gets the intelligence briefings,” Biden said, turning and smiling in Harris’ direction. “I don’t anymore, so uh, um, uh, that uh, that is, but there’s a number of Republicans calling for that.”
#BREAKING: President-elect Joe Biden says he's getting intel through Vice President-elect Kamala Harris: "The good news is my colleague is still on the Intelligence Committee so she gets the intelligence briefings." pic.twitter.com/3ZWccUFKLN
— The Hill (@thehill) November 16, 2020
Biden’s remarks have raised concern over the legal implications of Harris using her tenure on the Senate intelligence committee to funnel classified info to private citizens, as Biden appeared to imply during the press conference.
Despite standing in front of the “Office of the President Elect” background, the Biden-Harris campaign is covertly seeking to raise $30 million from donors to fight Trump lawsuits regarding election integrity, as reported by National File:
Emails from the Democratic National Committee and the Biden campaign were sent out to donors last week that asked for help “re-launching our Biden Fight Fund” to “ensure Trump doesn’t win them just because we don’t have the funds to fight back.”
“The crises facing our country are severe from climate change to racial injustice,” the letter said. “We have to step up NOW and give and raise the funding we need to have the necessary funds to make sure that the Biden Harris Transition Team has the money it needs to stay on track to be ready on Inauguration Day January 20, 2021.”
“Because of the $5000 limit we need EVERYONE to focus on raising this money now,” the email begged, adding that the Biden campaign and DNC “wouldn’t be asking if we didn’t truly need $30 million to be able to fund the legal work ahead — we can’t run out of resources now, which is why we need to fill this fund as soon as we can.”
The office of Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe confirmed last week that Biden would not be receiving top-level national security intel because the General Services Administration has yet to ascertain the winner of the 2020 election.
