Top White House Officials Want a Lid on Talk of Election Threats

[Nevilledog]

https://www.thedailybeast.com/top-white-house-officials-want-a-lid-on-talk-of-election-threats

When the Office of the Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe called lawmakers on Capitol Hill Friday to inform them that the administration would no longer provide in-person briefings on threats to the U.S. election, congressional staffers scrambled to figure out why the director suddenly had pulled back from his commitment to appear for questioning.

They still don’t have a solid answer.

But two administration officials and three other individuals familiar with the issue told The Daily Beast that top White House officials, including National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien and Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, have repeatedly discussed in meetings with staff and with President Donald Trump how to restrict and control the flow of information on such sensitive topics to Capitol Hill. Those conversations have primarily focused on how details and materials from congressional briefings leak to the media, on their belief that Democrats politicize the briefings, and how it may be beneficial to limit the time some administration officials spend in front of Congress.

Ratcliffe’s announcement that he was suspending the election security briefings came less than 70 days before the 2020 presidential election. Individuals close to Trump and Meadows say they were unaware of Ratcliffe’s decision to scale back the briefings until ODNI sent formal letters to Capitol Hill Saturday. But the shared belief among top officials about the need to curtail in-person briefings underscores the extent to which the Trump White House believes lawmakers’ access to sensitive national security matters is a political hindrance.

*snip*

[Thomas Hurt]

1. WH knows nothing...sure. He isn't doing it because he got a phone call from Meadows or the Pig.

[liberal N proud]

2. He fears the exposure that Putin is involved

[SheltieLover]

3. This!👆