Trump Finally Signs Transition Documents—With One Giant Catch
Donald Trump is shirking decades-old norms intended to make the transfer of power smoother, according to The New York Times.
After weeks of delays, the president-elect’s team has finally signed a standard transition agreement with the White House to start briefing staff members. But they are still refusing to sign two other key documents. One is a Justice Department agreement to let the F.B.I. perform security clearances for transition team members. This means that the Biden administration still isn’t able to share classified information with anyone from Trump’s transition team. The Trump team also won’t sign the General Services Administration agreement, which provides secure office space and government email accounts.
Top Trump aide Susan Wiles explained the reasoning behind this refusal, stating that Trump wants his team to “operate as a self-sufficient organization. This organizational autonomy means a streamlined process that guarantees the Trump Administration is ready on Day 1.”
“The transition already has existing security and information protections built in, which means we will not require additional government and bureaucratic oversight,” Wiles continued.
But Biden officials say this refusal will just make information sharing harder, as they will have to find other ways to share important, unclassified information with the incoming administration—meaning in-person only briefings and more restrictions on how said information will be shared. The Trump team has not commented on whether they do intend to sign the agreement sometime in the near future.
