Biden being restricted by Trump admin from accessing State Department resources: Report

As US politics continues to grow more chaotic after Joe Biden was called for the winner of the presidential elections, US President Donald Trump administration is now preventing the president-elect from accessing the stack of messages sitting at the State Department. The information was revealed by the officials familiar with the messages for Biden being collected at the department to CNN. In the traditional approach, the US State Department facilitates all the communications for the president-elect. This is also the reason why several nations have started pouring in messages to the department over the weekend after major US media networks showed Biden victorious in US Election 2020. 

However, this year, when Biden is supposed to practice transfer of power with Trump, the president-elect is reportedly being prohibited by Trump administration from accessing through the State Department resources mainly because the Republican leader has categorically denied his defeat and still claims that he has won and he ‘will win’. Amid the chaos that Biden has termed as ‘embarrassment’, reportedly there are dozens of messages that have been left unreceived. 

Biden’s team, on the other hand, is in touch with foreign governments directly without any reliance on the US State Department, and the president-elect has already numerous calls with leaders ranging from German chancellor Angela Merkel to Canadian PM Justin Trudeau. The president-elect’s team is reportedly not receiving any logistical and translation support that is usually provided by the government. The source familiar with the situation told CNN that, “they would prefer to be using the State Department resources” and added that Biden’s team is facing unprecedented challenges in communicating the calls. 

However, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo did not even acknowledge Biden’s victory and said that “there will be a smooth transition to a second Trump administration.” Meanwhile, Biden is also reportedly being blocked from getting the same intelligence briefings as the incumbent that are referred to as President’s Daily Brief. It the Trump administration continues to restrict the communications with the president-elect close to the Inauguration Day on January 20, the Biden’s administration will take few weeks to just catch-up.

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Trump's refusal to concede

In a stark break from the longstanding tradition in the United States, the business of transferring power from US President Donald Trump to President-elect Joe Biden appeared to be stagnant on November 9 with the incumbent going ahead with a messaging blitz to promote his claims of voter fraud without any evidence.

However, Trump has been attempting to amplify his stance even while his inner circle is left divided over his refusal to concede and accept the results of the presidential elections. Some are publically supporting him but are unsure of the outcome while others have chosen to remain at the backdrop.

Prior to the results were declared, most around the US President reportedly seemed to believe that his pursuit of legal battles in several states would eventually peter out and Trump would move on even if he does not acknowledge the defeat. But no one expected that Trump would refuse to leave office in January. In the aftermath, the essential process of handing over power to the president-elect is left stalled.

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