The Pentagon barred Biden’s intelligence team from meeting with various agencies

The delay means that the Biden team has not yet been able to meet with officers from the Army’s intelligence unit within the Department of Defense – including the intelligence and national security agencies – although all other meetings by the Biden inspection team appear to have taken place just after the delay.

The Washington Post first reported On the issue of Biden’s team with the Office of Defense’s Transformation Office, led by the Trump-loyalist party, linked to efforts to spread conspiracy theories about the president-elect.

Last week, Biden’s intelligence inspection team was scheduled to meet with various defense intelligence agencies this week.

Earlier this week, word came from the Pentagon that Biden would not be involved with the Defense Intelligence Service until it had sent in an inquiry and identified the people it wanted to contact.

“That was a big FU, from defense to intelligence community transformation team,” said the former official.

Sue Gough, a spokesman for the Ministry of Defense, denied that there were any problems with Biden’s ability to meet with Pentagon officials.

“The DOD inspection team has not been denied any access,” Gough said in a statement. “We continue to work with DOD ART to schedule interviews, briefings and updates.”

Biden Transformation Team spokesman Ned Price declined to comment. The National Security Agency and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The defense chief said the Transformation Team for Biden Intelligence “conducted direct coordination with the DOD for interviews, briefings and site visits,” and then the Pentagon asked it to reach Patel for all interview requests and access the site. “According to the decree, the GSA guidelines” and the Memorandum of Understanding between the White House and the President-elect.

“In case of uncertainty,” the defense official said, the timing change / delay occurred because (the Biden team) did not reach out to the DOD before scheduling a meeting with DOD, PER THE GUIDANCE and MOU. Do not be rejected, they just have to follow the right steps. “

Gough said in a statement that the visit was scheduled to begin late next week, and that Patel and his’s counterpart were working closely with others “and were completing coordination” to visit Biden.

The Defense Department’s position has angered National Intelligence Agency Director John Ratcliffe, according to the former intelligence chief, who said Ratcliffe intended to take the issue to the White House.

The Office of the Director of National Intelligence has been set up to coordinate efforts across news agencies across the administration.

The former intelligence chief said “Ratcliffe is hot.” It is his DNI authority to determine the secret steps and the stages of change. ”

Vince Stewart, a former defense chief and former deputy director of the US Cyber ​​Command, who now leads Biden’s secret service, visited the National Intelligence Agency this week to lay the groundwork for a replacement for Biden H.

Trump has appointed Patel and Ezra Cohen-Watnick, the deputy secretary of defense and security, to take their place as part of a major change at the Pentagon, where he appointed several civilians last week to replace him.

Since the shooting of Secretary of Defense Mark Esper in a tweet on November 9, the president has ousted three other top officials and replaced them with a credible allegiance. Mr. Trump also replaced two members of the Advisory Board, installing his former campaign manager on one of them.