US administration suspends its briefings to Congress on election security
Ratcliffe, Director of US National Intelligence, announced to Congress that they stopped their briefing on election security and would only issue written notices from now on.
According to reports by the US media based on Congressional sources, the director of National Intelligence (DNI) John Ratcliffe sent a letter to the Senate and the House of Representatives officials on Friday, announcing his decision.
Ratcliffe, who was appointed to the DNI position by President Donald Trump in May, stated in his letter that they will no longer hold the briefings they gave to the members of Congress, “It is important for us that information on election security is not misjudged and politicized.”
“WE ARE CONCERNED ABOUT THE PRIVATE INFORMATION LEAKS TO THE MEDIA”
An unnamed DNI official who spoke to the American media said that “some of the members of Congress are worried about leaking this confidential information to the media right after the briefings”.
Democratic Congress members strongly opposed the decision, arguing that they could no longer ask the relevant intelligence officials face-to-face questions and that this was unacceptable.
As the November 3 presidential election approaches, there is serious tension between President Trump and Democrats, especially around postal voting discussions.
