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Florida Democratic Representative Val Demings said Saturday that she believes former President Donald Trump would sell U.S. intelligence briefings, if given the chance.
“I believe this former president, and I believe it with all of my heart, would use intelligence as a bargaining chip or sell it to the highest bidder,” Demings said during an interview on MSNBC.
“We don’t trust our former president, and neither do many of our allies around the world,” she added.
Demings’ remarks come after President Joe Biden said that there is “no need” for Trump to continue receiving intelligence briefings following his departure from office.
As a courtesy, former presidents are often given the opportunity to receive continued intelligence at the oversight of the new commander-in-chief.
But in a new interview with CBS News, Biden said that Trump’s “erratic behavior” would be reason enough to keep him from receiving the briefings.
“I just think that there is no need for him to have the intelligence briefings. What value is giving him an intelligence briefing? What impact does he have at all, other than the fact he might slip and say something?” the president said during the interview that will air Sunday.
Shawn Thew/Getty
Demings, who serves on the House’s Judiciary, Homeland Security, and Intelligence committees, said Trump proved himself an untrustworthy source during his time in office by “snuggling up” with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“We watched this president in action for four years. We saw him stand on the stage with Vladimir Putin in Helsinki and basically do everything but ask the Russian dictator for his autograph. We’ve seen him on a phone call with the Russian dictator and refuse to ask him about bounties put on the heads of American soldiers,” she said.
“We’ve seen him snuggle up with Kim Jong Un of North Korea,” she added. “There is no circumstance where the former president should receive any intelligence. Not now or quite frankly, in the future.”
The only situation that would garner an intelligence briefing, Deming added, would be if the government had information that could be used to protect the former president’s safety.
Even then, that info would be need to be “clearly and narrowly defined,” she said.
Demings’ remarks come days before Trump’s impeachment hearing is scheduled to take place in the Senate.
The former president was impeached by the House of Representatives for the second time last month on charges of “inciting an insurrection,” after a violent mob of his supporters stormed the Capitol on January 6.
“Donald Trump was impeached, and hopefully will be convicted, because of the role he played in inciting a riot on January 6,” Deming added on Saturday. “The question has come up: ‘Should he receive intelligence briefings?’ The answer is, based on this intelligence committee member’s opinion, ‘no.'”
Newsweek reached out to Demings for additional comment, but did not hear back in time for publication.
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