House Speaker Paul Ryan’s attempt to block Hillary Clinton from receiving intelligence briefings once she’s formally nominated by Democrats — given her use of a private email server — has failed.
Director of National Intelligence James Clapper told Ryan in a latter obtained Monday by CNN that he “does not intend to withhold briefings from any officially nominated, eligible candidate.”
Ryan made the request after Clinton was severely criticized by the FBI for her email use, but not punished.
“Nominees for president and vice president receive these briefings by virtue of their status as candidates, and do not require separate security clearances before the briefings,” Clapper wrote to Ryan. “Briefings for the candidates will be provided on an even-handed non-partisan basis.”
Briefings generally begin following the nominating conventions, which will occur this month. They are intended to equip the next possible commander-in-chief with the information they’d need to transition to the White House.
The House speaker originally tried to argue that giving Clinton briefings would be in poor taste after her “extremely careless” handling of email as secretary of state, in the words of FBI Director James Comey.
“There is no legal requirement for you to provide Secretary Clinton with classified information,” Ryan wrote earlier this month, “and it would send the wrong signal to all those charged with safeguarding our nation’s secrets if you choose to provide her access to this information despite the FBI’s findings.”
