Trump team signs deal to end transition 'standoff' with the Biden White House... with a few catches
Incoming White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles announced Tuesday that the Trump team had signed a 'Memorandum of Understanding' with President Joe Biden's White House to get the presidential transition rolling after a three-week delay.
The announcement ends the stand-off between the outgoing and incoming administrations, but Trump's team indicated they will not be handling the transition in the traditional fashion.
They will not sign a separate MOU with the General Services Administration, which has office space and secure IT support at the ready.
They vowed to abide by their own pre-existing 'Ethics Pledge' and will continue to use private funding for the transition efforts - but said they would disclose the names of donors to the American public - claiming 'we will not require additional government and bureaucratic oversight.'
'The Transition will not utilize taxpayer funding for costs related to the transition, which is consistent with President Trump's commitment to save taxpayers' hard-earned money,' the announcement said.
The White House confirmed to DailyMail.com that the MOU had been signed, but expressed reservations.
'While we do not agree with the Trump transition team's decision to forgo signing the GSA MOU, we will follow the purpose of the Presidential Transition Act which clearly states that "any disruption occasioned by the transfer of the executive power could produce results detrimental to the safety and wellbeing of the United States and its people,"' said White House spokesperson Saloni Sharma.
She added that the Biden White House felt they had little choice but to go along with the wishes of the incoming president's team.
President-elect Donald Trump (left) shakes hands with President Joe Biden (right) during their Oval Office meeting on November 13. The transition had been held up because Trump's team refused to sign three MOUs with the federal government
'The fact is that on January 20 at 12 p.m., President Trump and his team will be in seat,' she said in a statement. 'We have 2 options. Option one is no transition, potentially risking the security of the American people and our country.'
'Option two is conduct a smooth transition with safeguards in the White House MOU to protect non-public information and prevent conflicts of interest,' she continued.
'Option two is the responsible course and in the best interest of the American people,' she added.
Trump's team was supposed to sign three agreements to kick off the traditional transition process - one with the White House, one with the GSA and a third with the Department of Justice so that the president-elect's Cabinet picks could get vetted by the FBI, which has historically been needed for Senate confirmation.
White House officials said Tuesday that the DOJ MOU 'is not signed but progress has been made towards an agreement.'
The DOJ is 'ready to process requests for security clearances for those who will need access briefing materials and national security information once the MOU is signed,' officials said.
Trump has long been skeptical of the so-called 'deep state,' and has suggested that his many indictments were proof that Biden's DOJ was after him - so it's not surprising that there was reluctance to sign an agreement with the Justice Department.
But one of the crucial findings of the September 11 attack's report was that the drawn-out 2000 election - and delayed transition - contributed to President George W. Bush's team not being prepared for the Islamic terror threat.
Incoming Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, pictured on the campaign trail in July, was quoted in the announcement put out by the Trump transition on Tuesday
One of the biggest reasons to get the transition moving is to allow Trump's people access to vital national security information so they're prepared on day No. 1.
Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren called attention to this issue in a stern letter to the GSA last week, asking the agency to articulate the serious problems that could crop up from team Trump's refusal to sign the agreements.
'President-elect Trump is undermining his administration’s ability to manage urgent national security threats, health and safety threats, and serious conflicts of interest starting on day one of his presidency,' she said.
In a follow-up statement provided to DailyMail.com, Warren said Tuesday's announcement 'fails to answer key questions about national security threats and FBI vetting of nominees, and increases concerns about corruption.'
'There appear[s] to be serious gaps between the Trump transition's ethics agreement and the letter of the law,' the Massachusetts Democrat said. 'The reliance on private donors to fund the transition is nothing more than a ploy for well-connected Trump insiders to line their pockets while pretending to save taxpayers money.'
White House officials said Tuesday that the MOU would allow incoming Trump officials to access non-public information, but it also provided guardrails.
'In the event it is necessary to share classified information with a transition team member, the relevant government agency must establish that the transition team member has the security clearance necessary to have access to that information, the requisite need to know, and has signed the requisite non-disclosure agreements,' officials said.
