PHILADELPHIA — Just weeks after the FBI accused Hillary Clinton of “extremely careless” treatment of classified material, her campaign chair suggested Donald Trump should not be trusted with the classified briefings he is entitled to receive now that he is the Republican nominee.
John Podesta said Trump’s campaign should have to submit “sort of some proof that they can be able to hold on to that information” in an interview with the Huffington Post after Trump made controversial comments about Russian hackers on Wednesday.
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“I don’t know how the [Director of National Intelligence James Clapper] assures himself that information that is being passed on to him is going to be secure,” Podesta said of Trump.
House Speaker Paul Ryan submitted a formal request to Clapper earlier this month urging him to withhold classified briefings from Clinton in the wake of findings that she had handled classified documents recklessly while serving as secretary of state. But Clapper denied that request by saying he planned to begin briefing both candidates after their conventions.
Podesta said he feared that Trump would leak classified information if he was granted access to it. However, his own candidate has weathered fierce criticism since the public learned she housed hundreds of classified documents on an unsecured server in her basement.
