More than 100 Republican former members of the national security community, including former Department of Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge sent a letter to Congressional GOP members, urging them to push outgoing president Donald Trump to concede the election, the Washington Post reports.
“President Trump’s refusal to permit the presidential transition poses significant risks to our national security, at a time when the U.S. confronts a global pandemic and faces serious threats from global adversaries, terrorist groups, and other forces,” the statement reads.
The Trump Administration is obstructing President-elect Joe Biden’s team by refusing to recognize Biden’s popular vote and Electoral College victories, preventing the incoming administration from learning about the status of key government pandemic and national security situations.
“President Trump’s refusal to permit the presidential transition also poses significant risks to our national security, at a time when the U.S. confronts a global pandemic and faces serious threats from global adversaries, terrorist groups, and other forces,” the statement says. “The delay in allowing transition teams to meet and confer with officials on the Coronavirus Task Force and at the National Security Council, the Departments of State, Defense, and Homeland Security, and the other departments and agencies critical to U.S. national security means that the incoming Biden Administration will be less prepared to defend America’s security when it assumes power in 59 days.”
The letter is signed by former National Security Council staffers, ambassadors, Pentagon officials and presidential executive staff.