The PDB — the President’s Daily Brief — is a daily summary of the most significant and sensitive intelligence about possible threats to the United States. Being on the list of those who get a copy is a statement that one is as important as one can get in the federal government. It is the most highly classified document regularly produced by the United States.
It was long known that TFG rarely paid much attention to the PDB; he averaged about two briefings a week (Obama got one 6 days a week). But new information has surfaced that, apparently, he got no briefings at all in his last month in office:
Trump Stopped Receiving Intel Briefings Entirely For the Last Month of His Presidency
As his presidency matured, however, he took them less regularly, and ultimately only received an average of two briefings per week in the later years.
Then, after leaving for Mar-a-Lago for Christmas on Dec. 23, Trump stopped receiving briefings altogether.
“After the 2020 election, PDB briefings also continued for a period of time,” Helgerson wrote. “When Sanner briefed the president before he went to Mar-a-Lago for the holidays, he commented that he would see her later.”
“The briefings were to resume on 6 January,” Helgserson continued, “but none were scheduled after the attack on the Capitol.”
Business Insider (Australia) has the same story, adding for background previously known details: that Adam Schiff wanted Trump’s access to the PDB cut off after he left office, and that President Biden arranged that.
But that was after he left office. From Dec 23, 2020, until Jan. 20, 2021, the President of the United States, the man most responsible for the safety and security of the country, received — or at least was scheduled to receive — not a single PDB briefing. In the aftermath of the Jan. 6 assault on the Capitol, the Intelligence Community was immediate so suspicious of Trump that it seems they decided that telling him about threats to the United States was a greater risk to the country than keeping silent. (One wonders if Trump even noticed their absence, but that’s another story.)
Wrap your minds around that, and ask — as the Select Committee should — what else did they know, even then?