Joe Biden compared Donald Trump to his first visit to the intelligence agency

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President Biden had the “former man” on his mind Tuesday as he sought to compare himself from predecessor President Trump on his first visit as president to an intelligence agency.

While addressing intelligence professionals on a trip to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), which oversees 17 U.S. intelligence agencies, Mr. Biden expressed his support for their work and made it a point to say that political concerns from the White House will not interfere with their work or their analytical judgments.

I promise you, you will not see a time while I am president of the United States when my administration is trying to affect or change your judgments about what you think the situation is, Mr. Biden continued, clearly wraps up the many criticisms leveled by Democrats against G.. Trump in his term.

The address and the event marked a change of tone from Mr. Trump’s days, which has repeatedly confronted the intelligence community both individually and as a whole from almost the first day he took office.

Mr. Trump accused the intelligence community of engaging in Nazi tactics, said its top leaders needed to go back to school, and famously said he knew more than CIA and FBI leaders.

Assured even before he sat down on an investigation into Russia’s role in the 2016 election, an investigation he repeatedly condemned as a “witch hunt,” Mr. Trump repeatedly clashed with officials. of intelligence, called them on Twitter and labeled them as members. of the “Deep State” working to weaken his administration.

As the White House’s relationship with the intelligence community deteriorated, Mr. Trump ran four national intelligence directors for four years.

Mr. Biden on Tuesday took a different tactic, praising the intelligence community, saying their work was impartial. He said their work will last him and future management. 120 national intelligence workers attended the speech.

You serve the American people no matter which political party holds Congress or the White House, he said. It is very important that you are free from any political pressure or disruptive interference.

During his visit to ODNI, the president met National Intelligence Director Avril Haines and National Counterterrorism Director Christine Abizaid.

Mr. Biden has already instructed intelligence agencies to carefully examine the origins of COVID-19, including whether it emerged from human contact or from an accident in a Chinese laboratory. The president has promised to make the results of the analysis available to the public in the coming weeks.

The CIA is also investigating a series of unexplained illnesses linked to possible energy attacks, known as Havana Syndrome. Nearly 200 Americans were posted in Havana and other overseas locations with possible symptoms and nearly half of the cases involved CIA officers or their relatives. Nearly 60 cases were linked to the Department of Defense and 50 cases were tied to the State Department.

Mr. Biden said America needs the expertise of intellectual communities to solve this and other threats facing the country. He said he appreciates their work, even if they don’t get adulation for their efforts.

He added that American citizens do not know or appreciate many times that their work prevents disaster and saves lives.

Most of the work you do is secret, Mr. Biden said. Too many times you don’t get credit. But I want you to know: I know.

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