PAWTUCKET, R.I. (AP) – A Rhode Island congressman says he’s asking President Barack Obama to withhold classified materials and briefings from Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump in the interest of national security.
U.S. Rep. David Cicilline (sihs-ihl-EE’-nee), a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, sent a letter to Obama on Wednesday.
At a news conference hours earlier, Trump said he hoped that Russia would find emails deleted by Hillary Clinton from her time as secretary of state. He said: “Russia, if you’re listening, I hope you’re able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing.”
Cicilline says Trump’s “call for hostile foreign action” goes beyond partisan politics and “represents a threat to the republic itself.”
Since 1952, Democratic and Republican presidential candidates have traditionally received intelligence briefings after securing their party’s nomination.