WASHINGTON — Acting Defense Secretary Christopher Miller denied Friday that the he ordered Pentagon officials to stop cooperating with the transition team for President-elect Joe Biden.


What You Need To Know

  • Acting Defense Secretary Christopher Miller denied Friday that the he ordered Pentagon officials to stop cooperating with the transition team for President-elect Joe Biden

  • Axios reported that Miller on Thursday night ordered Defense Department officials to cancel scheduled transition meetings

  • Politico reported that the Pentagon has rescheduled approximately 20 meetings that had been planned for Friday

  • Miller said there is a “mutually-agreed upon holiday pause” and that the Defense Department will continue to assist Biden's team in the transition

Axios reported that Miller on Thursday night ordered Defense Department officials to cancel scheduled transition meetings. The officials were shocked by Miller’s directive and did not know what prompted it or whether President Trump approved of it, according to the report.

In a statement released after the story’s publication, Miller said that “At no time has the Department cancelled or declined any interview,” that there is a “mutually-agreed upon holiday pause” that will begin Saturday and that the Pentagon has rescheduled meetings that had been planned for Friday.

Spectrum News has reached out the Biden transition team for comment.

Politico reported that the Pentagon has rescheduled approximately 20 meetings from Friday. One Pentagon official told Axios the department is “taking a knee for two weeks,” until after the first of the year. 

"These same senior leaders needed to do their day jobs and were being consumed by transition activities,” the official said.

Biden will be sworn in as the 46th President of the United States on Jan. 20.

“The Department of Defense will continue to provide all required support to the Agency Review Team (ART) to keep our nation and her citizens safe,” Miller said in his statement.

He added that the Pentagon’s “key focus in the next two weeks is supporting essential requests for information on OWS [Operation Warp Speed] and COVID-19 information to guarantee a flawless transition.”

The Trump administration did not begin assisting the Biden transition until Nov. 24 — 17 days after major media outlets called the election for Biden —  as the president made baseless claims about widespread voter fraud and fought unsuccessfully to overturn the election results in court.

Meetings between the Trump administration and Biden’s aides, however, have been taking place ever since. 

Miller took over the Pentagon after Trump fired Defense Secretary Mark Esper on Nov. 11. Miller had most recently served as director of the National Counterterrorism Center.