Oklahoma U.S. Senator James Lankford made an appearance Saturday on conservative TV network Newsmax, a pro-Trump channel that often presents misleading information to viewers as fact.
Lankford was asked about his assertion he would step in if President-elect Joe Biden did not start getting intelligence briefings by last Friday.
"So, why are you, I guess, in such a hurry to get Joe Biden these briefings?" said host Rob Schmitt.
"So, I’m not in a hurry, necessarily, to get Joe Biden these briefings. It’s been interesting how the media — the national media, not this network, but others — have twisted this term, 'step in,'" Lankford said.
Lankford said he only meant he would be acting in his capacity as chair of the senate committee that oversees the General Services Administration.
"So, when I said, 'I’m going to step in at Friday,' it’s 'How are you doing it? What are your metrics? How are you making decisions? What’s the process?'" Lankford said. "Those are the basic things. That’s basic oversight, what a member of the Senate would do."
Lankford said President Trump’s lawsuits in various states should be allowed to play out. He added Biden got intelligence briefings as the Democratic candidate but restated his position that both Biden and Trump should get briefings until those legal challenges are settled.
"GSA has never been challenged at this spot to say, 'Make a decision.' In their statutes, it says they have to ascertain who the winner was and then start to be able to help them in the transition. Well, ascertain could mean a lot of things to a lot of people," Lankford said.
Lankford also lent support to some of Trump’s unproven claims about voter fraud, saying there are, "lots of questions that are out there."
