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Top intelligence office informs congressional committees it'll no longer brief on election security

(CNN)The Office of the Director of National Intelligence has informed the House and Senate Select Committees on Intelligence that it'll no longer be briefing on election security issues, according to letters obtained by CNN and a senior administration official. Instead, ODNI will primarily provide written updates to the congressional panels, the official said.

The official added that other agencies supporting election security, including the Department of Justice, Department of Defense and Department of Homeland Security, intend to continue briefing Congress.

Still, the abrupt announcement is a change that runs counter to the pledge of transparency and regular briefings on election threats by the intelligence community.

It also comes after the top intelligence official on election security issued a statement earlier this month saying China, Russia and Iran are seeking to interfere in the 2020 US election, a warning that prompted some backlash from Democrats on Capitol Hill who have continued to push for the public release of more information about the nature of those efforts.

'Shocking abdication' of lawful responsibility

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff on Saturday denounced the decision by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence first reported by CNN to no longer provide in-person briefings to members of Congress, including the House and Senate Intelligence Committees, on election security.

"This is a shocking abdication of its lawful responsibility to keep the Congress currently informed, and a betrayal of the public's right to know how foreign powers are trying to subvert our democracy. This intelligence belongs to the American people, not the agencies which are its custodian. And the American people have both the right and the need to know that another nation, Russia, is trying to help decide who their president should be," they said in a statement.

"The ODNI had requested the opportunity to brief the intelligence committees and the full US House of Representatives in mid-September and has now cancelled those briefings and said it would hold no others. This is shameful and coming only weeks before the election demonstrates that the Trump Administration is engaged in a politicized effort to withhold election-related information from Congress and the American people at the precise moment that greater transparency and accountability is required," Pelosi and Schiff added.

An ODNI official defended the move Saturday, telling CNN that Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe "is committed to meeting our statutory responsibilities and keeping Congress fully and currently informed."

"For clarity and to protect sensitive intelligence from unauthorized disclosures, we will primarily do that through written finished intelligence products. We are concerned with unauthorized disclosures of sensitive information following recent briefings," the official said.