Romney does not get national security briefings
Updated: 5:26 p.m. ET
(CBS News) WASHINGTON -- Mitt Romney does not currently receive national security briefings, his campaign confirmed to CBS News today.
Typically, presidential candidates begin receiving briefings after securing their party's nomination, which Romney did in Tampa two weeks ago.
"It's a long-standing practice for presidential candidates and select advisers to be provided intelligence briefings following the party's nominating convention," Shawn Turner, the spokesman for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, told CNN in June. "During the last presidential campaign, all the candidates began receiving briefings in September following the conventions."
Turner tells CBS News the process is "moving forward."
"The Intelligence Community is working closely with the Romney campaign to finalize the logistics for the candidate briefings," he told CBS News. "The process is moving forward on schedule and we are not aware of any concerns."
Asked who Romney is currently leaning on most for foreign policy advice right now, spokeswoman Andrea Saul responded, "Governor Romney is pleased to draw on a deep bench of foreign policy and national security experts who advise him and his campaign."
Romney announced a team of foreign policy advisers on October 6, 2011. Tibor Nagy, former US ambassador to Guinea and Ethiopia, is chair of the campaign's Africa strategy team. At a fundraiser today in Jacksonville, Romney mentioned a conversation he had in the past with former Secretary of State, Henry Kissinger, who has endorsed and fundraised for Romney. "I saw Dr. Kissinger some months ago," Romney said. "I said, 'Dr Kissinger, how is America perceived today in the world? He said one word, "Weak." Weak. The world needs American strength."
With one term of governorship under his belt, Romney is often noted for not having significant foreign policy experience. He traveled overseas this summer to England, Israel and Poland, on a trip his campaign billed as an "international listening tour." There, he met with foreign leaders and visited historical sites, and often says he learned much from his trip.
Romney has come under criticismfor what his detractors say is a decision to politicize the recent violence in Egypt and Libya, which resulted in the death of a U.S. ambassador and three others.