The Trump campaign is truly grasping at straws in its attempts to pretend Donald didn’t lose fair and square last week. In Nevada, where President-elect Joe Biden has a margin of more than 30,000 votes, Trump campaign lawyers are making a giant fuss over 3,000 votes they say were cast by people who don’t really live in the state. Problem is—aside from the fact that 3,000 votes won’t change the result—officials say it’s not uncommon for people who are Nevada residents to have their absentee ballots sent to another state. In fact, many of the votes in question may be from members of the military who have been transferred to other states but still consider Nevada home.
“It’s very apparent when you look at the list that there’s a lot of people on there who are affiliated with the military,” one such voter, who voted in Nevada after going to New Mexico with her husband when the Air Force transferred him, told The Wall Street Journal. “It’s not a good look.”
“It’s shocking that the Trump campaign would call these military members criminals for exercising their right to vote,” said another. Since Nevada has two Air Force bases and a naval air station, hundreds of voters on the Trump campaign’s list appear to fall into this category. Continue reading.
President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr. has yet to receive a presidential daily briefing, and it was unclear whether his team would have access to classified information.
President Trump’s refusal to concede the election to President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr. has already affected Mr. Biden’s transition, particularly on national security issues.
Mr. Biden has yet to receive a presidential daily briefing, and it was unclear whether his team would have access to classified information, the most important pipeline for them to learn about the threats facing the United States.
Like previous presidents-elect, Mr. Biden is receiving Secret Service protection, and a no-fly zone has been established over his home in Delaware. But if Mr. Trump’s administration continues its refusal to recognize Mr. Biden as the winner, it could complicate his security until his inauguration.
The president and his allies have baselessly claimed that rampant voter fraud stole victory from him. Officials contacted by The Times said that there were no irregularities that affected the outcome.
PHILADELPHIA — Election officials in dozens of states representing both political parties said that there was no evidence that fraud or other irregularities played a role in the outcome of the presidential race, amounting to a forceful rebuke of President Trump’s portrait of a fraudulent election.
Over the last several days, the president, members of his administration, congressional Republicans and right wing allies have put forth the false claim that the election was stolen from Mr. Trump and have refused to accept results that showed Joseph R. Biden Jr. as the winner.
But top election officials across the country said in interviews and statements that the process had been a remarkable success despite record turnout and the complications of a dangerous pandemic. Continue reading.
A Pennsylvania postal worker whose claims have been cited by top Republicans as potential evidence of widespread voting irregularities admitted to U.S. Postal Service investigators that he fabricated the allegations, according to three officials briefed on the investigation and a statement from a House congressional committee.
Richard Hopkins’s claim that a postmaster in Erie, Pa., instructed postal workers to backdate ballots mailed after Election Day was cited by Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) in a letter to the Justice Department calling for a federal investigation. Attorney General William P. Barr subsequently authorized federal prosecutors to open probes into credible allegations of voting irregularities and fraud before results are certified, a reversal of long-standing Justice Department policy.
But on Monday, Hopkins, 32, told investigators from the U.S. Postal Service’s Office of Inspector General that the allegations were not true, and he signed an affidavit recanting his claims, according to officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe an ongoing investigation. Democrats on the House Oversight Committee tweeted late Tuesday that the “whistleblower completely RECANTED.” Continue reading.
As Joe Biden stood on stage on Saturday night and watched the drones dance overhead, spelling out B-I-D-E-N and P-R-E-S-I-D-E-N-T E-L-E-C-T, a different kind of tango was taking place here in Washington. A political appointee answerable to President Donald Trump appeared unwilling to give the next commander-in-chief the keys to basic office space as required by law.
The General Services Administration is the federal government’s de facto real-estate firm. It provides incoming administrations with the basics — like office space and computers — to make the transition between election results and Inauguration Day as easy as possible. But the current head of the GSA, a former senior aide on Capitol Hill who was appointed by Trump, has said she has not seen any certification outside of the media that Biden won, thus she has no obligation to contradict her boss, who says he has. GSA aides say they are merely following precedent set in 2000, when there was a dispute and a recount.
That means the Biden team could be without a physical base in the capital until the Electoral College votes on Dec. 14. More importantly, it suggests that staffers in the Trump Administration may not start talking to their successors until every last effort can be made by Trump to stay in power through litigation. So far, most Republicans seem unwilling to openly break with Trump and acknowledge that their former Senate colleague and the former Vice President has prevailed. Although Trump is going to be a one-term President, he still amassed 70 million votes, making him a powerful voice inside the GOP for the rest of his days. Continue reading.
Top Trump loyalists are trying to cling to power by firing critics, rehiring other loyalists, instructing federal government employees that the election isn’t over yet, and threatening appointees that their future work prospects could get crushed if they try to abandon ship now.
Driving the news: In leaked audio of a Monday conference call with USAID staff, obtained by Axios, the agency’s top-ranking official John Barsa told staff to “play until the whistle blows” and that “DC, at the end of the day, is a really small town” — which participants read as a threat to anyone who starts job hunting.
The big picture: Monday’s leaked call came as Trump and his inner circle continued to publicly deny the reality that rival Joe Biden has won the election. Continue reading.
Attorney General William P. Barr on Monday gave federal prosecutors approval to pursue allegations of “vote tabulation irregularities” in certain cases before results are certified and indicated he had already done so “in specific instances” — a reversal of long-standing Justice Department policy that quickly drew internal and external criticism for fueling unfounded claims of massive election fraud pushed by President Trump and other conservatives.
Richard Pilger, head of the Justice Department’s Election Crimes Branch, stepped down from his position in protest over Barr’s directive — though he remains at the agency, according to people familiar with the matter, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss a politically volatile situation.
The people said Barr had first broached a similar idea some weeks ago and that political leadership in the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, of which the Election Crimes Branch is a part, pushed back. Those officials were blindsided when Barr’s memo was released on Monday, the people said. Continue reading.
Republicans are largely avoiding any challenges of President Trump over his refusal to concede the election to Democrat Joe Biden.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) signaled the game plan during a Monday address on the Senate floor while giving his members cover.
McConnell’s remarks were disparaging of Democrats and the media, who have projected Biden as the winner but have no constitutional role in the process, the Kentucky Republican noted. McConnell, who is poised to be his party’s top official in Washington when Biden takes office, also said Trump was well within his rights of challenging the close results and asking for recounts. Continue reading.
PHILADELPHIA — President Trump’s refusal to accept the presidential election results is being reinforced in pockets of denial nationwide, but the anger continues to fall short of a coherent resistance movement that would threaten to overturn the vote.
In states where Trump won and here in one where he lost a close race, elected Republicans and GOP voters called for the continuation of efforts to challenge the results, which in Pennsylvania give President-elect Joe Biden a roughly 45,000-vote margin of victory.
Small clusters of Trump supporters gathered on several Philadelphia street corners Sunday to condemn a vote-counting process in which the president lost an early lead to Biden over several agonizing days. No evidence of improper counting procedures or any type of voter fraud has been presented. Continue reading.
A new report confirms this election was fair, free and secure. Trump and his Republican sycophants have no evidence for their claims — even other Republicans admit they are inventing conspiracy theories. Trump can’t hide from the truth: Joe Biden won the election and will be the 46th President of the United States.
New York Times: The Times Call Officials in Every State: No Evidence of Voter Fraud
By Nick Corasaniti, Reid J. Epstein and Jim Rutenberg
election officials in dozens of states representing both political parties said that there was no evidence that fraud or other irregularities played a role in the outcome of the presidential race, amounting to a forceful rebuke of President Trump’s portrait of a fraudulent election.
Over the last several days, the president, members of his administration, congressional Republicans and right wing allies have put forth the false claim that the election was stolen from President Trump and have refused to accept results that showed Joseph R. Biden, Jr. as the winner.
But top election officials across the country said in interview and statements that the process had been a remarkable success despite record turnout and the complications of a dangers pandemic.
“Theree’s a great human capacity for inventing things that aren’t true about elections,” said Frank LaRose, a Republican who serves as Ohio’s Secretary of State. “The conspiracy theories and rumors and all those things run rampant. For some reason, elections breed that type of mytology.”
Steve Simon, a Democrat who is Minnesota’s Secretary of State said: “I don’t know of a single case where someone argued that a vote counted when it shouldn’t have to didn’t count when it should. There was no fraud.”
“Kansas did not experience any widespread, systemic issues with voter fraud, intimidation, irregularities or voting problems,” a spokeswoman for Scott Schwab, the Republican Secretary of State in Kansas, said in an email Tuesday. “We are very pleased with how the election has gone up to this point.”
The New York Times contacted the offices of the top election officials in every state on Monday and Tuesday to ask whether they suspected or had evidence of illegal voting. Officials in 45 states responded directly to The Times. For 4 of the remaining states, The Times spoke to other statewide officials or found public comments from secretaries of state; none reported any major voting issues.
[…]
One of the Secretaries of State who did not respond to request for comment about the election in his state was Corey Stapleton of Montana, an outgoing Republican. But Mr. Stapleton did post a message implicitly addressing the president’s ongoing fraud claims. “I have supported you, Mr. President,” he wrote. “But that time is now over! Tim you hat, bite your lip, and congratulate @JoeBiden.”
