Monday, November 16, 2020

Biden says Trump’s lack of cooperation in transition means ‘more people may die’

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Election 2020 live updates: Biden says Trump’s lack of cooperation in transition means ‘more people may die’

Felicia Sonmez, Paulina Firozi, John Wagner 13 hrs ago

Biden campaign manager Dillon to join WH staff

New Fed Documents Raise Questions Over How 2012 Leak Was Handled

President-elect Joe Biden on Monday spoke with business and labor leaders, then delivered an address about the economy and his “build back better” plan. He urged Trump to allow officials to work with the incoming administration on developing a coordinated response to the coronavirus pandemic, arguing that the president’s refusal to do so puts more American lives at risk.

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Trump’s exit strategy | The 2020 Fix

Trump, meanwhile, continued to refuse to acknowledge his loss. He had no public events Monday. Former president Barack Obama, in a “60 Minutes” interview broadcast Sunday, urged Trump to “put the country first” and concede.

Here’s what to know:

The Trump administration has called for oil and gas firms to pick spots where they’d like to drill on Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge as it races to open the pristine wilderness to development and lock in drilling rights before Biden takes office.
Trump’s campaign scrapped a major part of its federal lawsuit challenging the election results in Pennsylvania.
The federal government’s chief information security officer is participating in an effort backed by Trump supporters to hunt for evidence of voter fraud in the battleground states where Biden secured his election victory.
Election results are under attack: Here are the facts.

5:30 PM: About 2,600 uncounted votes found in Georgia amid statewide hand recount

Election officials in Floyd County, Ga., have discovered about 2,600 eligible votes that were not included in their initial tallies after the Nov. 3 election.

The votes from a heavily Republican county in Northwest Georgia are likely to narrow Biden’s 14,000-vote lead over Trump in the state, but not by enough to change the outcome.

The votes were found on a memory card in an optical scanner, which poll workers had neglected to remove and upload as part of their tallying process on Election Day.

The discrepancy was resolved as part of a statewide hand recount of the presidential vote underway in Georgia. But it probably would have been fixed even without the recount because officials were aware the number of voters who had checked in at voting locations was about 2,600 higher than the total votes tallied, said Jordan Fuchs of the Georgia Secretary of State’s office.

The glitch is sure to draw attention as the nation watches Georgia’s recount, which state election officials said should wrap up ahead of the Friday deadline for Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (R) to certify the results.

But the extra votes from Floyd, taken alone, do not amount enough to alter the outcome in Georgia.

Trump won Floyd County, in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains, by a margin of more 40 percentage points.

By: Amy Gardner

5:06 PM: Biden urges a new economic relief package and warns again of a ‘dark winter’ ahead

WILMINGTON, Del. — Biden urged Congress to immediately pass an economic relief package Monday as he warned that the coronavirus pandemic will worsen in the coming months.

The incoming Democratic president also criticized Trump for his refusal to concede his election loss and begin handing over power. Biden called Trump’s unprecedented actions “embarrassing for the country” and irresponsible.

The delay in cooperation is setting back plans for a coordinated rollout of a coronavirus vaccine, Biden said. Most of that rollout would fall to his administration next year, but the Trump White House is not sharing details of its distribution plan.

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By: Anne Gearan and Jeff Stein

5:00 PM: Reps. Cheri Bustos, Tim Walberg test positive for coronavirus; Reps. Mark Pocan, Debbie Lesko quarantining

Rep. Cheri Bustos (D-Ill.) said she has tested positive for the coronavirus, the latest lawmaker to announce Monday that they’ve been infected.

Bustos said she is experiencing “mild symptoms,” will be self-isolating and has already notified her contacts.

“Across the country and the Congressional District I serve, COVID case numbers are skyrocketing,” she tweeted. “We must all continue to be vigilant in following public health best practices.”

The outgoing chairwoman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee said she will work from her home in Illinois “until cleared by my physician.” Members of the House are largely returning to Washington this week after the election.

A spokeswoman for Bustos, Heather Sager, said that the congresswoman “has not traveled to or been in contact with staff or others in Washington, D.C., in recent weeks. She has been working remotely from Illinois, and will self-isolate there.”

Rep. Tim Walberg (R-Mich.) announced earlier that he tested positive and has begun tracing his contacts.

In a statement, Walberg said his symptoms are mild and that he is “in good spirits.” He said it has been more than a week since he last attended a public event.

“As we enter the winter months, I encourage everyone to remain vigilant and adhere to public health guidelines to combat this virus,” Walberg said, adding: “I will continue serving constituents of the 7th District and carrying out my responsibilities from home until I fully recover.”

Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Wis.) released a statement saying he has been in quarantine since Nov. 10 after learning that his 91-year-old mother had tested positive. He learned of her diagnosis shortly after moving her to a new nursing home. He said he received a negative result after a Nov. 13 test and will get tested again at the end of the week.

“Fortunately, the nursing home staff contacted me immediately after learning of my mother’s positive result and I was able to quarantine without delay,” Pocan said in the statement. “Unfortunately, too many people in Wisconsin don’t get that information in a timely way due to the low number of contract tracers we have hired in Wisconsin.”

Rep. Debbie Lesko (R-Ariz.) also separately announced that she will quarantine for 14 days after coming “into contact with a person who later tested positive for COVID-19.”

Lesko said she is not experiencing symptoms and plans to be tested on the fifth day from exposure.

Mike DeBonis contributed to this report.

By: Paulina Firozi

4:12 PM: Biden says ‘more people may die’ if Trump doesn’t allow coordination on pandemic planning

In remarks in Wilmington, Del., on Monday afternoon, Biden urged Trump to allow officials to work with the incoming administration on developing a coordinated response to the coronavirus pandemic, arguing that the president’s refusal to do so puts more American lives at risk.

“More people may die if we don’t coordinate. … How do we get over 300 million Americans vaccinated? What’s the game plan? It’s a huge, huge, huge undertaking,” Biden told reporters.

He added: “If we have to wait until January 20 to start that planning, it puts us behind, over a month and a half. And so, it’s important that it be done — that there be coordination now. Now, or as rapidly as we can get that done.”

At least 246,000 people have died of covid-19 in the United States. In recent weeks, many states have reported record-high caseloads and hospitalizations, and the average U.S. deaths per day again shot past 1,000 this month, despite improvements in treatment that make survival more likely.

As the pandemic worsens, the White House has instructed senior government leaders to block cooperation with Biden’s transition team. The head of the General Services Administration, the low-profile agency that officially starts the transition, is refusing to sign paperwork that releases Biden’s share of transition resources and gives his team access to agency officials and information.

By: Felicia Sonmez

3:24 PM: Wisconsin says recount would cost Trump campaign $7.9 million

The Wisconsin Elections Commission said the cost of running a statewide recount for the presidential election will be $7.9 million — a fee that Trump’s campaign would be required to pay upfront if he wishes to request a recount in the state.

Under Wisconsin law, the state will pay for a recount if one candidate wins by 0.25 percent or less. When the threshold of victory is under 1 percent, however, the losing candidate can request a recount — provided they agree to pay in advance. Unofficial results show Biden defeated Trump in Wisconsin by about 20,500 votes, or 0.6 percent.

In 2016, Wisconsin was the only state to conduct a full recount after Green Party candidate Jill Stein requested one and agreed to pay nearly $3.5 million. In a statement, Wisconsin Elections Commission Administrator Meagan Wolfe said costs are higher this year because of the need for larger venues for the recount to allow for social distancing, the costs of processing more absentee ballots and the need to pay employees to work over the Thanksgiving holiday.

By state law, Wisconsin counties must complete a canvass of local results by Tuesday. The Trump campaign will have until 5 p.m. Wednesday to submit a petition asking for a statewide recount, as well as the $7.9 million payment.

Wolfe said Monday that should the recount be requested, a recount order would be issued Thursday, starting a 13-day window for local counties to complete the process. Counties would submit the results of their local recounts by Dec. 1 — allowing the election to be certified on that day, as required under Wisconsin law.

Asked if the campaign would pay the fee and seek the recount, Jenna Ellis, a legal adviser to the Trump campaign, said, “The legal team continues to examine the issues with irregularities in Wisconsin and are leaving all legal options open, including a recount and an audit.”

The campaign has identified no specific irregularities in Wisconsin.

By: Rosalind S. Helderman

2:52 PM: Delaware is famous for corporations, chemicals, chickens — and now, finally, a president

WILMINGTON, Del. — Imagine a place that seems less a state than a fabled land hatched from Aesop or the Brothers Grimm. A microbe on the map, a Mid-Atlantic territory of onlys, we-don’t-have-thats and so much poultry.

Only three counties, two major universities, one U.S. House representative, a solitary area code. No professional sports teams, no major television stations, no large commercial airports, no mountains, no valleys. Ninety-six miles in length, 35 miles at its widest, nine miles at its narrowest, 609 times more chickens than people. But — take that, doubters! — it boasts Biden, the future 46th president of the United States.

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By: Karen Heller

1:39 PM: House Democrats will hold leadership elections virtually; House GOP to meet in person

House leadership elections are slated to begin this week as the chamber returns to Washington post-election.

House Democrats are planning to hold their elections virtually, as the pandemic dictates a change to their usual process of in-person speeches, paper ballots and hand counts.

For the first time, candidates for leadership positions will address the caucus in a video call and members will use an app on a government iPhone to vote, according to a letter House Democratic Caucus Chairman Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) sent to all House Democrats.

House Republicans will meet in person for their leadership elections Tuesday afternoon at the Hyatt Regency Capitol Hill in Washington, according to a House GOP aide.

At a news briefing Monday afternoon, D.C. city officials confirmed that waivers were granted to allow members of Congress to gather. When asked by a reporter about a meeting of Republican lawmakers at the hotel this week, Chris Rodriguez, director of D.C.'s Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency, confirmed that a waiver was approved.

“We knew that a waiver was coming from members of the House to hold a meeting,” he said, adding: “The work of Congress, as we’ve said before, is an essential function of government, so after the plan was reviewed and approved, we issued the waiver.”

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) is expected to win another two-year term in the post, as are Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer (D-Md.) and Majority Whip James E. Clyburn (D-S.C.), even as the party will return in January with a shrunken majority. All three are expected to win by acclamation.

The two biggest contests in the down-ballot leadership races for Democrats are for the assistant speaker post and the chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. Rep. Cheri Bustos (D-Ill.) is stepping down as DCCC chair after Democrats markedly underperformed expectations in this year’s election.

Fenit Nirappil contributed to this report.

By: Paulina Firozi and Paul Kane

1:21 PM: U.S. ‘turning a pretty dark corner now,’ Biden says in economic meeting with business, labor leaders

With coronavirus cases on the rise, the United States seems to be “turning a pretty dark corner now,” Biden told a group of business and labor leaders Monday as he discussed the economy.

The president-elect interacted virtually with the group from the Queen theater in Wilmington, Del., where he was joined by Sen. Kamala D. Harris (D-Calif.), the vice president-elect, ahead of remarks from the ticket Monday afternoon on the economy.

During a portion of the meeting that the news media was allowed to observe, Biden reminisced with one of the business leaders, Mary Barra, the chief executive of General Motors, about test driving a car on a track when he was vice president.

“Thanks for being here,” the president-elect said to the business and labor leaders, who appeared on screens above. “To state the obvious, we seem to be turning a pretty dark corner now.”

Biden said his objective is to “get our economy back on track.”

“We all agree on the common goals, just have a slightly different perspective,” he said. “We agree that we can’t just go back on the economy.”

Biden said he remains optimistic that the country will emerge stronger and he deserved credit for bringing labor and business leaders together. The business leaders included representatives of some major retailers.

By: John Wagner

12:01 PM: Biden to deliver remarks on the economy after meeting with business, union leaders

Biden plans to forge ahead Monday with his transition to the presidency, delivering remarks from Delaware on the economic recovery, his latest in a series of speeches on key issues confronting the country, following a meeting with business and labor leaders.

According to his transition team, both Biden and Sen. Kamala D. Harris (D-Calif.), the vice president-elect, will receive a briefing on the economy, in Wilmington, in advance of a scheduled afternoon address.

Those slated to participate in the briefing include several prominent business leaders (Mary Barra, chief executive officer of General Motors; Satya Nadella, president and chief executive officer of Microsoft; Brian Cornell, chief executive officer and chairman of the board at Target; and Sonia Syngal, chief executive officer of Gap Inc.), as well as five labor leaders (Richard Trumka, president of AFL-CIO; Mary Kay Henry, president of Service Employees International Union; Rory Gamble, president of United Auto Workers; Marc Perrone, President of United Food and Commercial Workers; Lee Saunders, president of American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees.)

Biden’s remarks will focus on “the economic recovery and building back better in the long term,” his team said.

Trump, meanwhile, has no public events on Monday. The only event advertised by the White House is a lunch with Vice President Pence.

By: John Wagner

12:01 PM: Georgia’s Sen. David Perdue declines invitation for Dec. 6 debate against Ossoff

Sen. David Perdue (R-Ga.) has declined an invitation to participate in a debate against Democrat Jon Ossoff scheduled for Dec. 6, according to the Atlanta Press Club, which is hosting the debate.

Perdue will be represented by an empty podium if he does not change his mind. Ossoff has confirmed he will participate.

In a statement, Perdue’s campaign manager Ben Fry said there have already been two debates in the election campaign.

“The runoff in Georgia is an extension of the November 3rd general election,” Fry said in a statement, adding: “We’re going to take our message about what’s at stake if Democrats have total control of Congress directly to the people.”

Ossoff’s campaign on Monday released a list of six runoff debates it said it has accepted.

“I offer the Senator any or all of these six debates, if he has the self-confidence to debate in public,” Ossoff said in a statement.

Democrat Rev. Raphael Warnock has accepted an invitation for a separate debate scheduled for the same night. The Atlanta Press Club said it is still awaiting confirmation from the campaign of Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R-Ga.).

The debates are scheduled ahead of Georgia’s pair of Jan. 5 runoffs, which will determine whether Republicans have a slim Senate majority or a 50-50 split.

By: Paulina Firozi

11:45 AM: Trump’s national security adviser acknowledges it ‘obviously’ looks like Biden won

Robert O’Brien, Trump’s national security adviser, acknowledged Monday that it “obviously” looks as though Biden has won the election, and he promised “a very professional transition” on the National Security Council.

Speaking at the Global Security Forum, O’Brien left open the possibility that Trump could still prevail if courts determine there was widespread fraud, but he struck a markedly different tone than the president and several of his staunchest allies.

“If there is a new administration, they deserve some time to come in and implement their policies,” O’Brien said. “We may have policy disagreements, but, look, if the Biden-Harris ticket is determined to be the winner — obviously, things look that way now — we’ll have a very professional transition from the National Security Council. There’s no question about it."

During his remarks, O’Brien also called recent peace deals that Israel struck with Bahrain, Sudan and the United Arab Emirates “a great legacy for [Trump] to have as he leaves office.”

O’Brien’s comments came on a morning when Trump continued to insist on Twitter that he had won the election.

Read the full story here

By: John Wagner

11:04 AM: Analysis: Here are some of the contenders to become Biden’s top environmental officials

Unwinding Trump’s rollbacks of anti-pollution rules is going to take a lot of work. And much of it is going to fall on whomever Biden chooses as his main deputies on environmental issues.

Just a week after victory and without a formal concession of defeat from Trump, the president-elect is forging ahead with building a Cabinet that will have to contend with multiple crises at once — including climate change.

Biden must balance many considerations. He has promised to assemble a diverse Cabinet — one that both racially reflects the country and satisfies the progressive and moderate wings of the Democratic Party.

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By: Dino Grandoni

10:26 AM: Trump seems to invite primary challenge for DeWine after the Ohio governor says Biden is president-elect

Trump on Monday seemed to invite Republicans to launch a primary challenge against Mike DeWine (R) a day after the Ohio governor said in a television appearance that he considers Biden to be the president-elect.

“Who will be running for Governor of the Great State of Ohio? Will be hotly contested!” Trump tweeted.

DeWine, among the first Republican governors to publicly acknowledge Biden’s victory, has said he plans to seek reelection in 2022. So far, no Ohio Republican has announced a primary challenge while several Democrats are actively exploring runs.

DeWine, a prodigious fundraiser, won in the swing state over Democrat Richard Cordray by nearly four percentage points in 2018.

During an appearance Sunday on CNN, DeWine said, “It’s clear that, certainly, based on what we know now, that Joe Biden is the president-elect.”

Trump’s tweet came shortly after Fox News aired a clip from the CNN interview.

By: John Wagner

10:12 AM: Barack Obama describes Michelle Obama’s frustration at his run

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Highlights from Obama's '60 minutes' interview

Former president Barack Obama laid out in a new interview with “60 Minutes” just how frustrated Michelle Obama was when he told her he wanted to seek the highest office in America. “The answer is no. I do not want you running for president. God, Barack, when is it going to be enough?” the former president quoted his wife’s reaction — which was followed by her walking out of the room — in his new book, “A Promised Land.”

When CBS’s Scott Pelley read the quote back to Barack Obama, the former president said he’d gotten it mostly right, though Michelle Obama’s tone had been “a little bit sharper.”

Barack Obama explained that his presidential run had come two years after his successful run for the Senate, and two years after his congressional run, which he’d lost. Michelle Obama was still working and their girls were young. “And I ask myself in the book — you know — ‘How much of this is just megalomania? How much of this is vanity? How much of this is me trying to prove something to myself?’”

Over time, he said, Michelle Obama came to the conclusion that she couldn’t stand in the way of his presidential ambitions. “And she did so grudgingly,” said Barack Obama. “And the fact that I ended up winning didn’t necessarily alleviate her frustrations because the toll it takes on families is real.”

Publicly, Michelle Obama presented herself as a wife whose support was unwavering, and she wrote in her own memoir, “Becoming” that that was because she had to. And she did so under constant scrutiny of her facial expressions (passionate or angry?), of that fist bump she shared with her husband.

Barack Obama didn’t realize the strain on his family until he was already in the job. “The fact that she put up with it and forgave me is — was an act of grace that I am grateful for and I’m not sure I deserve it.”

By: Jada Yuan

9:36 AM: Biden says reason to feel ‘hopeful’ with latest vaccine announcement; Trump stresses it took place on his watch

Biden on Monday said there is more “reason to feel hopeful” after Moderna announced promising results about its experimental coronavirus vaccine, but he continued to caution that Americans should wear masks and practice other social distancing measures.

Trump responded by imploring historians to remember that the breakthrough occurred on his watch.

The biotechnology firm said that a preliminary analysis shows its experimental vaccine is nearly 95 percent effective at preventing illness, including severe cases. The National Institutes of Health is co-developing the vaccine candidate. The news came a week after pharmaceutical giant Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech said their coronavirus vaccine candidate was more than 90 percent effective.

“Today’s news of a second vaccine is further reason to feel hopeful,” Biden said in a tweet. “What was true with the first vaccine remains true with the second: we are still months away. Until then, Americans need to continue to practice social-distancing and mask-wearing to get the virus under control.”

He added: “Once again, I congratulate the brilliant women and men who produced this breakthrough and have brought us one step closer to beating this virus. I am also thankful for the frontline workers who are still confronting the virus around the clock.”

Shortly afterward, Trump took to Twitter to hail the experimental vaccine that had been “just announced.”

“This time by Moderna, 95% effective,” Trump tweeted. “For those great ‘historians’, please remember that these great discoveries, which will end the China Plague, all took place on my watch!”

By: John Wagner

8:57 AM: Trump tweets, ‘I WON THE ELECTION.’ Twitter notes ‘official sources’ called it differently.

Trump continued to refuse to accept defeat, tweeting in all caps shortly before midnight on Sunday, “I WON THE ELECTION.”

He repeated his baseless claim on Monday morning, tweeting, “I won the election," amid a spate of other tweets airing grievances about the process.

Twitter responded by a slapping a warning on the Sunday tweet, reading, “Official sources called this election differently,” with a link to multiple news accounts of Biden winning the presidency.

Trump’s late-night tweet followed tweets earlier Sunday that, for a brief moment, made it appear he had grudgingly acknowledged defeat, only to be followed by more defiance.

“He won because the Election was Rigged,” Trump said of Biden in a morning tweet. “NO VOTE WATCHERS OR OBSERVERS allowed, vote tabulated by a Radical Left privately owned company, Dominion, with a bad reputation & bum equipment that couldn’t even qualify for Texas (which I won by a lot!), the Fake & Silent Media, & more!”

As with his other accusations, Trump did not provide any evidence, and Twitter quickly flagged the tweet, noting that his “claim of election fraud is disputed.”

Shortly afterward, Trump tweeted of Biden: “He only won in the eyes of the FAKE NEWS MEDIA. I concede NOTHING! We have a long way to go. This was a RIGGED ELECTION!”

By: John Wagner

8:25 AM: Analysis: Trump finally talks about election security — but only to spread conspiracy theories

For election security advocates, watching Trump’s unfounded claims about voting machines feels like bizarro world.

They have spent years trying to highlight legitimate concerns about hackable vulnerabilities in election technology only to be rebuffed by the White House. Trump, meanwhile, mostly ignored election security during four years in office — except for when he was outright undermining it by disputing the intelligence community’s conclusion that Russia interfered in the 2016 contest.

Now, he is finally talking about the topic, but it’s only to spread conspiracy theories, hijacking fears about election hacking to serve his own political ends.

Read the full story

By: Joseph Marks

7:43 AM: Biden likely to remain tough on Chinese tech like Huawei, but with more help from allies

Trump set the United States on a new course with his years-long fight against Chinese technology, which he labeled a security threat and a tool for spreading Chinese influence. Biden will probably tweak that approach, but Beijing should not anticipate a significant softening, foreign affairs and technology experts say.

Biden is expected to maintain a hard line on most matters, including export restrictions to Huawei, although he will probably enlist more support from international allies and maintain more consistent policies than the ones Trump sometimes announced, and rescinded, via tweet, China watchers say.

Read the full story

By: Jeanne Whalen

6:48 AM: Obama’s advice to Trump? ‘It’s time for you’ to concede to Biden.

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Monday, November 16, 2020

Biden says Trump’s lack of cooperation in transition means ‘more people may die’

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Election 2020 live updates: Biden says Trump’s lack of cooperation in transition means ‘more people may die’

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