Biden Transition Team Didn’t Wait for Verdict to Get Busy 

On

Joe Biden’s transition team didn’t wait for a verdict in the presidential race before getting to work. Well before Saturday’s victory for Biden, longtime aide Ted Kaufman had been leading efforts to ensure the former vice president can begin building out a government in anticipation of a victory.  Kaufman is a former senator from Delaware who was appointed to fill the seat vacated when Biden was elected vice president. He also worked on Barack Obama’s transition team in 2008, and helped write legislation formalizing the presidential transition process.  Biden first asked Kaufman to start work on a just-in-case transition in April, shortly aftermore

Leave a comment

Kamala Harris Becomes First Woman of Color Elected US Vice President

On

Kamala Harris is making history as the first woman of color elected vice president of the United States, shattering barriers that have kept men — almost all of them white — entrenched at the highest levels of American politics for more than two centuries.The 56-year-old California senator is also the first person of Black and South Asian descent elected to the vice presidency. She represents the multiculturalism that defines America but is largely absent from Washington’s power centers. Her Black identity has allowed her to speak in personal terms in a year of reckoning over police brutality and systemic racism.Kamalamore

Leave a comment

Joe Biden Is Projected to Win US Presidential Election

On

Former U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, a fixture in Washington political circles for nearly a half century, has been projected the winner of the U.S. presidency and stands to be inaugurated January 20, becoming the country’s oldest leader ever.Biden, a Democrat who served 36 years in the U.S. Senate and eight years as second in command to former President Barack Obama, was projected by news organizations to have defeated incumbent Republican President Donald Trump in a bitter campaign and after days of post-election ballot counting. The results are still to be officially certified and are subject to court challenges, butmore

Leave a comment

Biden Confident of Impending Election Victory as Pennsylvania Lead Tops 20,000 Votes

On

Democratic candidate Joe Biden’s lead over U.S. President Donald Trump in Pennsylvania climbed from 5,000 votes early Friday to about 29,000 votes by late night, and that margin is expected to grow as remaining ballots are counted. Taking this pivotal state would propel Biden over the required threshold of 270 Electoral College votes needed to win the presidential election.Biden is also ahead in Georgia by more than 4,000 votes and maintains clear leads in Arizona and Nevada, although these races have not yet been called for either candidate.Addressing supporters Friday, amid speculation he would be projected the winner in Pennsylvania,more

Leave a comment

Trump Chief of Staff Meadows Diagnosed With COVID-19

On

President Donald Trump’s chief of staff Mark Meadows has been diagnosed with the coronavirus as the nation sets daily records for confirmed cases for the pandemic.Two senior administration officials confirmed Friday that Meadows had tested positive for the virus, which has killed more than 236,000 Americans so far this year.Meadows traveled with Trump in the run-up to Election Day and last appeared in public early Wednesday morning without a mask as Trump falsely declared victory in the vote count. He had been one of the close aides around Trump when the president came down with the virus more than amore

Leave a comment

Pressure on Police as Presidential Vote Counting Nears an End

On

Election officials across the United States are increasingly calling on police and federal law enforcement to help keep the peace as the number of ballots left to be tallied winds down.From Philadelphia to Phoenix, lines of uniformed police officers are becoming commonplace, separating partiers and protesters from workers counting ballots inside government buildings and other venues.So far, the gatherings, while loud, have been peaceful. But officials warn that tensions are simmering as the nation gets closer to declaring a winner.“It’s just troubling for my employees. I have employees who are nervous leaving the building, and rightfully so,” Joe Gloria, the registrarmore

Leave a comment

Bannon Lawyer Quits Fraud Case After Inflammatory Remarks

On

A lawyer for President Donald Trump’s former chief strategist, Steve Bannon, quit defending him in a federal fraud case a day after Bannon made inflammatory comments about Dr. Anthony Fauci and FBI Director Christopher Wray. In a letter dated Friday, defense attorney William Burck told a federal court judge in New York City that he was withdrawing from the case. He did not give a reason why. Reached by email, Burck declined to discuss the decision. The lawyer quit after Bannon suggested on an online broadcast that Fauci and Wray should be beheaded for being disloyal to the president. The remarks promptedmore

Leave a comment

Biden’s Election Lead Grows as Trump Disputes Results

On

Democratic candidate Joe Biden continues to build on the razor-thin leads he gained early Friday over Republican President Donald Trump in the states of Georgia and Pennsylvania, where vote counting continues. While those races are still too close call, Biden is strongly positioned to win the U.S. presidential election. The Trump campaign is disputing the results, saying in a statement Friday, “this election is not over.” The campaign says the president will ultimately win as a result of expected recounts in close state races and its legal challenges based on unsubstantiated allegations of vote fraud and irregularities. Biden currently leads in themore

Leave a comment

Q&A: Trump’s Campaign Lawsuits

On

President Donald Trump promised litigation if voting results do not show that he has won the presidential election.  QUESTION: How many lawsuits have been filed by President Donald Trump’s campaign?  ANSWER: The Trump campaign has filed at least six lawsuits in battleground states since Election Day. Activists from both parties have also filed lawsuits.  Q: Has the Biden campaign filed any lawsuits yet? A: The Biden campaign has a legal team assembled but has not initiated litigation. Q: Has there been any action taken on lawsuits yet? A: In Georgia, a state judge dismissed a lawsuit over a claim that 53 mail-in ballots were not receivedmore

Leave a comment

Trump Backers, Biden Supporters Duel as Vote Count Continues

On

Supporters of President Donald Trump and Democratic challenger Joe Biden faced off in largely peaceful demonstrations Thursday and early Friday in battleground states, where votes in the U.S. presidential election were still being counted.Both sides were energized by Trump’s aggressive challenge to the vote-counting process, which has shown Biden slowly building an Electoral College lead over Trump.In the closely contested state of Arizona, backers of the two candidates scuffled briefly Thursday outside the Maricopa County Elections Department in the city of Phoenix. The fracas occurred after several heavily armed right-wing groups gathered at the site while election workers were countingmore

Leave a comment

Biden Takes Lead in Pennsylvania, Georgia

On

Democratic Party candidate Joe Biden has gained razor thin leads over President Donald Trump in Georgia and Pennsylvania, as vote counting continues Friday.The Trump campaign continues to dispute the results, however, saying in a statement Friday the “this election is not over,” and claiming the president will ultimately win after expected recounts in close state races. The Trump campaign has also filed legal challenges over unsubstantiated allegations of vote fraud and irregularities. Biden currently leads in the popular vote as well as the Electoral College count, 253-214, with a majority of 270 needed to claim the presidency for a four-year term.     Biden has moved ahead ofmore

Leave a comment

Trump Campaign Files Another Lawsuit Despite Legal Setbacks

On

U.S. President Donald Trump’s embattled reelection campaign continued its legal challenges to vote counting Thursday even as it suffered a pair of setbacks in two battleground states key to winning the election.In Nevada, a Democratic-leaning state where former Vice President Joe Biden maintained a slight advantage over Trump in the vote count, the Trump campaign and the state Republican Party announced a lawsuit claiming at least 10,000 nonresidents had illegally voted and that their votes were being counted.“It is unacceptable in this country to have illegal votes counted, and that is what’s happening in the state of Nevada,” Trump’s formermore

Leave a comment

Fears Rise for Safety of Election Workers in Battleground States

On

Tensions over the still undecided U.S. presidential election are prompting some state and local officials to increase security for those charged with counting the remaining votes. Supporters of Republican President Donald Trump and Democratic challenger Joe Biden have increasingly focused their attention on states like Arizona, Nevada and Pennsylvania, where slim margins have made calling the race nearly impossible. And the tensions have grown as allegations of irregularities in the vote-counting process have sparked protests outside buildings where the tally is going on. “I am concerned for the safety of my staff,” said Joe Gloria, registrar of voters in Clark County, Nevada, onmore

Leave a comment

US Presidential Election Remains Undecided

On

The U.S. presidential election remained unsettled Thursday, with Democratic challenger Joe Biden nearing an Electoral College majority and President Donald Trump demanding that the vote count be stopped. Republicans are filing lawsuits alleging vote tabulation irregularities. Biden leads in the Electoral College count 253-214, with a majority of 270 needed to claim the presidency for a new four-year term. But vote counting is still under way in four states that will decide the election — Georgia and Pennsylvania in the eastern part of the country, and the adjoining Western states of Arizona and Nevada.  Where things standTrump is ahead in Georgia and Pennsylvania, and Biden is leading inmore

Leave a comment

No Matter Who Wins US Vote, Paris Wants a Reset

On

As people wait to see who will be confirmed the winner of the U.S. presidential election, politicians and analysts in France discuss the ongoing process and outcome of the vote, but especially its future impact on the relationship between the two countries.The U.S. election is all over the news in France and, since Tuesday, the French media have been covering the vote extensively.     The uncertainty around the outcome is widely commented on, especially since final results were still pending more than 24 hours after polling stations closed.   Jean-Claude Beaujour, a lawyer and vice president of France-Ameriques, anmore

Leave a comment

No Systemic Problems With US Election Day Proceedings, Foreign Observers Say

On

Despite the pandemic, the lawsuits and the acrimonious political rhetoric, foreign election observers had good news. They did not find systemic irregularity or wrongdoing by either major party. Ursula Gacek, who headed a foreign team of observers that arrived in the U.S. in late September to study the conditions leading up to election day,  noted there were isolated cases of irregular behavior – what she called “small incidents – personal, human incidents,” a couple of which were described in detail in footnotes to the report. “But nothing,” she said, “that would impact and really fundamentally shake the confidence in themore

Leave a comment

No Winner Yet, But Biden’s Lead Grows in US Presidential Election

On

U.S. news organizations on Wednesday projected former Vice President Joe Biden as the winner in the battleground states of Michigan and Wisconsin, putting him almost within reach of victory in the U.S. presidential election.“I’m not here to declare that we’ve won. But I am here to report that when the count is finished, we believe we will be the winners,” Biden said Wednesday afternoon.Biden could reach the 270 Electoral College vote threshold needed to win the election if in addition to Michigan and Wisconsin, he holds on to his leads in Arizona and Nevada. All but Nevada went for Donaldmore

Leave a comment

Another Night of Uncertainty as Americans Wait for Election Result

On

A day after voting ended, Americans continued to wait for the final vote tally in the presidential election. All eyes are now on a few battleground states where partial results are close and which may determine victory between Democratic nominee Vice President Joe Biden and incumbent Republican President Donald Trump. White House Correspondent Patsy Widakuswara has the latest. Producer: Barry Unger …

Leave a comment

Protests in Several US Cities as Presidential Vote Remains Undecided

On

Protesters turned out in multiple U.S. cities Wednesday to call for a complete count of presidential election votes, while smaller pro-Trump groups rallied outside vote-counting centers in Michigan and Arizona.Police in New York arrested dozens of people Wednesday night after what had been peaceful demonstrations. Officials say a small group of people “attempted to hijack” the protest by setting trash fires and clashing with officers.Protesters also marched in Chicago, Los Angeles, Seattle, Houston, Pittsburgh, Minneapolis and San Diego. In addition to calling for the votes to be counted, the demonstrators also highlighted racial inequality, the subject of numerous protests throughoutmore

Leave a comment