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WASHINGTON (AP): The federal government finally recognized President-elect Joe Biden as the “apparent winner” of the Nov. 3 election, formally initiating the transition of power after President Donald Trump spent weeks testing the limits of democracy. American.
He relented after suffering further legal and procedural defeats in his seemingly futile effort to reverse the election with unsubstantiated claims of fraud.
Trump still refused to budge and vowed to continue fighting in court after General Services Administrator Emily Murphy gave Biden the green light to coordinate with federal agencies before his inauguration on January 20. But Trump tweeted that he was instructing his team to cooperate in the transition.
The rapid series of events on Monday (November 23) appeared to let much of the air out of Trump’s frantic efforts to undermine the will of the people in what has amounted to a week-long stress test for American democracy.
But Trump’s attempts to foster a crisis of confidence in the political system and the fairness of the US elections are not over and are likely to persist well beyond his presidency.
Murphy, explaining his decision, cited “recent developments related to legal challenges and certification of election results.”
He acted after Michigan certified Biden’s victory in the battlefield state on Monday, and a federal judge in Pennsylvania launched a Trump campaign lawsuit on Saturday to avoid certification in that state.
It also comes as a growing number of Republicans publicly acknowledged Biden’s victory, after weeks of tolerating Trump’s unsubstantiated claims of fraud. The president had grown increasingly frustrated with the hectic tactics of his legal team.
“With Michigan’s certification (of his) results, Joe Biden has over 270 votes in the electoral college,” tweeted Louisiana Senator Bill Cassidy.
“President Trump’s legal team has presented no evidence of the massive fraud that would have had to be present to overturn the election. I voted for President Trump, but Joe Biden won.”
Yohannes Abraham, executive director of Biden’s transition, said the decision “is a necessary step in beginning to address the challenges facing our nation, including controlling the pandemic and recovering our economy.”
Trump’s appointee Murphy has faced bipartisan criticism for not having started the transition process earlier, which has prevented Biden’s team from working with career agency officials on plans for his administration.
The delay denied Biden access to highly classified national security reports and hampered his team’s ability to begin crafting their own plans to respond to the coronavirus pandemic.
Murphy insisted that he acted on his own.
“Please know that I made my decision independently, based on the law and available facts. No Executive Branch official pressured me directly or indirectly, including those working in the White House or GSA, regarding the substance. or the moment of my decision, ”he wrote in a letter to Biden.
Trump tweeted moments after Murphy’s decision: “We will continue the good fight and I believe we will prevail! However, in the best interest of our country, I recommend that Emily and her team do whatever it takes regarding the initial protocols and I’ve told my team to do the same. “
Max Stier, president and CEO of the Nonpartisan Association for Public Service, criticized the delay, but said Biden’s team could overcome it.
“Unfortunately, each day lost to the verification delay was a missed opportunity for the outgoing administration to help President-elect Joe Biden prepare to meet our country’s greatest challenges,” he said.
“The good news is that the president-elect and his team are the most prepared and best equipped of any incoming administration in recent memory.”
Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said the GSA action “is probably the closest thing to a concession that President Trump could issue.”
Noting that the nation “faces multiple crises that demand an orderly transition,” Schumer urged Democrats and Republicans to “come together for a smooth and peaceful transition that will benefit America.”
Murphy’s action came just 90 minutes after Michigan election officials certified Biden’s victory with 154,000 votes in the state. The State Canvassing Board, which has two Republicans and two Democrats, confirmed the results in a 3-0 vote with one Republican abstention.
Trump and his allies had hoped to block the vote to allow time for an audit of the ballots in Wayne County, where Trump has claimed without evidence that he was a victim of fraud. Biden crushed the president by more than 330,000 votes there.
Some Trump allies had expressed hope that state lawmakers could intervene in the selection of Republican voters in states that do not certify. That risky gamble is no longer possible in Michigan.
“The people of Michigan have spoken. President-elect Biden won the state of Michigan by more than 154,000 votes, and he will be our next president on January 20,” Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Democrat, said, adding that it is ” Time to leave this choice behind. “
Trump was growing increasingly frustrated by his legal team, led by former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, whose erratic public performances provoked bipartisan ridicule in recent weeks.
Still, legal challenges were expected to continue, as Trump seeks to keep his supporters on his side and keep his options open for post-presidential opportunities.
In Pennsylvania on Saturday, a conservative Republican judge struck down the largest Trump campaign legal effort in the state with a scathing ruling that questioned why he was supposed to disenfranchise seven million voters with no evidence to support his claims. claims and an inept legal argument at best.
But attorneys still hope to block the state’s certification, quickly appealing to the US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in Philadelphia, which ordered the attorneys to file a brief Monday, but declined to hear oral arguments.
The campaign, in its submissions, requested urgent consideration in order to challenge the results of the state elections before they are certified next month. Otherwise, they will seek to decertify them, depending on the filings.
Biden won Pennsylvania by more than 80,000 votes.
Pennsylvania County Boards of Elections voted Monday, the state deadline, on certifying the election results to the State Department. The boards in two populous counties were divided along partisan lines, with majority Democrats in both places voting to certify.
After all counties have submitted certified results to Secretary of State Kathy Boockvar, she must tabulate, calculate and poll the votes for all races. The law requires her to perform that task quickly, but does not set a specific deadline.
In Wisconsin, a recount in the state’s two largest Liberal counties advanced to its fourth day, with elections officials in Milwaukee County complaining that Trump watchers were slowing the process with frequent challenges.
Trump’s hope of reversing Biden’s victory there hinges on the disqualification of thousands of absentee ballots, including the in-person absentee ballot issued by one of Trump’s Dane County campaign attorneys. – AP
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