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The presidential election was the “safest in US history” with no evidence that votes were compromised or altered, said a coalition of federal and state officials, offering the clearest repudiation yet of the false claims of US fraud. Donald Trump.
The statement backed up repeated assurances from experts and state officials that despite the coronavirus pandemic and record numbers of voters, the elections went smoothly and without irregularities.
Yet nearly a week after Democrat Joe Biden was declared the winner, Trump continues to refuse to accept defeat and to hamper an orderly transition of power. In an interview with a newspaper on Friday, he insisted without proof that his election was stolen and that his quixotic legal challenges will be successful.
The latest blow to his case from the Infrastructure and Cybersecurity Security Agency, which led federal election protection efforts. “While we know there are many unsubstantiated claims and opportunities for misinformation about our election process, we can assure you that we have the utmost confidence in the security and integrity of our elections, and you should too,” he said.
“When you have questions, turn to election officials as trusted voices as they administer elections.”
The statement was tweeted by Chris Krebs, the agency’s director, who just hours earlier had been the subject of a media report that said he had told associates that he expected to be fired by Trump.
Krebs has spoken out on Twitter repeatedly assuring Americans that the elections were safe and that their votes would be counted. “United States, we are confident in the security of your vote, you should too,” he wrote.
Officials who signed the statement said they had no evidence that any voting system removed or lost votes, changed votes, or was compromised in any way.
They said that all states with close results have paper records, allowing the counting of each ballot, if necessary, and for “the identification and correction of any errors or errors.”
“The election was the safest in the history of the United States. Right now, across the country, election officials are reviewing and reviewing the entire electoral process before finalizing the result, ”the statement added.
The message takes a further blow to the credibility of Trump’s unfounded claims of fraud and widespread trouble that he says could tip the election in his favor.
His campaign has dealt with issues that are typical of all elections: problems with signatures, secret envelopes and postmarks on mailed ballots, as well as the possibility of a small number of ballots incorrectly cast or lost. With Biden leading Trump by wide margins in the battle states, none of these would have any impact on the outcome.
The Trump campaign has also launched legal challenges complaining that its election observers were unable to examine the voting process. Many of those challenges have been rejected by the judges, some within hours of being presented. Again, none of the complaints showed evidence that the election outcome was affected.
In a further sign that Trump’s “legal strategy” is unraveling, the law firm Porter Wright Morris & Arthur withdrew from a Pennsylvania case that challenged nearly 2.65 million votes cast by mail, most of the Democrats. It said in a memorandum: “The plaintiffs and Porter Wright have mutually agreed that the plaintiffs will receive better service if Porter Wright retires,” but did not offer further explanation.
Yet even as he suffers loss after loss in court, the president remains defiant and in denial. He gave the Washington Examiner newspaper a breakdown, state by state, of how he thinks Biden’s victory can be overturned.
The Examiner reported: “At one point in the conversation, the president seemed to consider and then quickly reject the idea of losing. “I’m a guy who realizes. Five days ago, I thought, ‘Maybe,’ he said, pausing for a second. ‘But, now I see evidence, and we have hundreds of affidavits,’ referring to the testimonies included in their demands ”.
The president continued to push the baseless allegations on Friday. He tweeted: “For years Democrats have been preaching how insecure and rigged our elections have been. Now they are telling what a wonderful job the Trump Administration did to make 2020 the safest election in history. Actually, this is true, except for what the Democrats did. Election rigged! “
The Trump administration’s unwillingness to comply with a presidential transition has raised national security concerns. Some Republicans have asked that Biden have access to classified intelligence reports, but most Republican officials still refuse to publicly accept the former vice president’s victory.
Kevin McCarthy, the Republican minority leader in the House of Representatives, argued Thursday that Biden doesn’t need intelligence briefings because Trump could remain president in the new year. “He is not president at the moment, I don’t know if he will be on January 20, but whoever it is will get the information,” he told reporters.
The resistance is complicating Biden’s effort to lead a smooth transition to the January inauguration, keeping him away from agency funding and resources typically given to an incoming administration. Former President Barack Obama, promoting a new memory, told CBS News’ upcoming 60 Minutes program that he is concerned about false claims of widespread voter fraud.
“They seem to be motivated, in part because the president doesn’t like to lose and never admits loss,” Obama said. “I’m more concerned that other Republican officials who clearly know better agree with this, are pleasing him in this way. It is one more step to delegitimize not only the incoming Biden administration, but democracy in general. And that is a dangerous path. “
Some cracks are emerging in the Republican wall. George W Bush, the only living former Republican president, acknowledged Biden’s victory on Sunday. On Thursday, former Bush chief strategist Karl Rove wrote an opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal titled “This election result will not be overturned.”
New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu, who endorsed Trump’s reelection, told reporters: “Joe Biden is president-elect and I think, like most Americans, we suspect he will be sworn in in January.”
Trump has kept a lower profile in the past week than at any other time during his presidency. He was seen on Veterans Day, attending a service at Arlington National Cemetery, but has not spoken publicly other than the Washington Examiner interview and dozens of tweets and retweets.
Critics accuse him of “leaving without permission” at a critical time during the coronavirus pandemic with cases soaring to all-time highs. The United States reported 153,496 cases of Covid-19 on Thursday, according to Johns Hopkins University, the first time the number of coronavirus infections has surpassed 150,000 in a single day.
Meanwhile, Biden continues to receive congratulatory calls from around the world. A lifelong Catholic, he spoke with Pope Francis on Thursday. His transition team said in a statement that the president-elect thanked Francisco for “extending blessings and congratulations and indicated his appreciation.”
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