NEWS - Trump fires top US Cybersecurity official as agency refutes voter fraud - (2020)LIVE
Adam Schiff, the Democratic California congressman who chairs the House intelligence committee, has responded to the news, saying that Trump's move to fire Krebs is " pathetic and predictable from a president who views truth as his enemy".
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Twitter quickly flagged the tweets in which Trump announced Krebs' firing because the repeated many of the baseless election fraud claims the president has been making in recent weeks.
Unwilling to accept reality and concede the election, Trump has doubled down on conspiracy theories about election fraud. His administration has blocked the Biden transition team from receiving briefings, but now that Krebs is no longer working in an official capacity - the incoming administration may be able to glean non-classified briefings from the former cybersecurity official. VISIT FULL NEWS
Several top Democrats have condemned the president's decision to fire Krebs.
On CNN, senator Chris Coons of Delaware said, "Chris Krebs' federal service is just the latest casualty in President Trump's four-year-long war on the truth." VISIT FULL NEWS
Angus King, the Maine senator who is among the candidates who may be appointed Director of National Intelligence in the upcoming Biden administration, said Krebs "is a dedicated public servant who has helped build up new cyber capabilities in the face of swiftly-evolving dangers. By firing him for doing his job, President Trump is harming all Americans." VISIT FULL NEWS https://steemit.com/news/@lisa1234/live-news-trump-fires-top-us-cybersecurity-official-as-agency-refutes-voter-fraud-2020
https://medium.com/@iamzhm966/news-trump-fires-top-us-cybersecurity-official-as-agency-refutes-voter-fraud-2020-live-43ef799b550f
https://movielovers.substack.com/p/news-live-trump-fires-top-us-cybersecurity
https://lifenewstime.blogspot.com/2020/11/updatenewstrump-fires-top-us.html
https://sites.google.com/view/news-trump-fires-top-us-cybers
Donald Trump fires official for pushing back against baseless rumors of election fraud
Trump said Chris Krebs, the director of the Department of Homeland Security's Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), "has been terminated".
Krebs had indicated he expected to be fired. Last week, his agency released a statement refuting claims of widespread voter fraud. "The November 3rd election was the most secure in American history," the statement read. "There is no evidence that any voting system deleted or lost votes, changed votes, or was in any way compromised." VISIT FULL NEWS
Trump mentioned the note in his tweet firing Krebs. He also repeated baseless, false claims that dead people had voted and machines changed votes.
Top US cybersecurity official reportedly says he expects to be fired
In Pennsylvania, Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani - who has continued his efforts to invalidate election results with baseless claims of voter fraud - has also suffered other setbacks…
Here's more background on the long-shot litigation, from my colleague Sam Levine:
Pennsylvania court deals blow to Trump campaign's bid to overturn Biden win
Republicans blocked Michigan's largest county from certifying the results of the 3 November election on Tuesday, an alarming development that leaves wiggle room for Donald Trump in a state he lost by around 146,000 votes.
The four-member board of canvassers in Wayne County, which includes Detroit, deadlocked along partisan lines on Tuesday over certifying the election results. Joe Biden carried the county by nearly 323,000 votes. The decision essentially leaves certification up to the Michigan state board of canvassers, according to the Washington Post. The board is split along partisan lines and must approve election results with at least a 3–1 vote, according to Bridge Michigan.
There's some concern that if the board doesn't act to certify the results, the Michigan state legislature could step in and appoint its own electors. Michigan Republican leaders in the state legislature have downplayed those concerns.
A Republican member of the board of canvassers said on Tuesday she would be willing to certify results in parts of the county other than Detroit, which many saw to be an overtly partisan and racist move. Detroit is more than 78% Black.
The Trump campaign has focused on ballot counting in Detroit in several of the lawsuits it has filed in the state seeking to block certification of the results. Several judges have dismissed those lawsuits, finding no irregularities.
Here's a view of Chuck Grassley, unmasked, speaking at the Senate yesterday
We're monitoring which other senators might decide to quarantine after interacting with Grassley. Florida senator Rick Scott, who said he was exposed to the virus in his home state, is also quarantining. He has tested negative so far, he said.
Grassley was in close contact with senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia, and potentially others. While the Iowa senator did wear a mask when he wasn't speaking, other Republican senators didn't.
Democrat Sherrod Brown of Ohio confronted Republican Dan Sullivan of Alaska on the floor about wearing a mask - in part to protect staffers - including a stenographer - sitting below him.
"I don't wear a mask when I'm speaking," Sullivan responded. "I don't need your instruction." Republican Ted Cruz of Texas also seized on the opportunity to attack Brown, calling his colleague "complete ass" and accusing the Ohio senator of "fake virtue".
Senator Grassley tests positive for coronavirus
Republican senator Chuck Grassley, 87, of Iowa has tested positive for coronavirus, he announced.
Grassley was unable to vote on Judy Shelton's controversial nomination to the Federal Reserve's board of governors (she has advocated for a return to the gold standard) because he was quarantining after being exposed to the virus.
Before quarantining, Grassley spoke on the Senate floor, without a mask.
ChuckGrassley(@ChuckGrassley)
I've tested positive for coronavirus. I'll b following my doctors' orders/CDC guidelines & continue to quarantine. I'm feeling good + will keep up on my work for the ppl of Iowa from home. I appreciate everyone's well wishes + prayers &look fwd to resuming my normal schedule soon
Joe Biden spoke with the leaders of Chile, India, Israel, and South Africa.
Narendra Modi(@narendramodi)
Spoke to US President-elect @JoeBiden on phone to congratulate him. We reiterated our firm commitment to the Indo-US strategic partnership and discussed our shared priorities and concerns - Covid-19 pandemic, climate change, and cooperation in the Indo-Pacific Region.
Congratulatory calls from president Sebastián Piñera of Chile, prime minister Narendra Modi of India, prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and president Reuven Rivlin of Israel and president Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa followed calls from European and Chinese leaders, and the pope last week.
Netanyahu and Biden discussed the US-Israeli alliance and Biden's "steadfast support for Israel's security and its future as a Jewish and democratic state" per the president-elect's transition team and Netanyahu's office. Their conversation is a blow to Trump, who has pursued a foreign policy that has greatly favored Israel and maintained a close relationship with Netanyahu.
The Israeli prime minister had a more contentious relationship with the Obama administration, especially after the US chose not to vote against a security council resolution urging Israel not to build settlements on Palestinian territory.
Fellow populists Trump and Modi of India have also maintained an allyship, hosting a "Howdy Modi" rally in Texas at one point.
Here's more background on how the transition could affect foreign policy:
Fears of foreign policy chaos in Trump's final days fueled by Iran bombing report
It's truly the greatest gift of all: a $1m donation by Dolly Parton to coronavirus vaccine research supported the development of the Moderna vaccine, which shows 95% protection from the virus.
In April, Parton donated £800,000 to research after her friend Dr Naji Abumrad of the Vanderbilt Institute for Infection, Immunology and Inflammation at Vanderbilt University in Tennessee told her that they were making "some exciting advancements" in the search for a cure for the virus. Abumrad and Parton became friends in 2014 after the singer was involved in a car accident and treated at Vanderbilt.
This image released by Netflix shows Dolly Parton in a scene from "Dolly Parton's Christmas on the Square." (Netflix via AP) Photograph: AP
Parton is yet to respond to the news. The Guardian has contacted representatives for the singer.
The 74-year-old country music icon's donation has also supported convalescent plasma study at Vanderbilt - treating infected people with the plasma of others carrying antibodies against the virus - as well as the development of several research papers pertaining to the virus.
Moderna has said it could potentially produce 1bn doses of the vaccine by the end of 2021 and is applying for Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) with the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
It has already begun submitting data to the UK's Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA): the UK has secured an initial 5m doses of the new vaccine. Moderna's breakthrough follows a Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine showing 90% effectiveness.
The Dolly Parton Covid-19 research fund is the latest example of Parton's well-known philanthropy. Her Imagination Library gifts free books to children from birth until starting school in participating areas. She recently told Oprah Winfrey that she never had children "because I believe that God didn't mean for me to have kids so everybody's kids could be mine, so I could do things like the Imagination Library."
Read more:
Dolly Parton partly funded Moderna Covid vaccine research
That's it from me today. My west coast colleague, Maanvi Singh, will take over the blog for the next few hours.
Here's where the day stands so far:
The Pennsylvania supreme court delivered another defeat to the Trump campaign, as the president's legal efforts struggle to gain traction. Reversing a lower court's decision, the state supreme court ruled that Philadelphia election officials did not improperly block the Trump campaign from observing the city's vote count.
The Trump campaign tried to delay the certification of election results in Pennsylvania, where Joe Biden leads by about 73,000 votes. Arguing on behalf of the Trump campaign, Rudy Giuliani repeated the president's baseless claims of widespread election fraud, while a lawyer for Pennsylvania's secretary of state called for dismissing the lawsuit.
Judy Shelton's nomination to the Federal Reserve's board of governors failed to advance in the Senate. Every Senate Democrat and two Senate Republicans opposed advancing Shelton's nomination, but majority leader Mitch McConnell could take up the issue again if Rick Scott or Chuck Grassley, both of whom are quarantining after potential coronavirus exposure, soon return to Capitol Hill.
Biden announced a new round of senior staff appointments. The president's former campaign manager, Jen O'Malley Dillon, will serve as deputy chief of staff, and congressman Cedric Richmond, a key House ally for Biden, will join the administration as the director of the White House office of public engagement.
Biden is reportedly wary of continuing investigations of the Trump administration once he is sworn in. According to NBC News, one adviser to Biden said the president-elect has made it clear that he "just wants to move on."
House speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer have sent a letter to Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell asking him to engage in negotiations for another coronavirus relief bill.
"We write to request that you join us at the negotiating table this week so that we can work towards a bipartisan, bicameral COVID-19 relief agreement to crush the virus and save American lives," the Democratic leaders said in the letter.
McConnell has proposed a targeted $500 billion relief bill, but Pelosi and Schumer have consistently dismissed that offer as insufficient to address the country's medical and financial needs amid the pandemic.
"The COVID-19 pandemic and economic recession will not end without our help," the Democrats said. "For the sake of the country, we ask that you come to the table and work with us to produce an agreement that meets America's needs in this critical time."
President-elect Joe Biden has emphasized the need to pass another massive relief bill, but negotiations between congressional Democratic leadership and the White House have been stalled for weeks.
Joe Biden's lead in Georgia has slightly decreased to 12,929, after a memory card of 2,755 uncounted votes was found in Fayette county.
Justin Gray(@JustinGrayWSB)
New: a memory card was found during the audit in Fayette county with 2,755 votes. Decreased Biden statewide lead by 449. New margin total statewide in GA is a 12,929 lead for Biden
However, most Georgia counties are reporting little to no change in their presidential vote totals as they conduct their hand recounts.
Georgia election officials have until Friday to complete the recounts, and Biden is expected to maintain his lead in the state.
stephen fowler covers Georgia's election!(@stphnfwlr)
More Georgia audit stats from counties that are done so far:
57 counties had no change in original+tally results
21 were within +/- 1 vote
32 within single digits
Counties are still quality controlling data, too. #gapol
Pennsylvania supreme court deals Trump campaign another defeat
The Guardian's Sam Levine reports on the Trump campaign's legal efforts in Pennsylvania:
Philadelphia election officials did not improperly block Donald Trump's campaign from observing the counting of mail-in ballots, the Pennsylvania supreme court ruled 5–2 on Tuesday, a major blow to the president's already flailing legal efforts.
The decision is significant because one of the Trump campaign's loudest claims since the election has been that they were improperly blocked from observing the counting of ballots in Philadelphia.
While campaign observers were always allowed to observe, the campaign alleged they were being kept too far from the counting - about 15–18 feet - to make any meaningful observation. It secured a court order in the days after election day requiring Philadelphia officials to let observers within 6 feet.
But the Pennsylvania supreme court reversed that decision on Tuesday, noting that Pennsylvania law gives Philadelphia election officials wide discretion to decide the rules around observers.
"The Board did not act contrary to law in fashioning its regulations governing the positioning of candidate representatives during the pre-canvassing and canvassing process, as the Election Code does not specify minimum distance parameters for the location of such representatives," Justice Barbara Todd, a Democrat, wrote for the five justice majority.
"We find the Board's regulations as applied herein were reasonable in that they allowed candidate representatives to observe the Board conducting its activities as prescribed under the Election Code."
Mark Joseph Stern(@mjs_DC)
The decision was 5–2 because two justices wouldn't have even decided the case, preferring to rule that it is moot. The principal dissent also explicitly says that throwing out valid ballots would not be an appropriate remedy anyway. This is a total loss for the Trump campaign.
Even the two Republican justices who dissented from the majority opinion disagreed with the idea, advanced by the Trump campaign, that legitimate votes should be rejected because of improper observation practices.
"Short of demonstrated fraud, the notion that presumptively valid ballots cast by the Pennsylvania electorate would be disregarded based on isolated procedural irregularities that have been redressed - thus disenfranchising potentially thousands of voters - is misguided," Chief Justice Thomas Saylor wrote in his dissenting opinion.
"Accordingly, to the degree that there is a concern with protecting or legitimizing the will of the Philadelphians who cast their votes while candidate representatives were unnecessarily restrained at the Convention Center, I fail to see that there is any real issue."
As a reminder, Joe Biden currently leads Trump in Pennsylvania by 72,832 votes.
Despite the Senate vote blocking Judy Shelton's nomination for now, a White House spokesperson pledged to continue working for her confirmation to the Federal Reserve's board of governors.
Judd Deere(@JuddPDeere45)
President @realDonaldTrump's nominee to the Federal Reserve is incredibly qualified. The @WhiteHouse fully supports her, and we remain confident that Judy Shelton will be confirmed upon reconsideration.
"President @realDonaldTrump's nominee to the Federal Reserve is incredibly qualified," spokesperson Judd Deere said in a tweet. "The @WhiteHouse fully supports her, and we remain confident that Judy Shelton will be confirmed upon reconsideration."
Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell could take up Shelton's nomination again, but he has little time to do it, as Democrat Mark Kelly of Arizona will soon be sworn in to replace Republican Martha McSally.
Shelton has received criticism for her comments on returning to the gold standard and her close ties to Donald Trump.
Judy Shelton's Fed nomination fails to advance
Senate Democrats, with the help of two Republican colleagues, have successfully blocked the confirmation of Judy Shelton to the Federal Reserve's board of governors - for now, at least.
The motion to advance Shelton's nomination failed by a vote of 48–49. (Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell changed his vote after it was clear the motion would fail, allowing him to take up the matter again at a later date, so the final vote was technically 47–50.)
Senate Cloakroom(@SenateCloakroom)
Not invoked, 47–50: Motion to invoke cloture on Executive Calendar #760 Judy Shelton to be a Member of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System for the unexpired term of fourteen years from February 1, 2010.
Every Senate Democrat and two Senate Republicans - Susan Collins of Maine and Mitt Romney of Utah - opposed advancing Shelton's nomination.
Republicans failed in part because two of their colleagues - Rick Scott of Florida and Chuck Grassley of Iowa - are quarantining right now, after being exposed to people who tested positive for coronavirus.
If Scott and Grassley were to return to Capitol Hill, McConnell could have the votes to advance Shelton's nomination.
However, McConnell has little time to take up the matter again, as Democrat Mark Kelly of Arizona is expected to be sworn in by the end of the month, replacing Republican Martha McSally.
Kelly defeated McSally in a special Senate election two weeks ago.
Pennsylvania lawyers ask judge to dismiss Trump's bid to block Biden from being certified winner
Joanna Walters
Lawyers for Pennsylvania asked a judge this afternoon to dismiss Donald Trump's bid to block the president-elect, Joe Biden, from being certified as the victor in the state.
The Republican president, with his personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani arguing for him, is pursuing a long-shot legal challenge to his 2020 election loss.
Guardian cartoonist Steve Bell's take. Illustration: Steve Bell/The Guardian
Giuliani, the former New York mayor, took a key role in spearheading Trump's case before US district judge Matthew Brann in Williamsport, Pennsylvania.
A loss in the case would likely doom Trump's already-remote prospects of altering the election's outcome, Reuters writes.
There was "widespread, nationwide voter fraud" in the election, Giuliani told Brann, but provided little evidence to back up that claim.
Daniel Donovan, a lawyer for Pennsylvania's top election official, said Trump's campaign did not allege irregularities that would change the outcome in the state.
The Trump campaign on Sunday narrowed the Pennsylvania case to focus on a claim that voters in the state were improperly allowed to fix ballots that had been rejected because of technical errors such as missing a "secrecy envelope."
Pennsylvania officials have said a small number of ballots were fixed. Trump's campaign, however, is asking Brann to halt certification of Biden's victory in the state.
Pennsylvania secretary of state Kathy Boockvar is due to certify the election results next Monday, meaning Brann is expected to rule quickly.
Biden is projected to have won the state by more than 70,000 votes, giving him 49.9% of the state's votes to 48.8% for Trump.
Biden clinched the election by winning Pennsylvania to put him over the 270 state-by-state electoral college votes needed.
US election: what happens between now and inauguration day?
As she arrived on the Senate floor to vote against Judy Shelton's nomination, Kamala Harris was warmly welcomed by her Republican colleagues, many of whom have refused to acknowledge Joe Biden's victory in the presidential election.
Senator Lindsey Graham, who has lent credibility to Donald Trump's baseless claims of election fraud, offered Harris a fist-bump to congratulate her on the win.
Several other Senate Republicans - including Tim Scott of South Carolina, Mike Rounds of South Dakota, James Lankford of Oklahoma and Ben Sasse of Nebraska - also congratulated her.