washingtonpost.com <https://www.washingtonpost.com/elections/2020/11/17/joe-biden-trump-transition-live-updates/>
Live updates: Biden to receive outside national security briefing as Trump blocks normal transition John Wagner, Felicia Sonmez 13-16 minutes _____ Please Note The Washington Post is providing this important election information free to all readers. Get election results and other major news delivered to your inbox by signing up for breaking news email alerts. <https://subscribe.washingtonpost.com/newsletters/#/bundle/newsalerts?method=SURL&location=ART&initiative=FREE> President-elect Joe Biden is scheduled to receive a national security briefing Tuesday from experts outside government as President Trump continues to hold up a normal transition process while falsely claiming he won the Nov. 3 election. While Trump largely stays out of public view and tweets grievances about the election, Biden is forging ahead and plans to make some more senior staff announcements Tuesday. On Monday, he urged Congress to immediately pass an economic relief package <https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/biden-economy-stimulus-coronavirus/2020/11/16/2606b3ea-2820-11eb-9b14-ad872157ebc9_story.html?itid=lk_inline_manual_5> and warned that the coronavirus pandemic <https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/11/17/coronavirus-covid-live-updates-us/?itid=lk_inline_manual_5> will worsen in the coming months. Georgia secretary of state stands by comments about Sen. Graham seeking invalidation of legally cast ballots By John Wagner Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (R) on Tuesday stood by his comments that Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) had suggested to him that he find a way to toss legally cast mail-in ballots in the state — a characterization that Graham has called “just ridiculous.” During an appearance on Fox News, Raffensperger reiterated comments he made to The Washington Post <https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/brad-raffensperger-georgia-vote/2020/11/16/6b6cb2f4-283e-11eb-8fa2-06e7cbb145c0_story.html?itid=lk_inline_manual_15> that Graham asked during a phone conversation whether he had the power to invalidate all mail ballots in counties found to have higher rates of mismatches between signatures on ballots and envelopes. “His question was really about if ballots could be matched back to the envelope,” Raffensperger said on Fox News. “I thought that he implied that he wanted us to audit the envelopes and then throw out ballots of counties who had the highest frequency error rate of signatures. And that means you’d be throwing out good ballots with bad ballots. That’s the philosophy that he had.” “That’s just ridiculous,” Graham told the Hill <https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/526240-graham-denies-pressuring-top-georgia-elections-official-to-throw-out-some> newspaper on Monday night when asked about Raffensperger’s representations. “If [Raffensperger] feels threatened by that conversation, he’s got a problem. I actually thought it was a good conversation.” Sen. Grassley says he’s quarantining after exposure to the coronavirus By Felicia Sonmez and Mike DeBonis Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa), the oldest sitting U.S. senator, said Tuesday that he is quarantining after being exposed to the coronavirus. “I learned today that I’ve been exposed to the coronavirus," Grassley said in a statement. "I will follow my doctors’ orders and immediately quarantine as I await my test results. I’m feeling well and not currently experiencing any symptoms, but it’s important we all follow public health guidelines to keep each other healthy.” Grassley’s office said the senator will continue working remotely from his home in Iowa. No details were provided on when or how Grassley was exposed to the virus. The absence of the 87-year-old senator throws a scheduled Tuesday confirmation vote for controversial Federal Reserve nominee Judy Shelton into at least temporary limbo. It also means the likely end of Grassley’s 27-year streak of not missing a Senate floor vote. Paul Kane contributed to this report. Analysis: How the attack ads in Georgia’s Senate runoff races are shaping up By Amber Phillips Whichever party wins both Georgia Senate runoff races will have done it because they successfully motivated more of their voters to come to the polls again in January. And that means doubling down on partisan attacks against the other side. Both Republican Sens. David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler and their respective Democratic challengers, Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock, are going for the jugular right now. Here are some trends about how they attack each other in these two runoff elections that will decide which party controls the U.S. Senate. Biden to name senior White House staff, including Jen O’Malley Dillon By Sean Sullivan and Michael Scherer Biden plans to announce senior White House personnel on Tuesday, according to a person with knowledge of the plans, putting together a list of hires that will include at least several close aides who spearheaded his winning campaign. The list includes Steve Ricchetti and Jen O’Malley Dillon, according to the person, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss announcements that had not yet been made public. Rep. Cedric L. Richmond (D-La.) will also join the administration, a decision that was confirmed Monday by two Democrats with knowledge of his plans. The hires mark Biden’s latest effort to staff his incoming team. Last week, he tapped longtime aide Ron Klain to be his White House chief of staff. Some of the other people Biden is bringing into his administration also have deep ties to him. Ricchetti was campaign chairman for Biden. He is one of Biden's most trusted strategists and served as his chief of staff when Biden was vice president. O'Malley Dillon became Biden's campaign manager earlier this year, stepping onboard as the team retooled after struggling in the early nominating contests. A veteran of Barack Obama's 2012 reelection run, she managed former congressman Beto O'Rourke's unsuccessful Democratic presidential bid in 2019. Richmond is one of Biden’s most prominent African American allies. He was an early supporter of Biden, frequently campaigned for him and appeared on television on his behalf. Richmond is said to be close to Rep. James E. Clyburn (D-S.C.). Clyburn’s support helped Biden win the South Carolina primary, a victory that eased his way to the nomination. Analysis: Silicon Valley’s attempts to crack down on election misinformation will again be on trial in Washington By Cat Zakrzewski Get ready for another split-screen hearing about social media on Capitol Hill. Lawmakers from both parties on the Senate Judiciary Committee <https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/meetings/breaking-the-news-censorship-suppression-and-the-2020-election> are gearing up to deliver yet another public lashing of Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg and Twitter’s Jack Dorsey. But prepare for the parties’ lines of questioning to be about as different as the Parler feed of Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) and Biden’s tweets. Trump campaign declines to say whether it will pay nearly $8 million fee for Wisconsin recount By John Wagner and Rosalind Helderman A Trump campaign spokeswoman declined to say Tuesday whether the campaign would pony up the nearly $8 million required to obtain a statewide recount of the presidential results in Wisconsin. “I certainly don’t have anything to announce on that front at this point,” spokeswoman Erin Perrine said during an appearance on Fox News. The Trump campaign has until 5 p.m. Wednesday to submit a petition asking for a statewide recount, as well as the $7.9 million payment. The Wisconsin Elections Commission on Monday announced the fee that would be required and said it must be paid up front. 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. Trump has alleged that Wisconsin is among the states where he was cheated in the election, but his campaign has identified no specific irregularities. In the days following Election Day, Trump aides said they planned to demand a Wisconsin recount. Analysis: CEOs embrace Biden as president-elect By Tory Newmyer Many top Republicans may not be ready to accept <https://twitter.com/burgessev/status/1328432813276852224?s=20> that Biden won the election. But top CEOs, whom the GOP once considered a base of support, are reaching out to work with the incoming administration. That institutional embrace is helping Biden turn the page from an ugly campaign and its aftermath. A handful lent their names and credibility to the administration-in-waiting Monday when they joined Biden and labor leaders to discuss economic recovery plans. The executives — the Gap’s Sonia Syngal, Mary Barra of General Motors, Microsoft’s Satya Nadella and Target’s Brian Cornell — are hardly partisan: All four have either visited <https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/remarks-president-trump-roundtable-discussion-industry-executives-reopening/> Trump’s White House <https://www.cnbc.com/2020/03/14/trump-asks-walmart-target-others-to-help-tackle-the-coronavirus-crisis.html> , spoken <https://finance.yahoo.com/news/microsoft-deal-tiktok-us-fading-122732198.html> with him by phone or met <https://www.cnbc.com/2020/09/01/gm-ceo-mary-barra-to-meet-with-ivanka-trump-on-wednesday.html> with top officials in the past year. By conferring with Biden, they also help the president-elect send the message he is making good on his campaign promise to govern as a uniter, rather than the socialist caricature the Trump team made him out to be. What Perdue, Loeffler and Rove told top GOP donors about Trump and the Georgia runoffs By Robert Costa and Tom Hamburger Republican leaders are increasingly alarmed about the party’s ability to stave off Democratic challengers in Georgia’s two Senate runoff elections — and they privately described Trump on a recent conference call as a political burden who despite his false claims of victory was the likely loser of the 2020 presidential election. Those blunt assessments, which capture a Republican Party in turmoil as Trump refuses to concede to Biden, were made on a Nov. 10 call with donors hosted by the National Republican Senatorial Committee. It featured Georgia’s embattled GOP incumbents, Sens. David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler, and Karl Rove, a veteran strategist who is coordinating fundraising for the Jan. 5 runoffs. Trump has another day scheduled without public appearances By John Wagner The White House is advertising no events for Trump on Tuesday as he continues to keep a low public profile in the aftermath of an election he has refused to concede to Biden. While making few public appearances, Trump has continued to air grievances about the election through Twitter. Late on Monday night, he tweeted a Breitbart story about Kelli Ward, the chairwoman of the Arizona Republican Party, asserting that “this election is far from over.” Vice President Pence, who has resumed a more regular schedule than Trump, is scheduled Tuesday to hold a meeting of the White House coronavirus task force. Cindy McCain explains why she voted for Biden By Roxanne Roberts Did Cindy McCain help Biden win Arizona in the 2020 presidential election? Probably. Did Trump’s obsession with John McCain play into his loss of the state? Probably. When historians write about 2020 politics, Arizona will get a star turn — first, for the Fox News election-night call <https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/fox-news-election-night-arizona/2020/11/04/194f9968-1e71-11eb-90dd-abd0f7086a91_story.html?itid=lk_inline_manual_3&itid=lk_inline_manual_70> , a move that enraged Trump and devastated his supporters. But perhaps more significant was the role of McCain, the matriarch of Arizona Republicans, who endorsed Biden. It was the first time in her life she had voted for a Democrat, and she is finally opening up about why. Biden to receive briefing from national security experts outside government By John Wagner and Matt Viser Biden is scheduled to receive a national security briefing Tuesday from experts outside the government as Trump continues to hold up the normal transition process for a president-elect and falsely claims that he won the Nov. 3 election. According to his transition team, Biden will receive the briefing in Wilmington, Del., where he lives, and will be joined by Sen. Kamala D. Harris (D-Calif.). The meeting will include diplomatic, intelligence and defense experts, according to a transition official, and the discussion is expected to focus on readiness at the relevant agencies. The official requested anonymity to speak about plans for a private meeting. Speaking to reporters on Monday, Biden noted that Harris still has access to classified intelligence briefings because she is a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee. But Biden himself is not able to get those briefings because Trump’s administration has yet to acknowledge that Biden won the election. More broadly, however, Biden said that the lack of cooperation so far is not significantly affecting his ability to build a team and chart a path. “I find this more embarrassing for the country than debilitating for my ability to get started,” he said. Fact Checker: Trump’s day of living in an immaterial world on Twitter By Glenn Kessler Trump did not appear in public Monday. But the pixels of his Twitter feed continued to live in a world of alternative reality. Here’s a quick guide to a day of false or misleading tweets about the reelection campaign that the president lost, most of which were flagged by Twitter <https://factba.se/topic/flagged-tweets> . Democrats bash Lindsey Graham over claims he pressured Georgia to discard ballots By Katie Shepherd Democrats on Monday rushed to condemn Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) after Georgia’s Republican secretary of state said the lawmaker had pressured him to find ways to throw out mail-in ballots that helped swing the state in Biden’s favor. “This is insane and illegal,” Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) said in a tweet <https://twitter.com/IlhanMN/status/1328498796045557760?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1328498796045557760%7Ctwgr%5E&ref_url=about%3Asrcdoc> responding to a Washington Post report <https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/brad-raffensperger-georgia-vote/2020/11/16/6b6cb2f4-283e-11eb-8fa2-06e7cbb145c0_story.html?itid=lk_inline_manual_4&itid=lk_inline_manual_88> on Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger’s allegations. Raffensperger said he was stunned Friday when the South Carolina senator called him and asked several questions about signature matching, including whether the state’s top election official could toss all of the mail-in ballots in counties with high rates of mismatched signatures. Graham, who serves as chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, dismissed the suggestion that he had acted inappropriately. Biden wants to curb the coronavirus but steers clear of shutdowns By Annie Linskey and Sean Sullivan Biden and his team Monday sent the clearest signal yet that he won’t put the country into another national shutdown, showing deep concern for a fragile economy amid a massive spike in coronavirus <https://www.washingtonpost.com/coronavirus/?itid=lk_inline_manual_1&itid=lk_inline_manual_94> infections that is straining hospitals and plunging the nation into a more severe crisis. The president-elect tiptoed around a question Monday about whether governors should be closing nonessential businesses in hard-hit places. “Look, it depends on the state,” Biden said, when asked about restrictions. He then picked up his face mask and delivered an extended riff on the importance of wearing masks and noted that he has respect for governors of both parties who have issued mask mandates. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "SERBIAN NEWS NETWORK" group. 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