Refusing to concede, Trump blocks cooperation on transition

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Refusing to concede, Trump blocks cooperation on transition

2020-11-10 08:03 Last Updated At：08:10

The Trump administration threw the presidential transition into tumult on Monday, Attorney General William Barr authorizing the Justice Department to probe allegations of voter fraud and President Donald Trump firing the Pentagon chief and blocking government officials from cooperating with President-elect Joe Biden’s team.

Despite little evidence of fraud, Barr signed off on investigations into the unsubstantiated claims made repeatedly by Trump. Even as Biden began assembling experts to face the surging pandemic, the federal agency that needs to green light the beginnings of the transition of power held off on taking that step. And the White House moved to crack down on those not deemed sufficiently loyal as Trump continued to refuse to concede the race.

Top Republicans largely refused to put widespread pressure on Trump to accept his election loss. He remained out of sight at the White House, conversations ongoing about how the defeated president would spend the coming days and weeks as he challenged the people's verdict.

The ouster of Defense Secretary Mark Esper was expected by some aides to be the first of several firings by Trump, now freed from having to face voters again and angry at those in his administration perceived to be insufficiently loyal. Others believed to be vulnerable: FBI Director Christopher Wray, CIA head Gina Haspel and infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci.

Out of sight but not unheard, Trump took to Twitter to again dispute the result of the election, making baseless accusations of widespread “unthinkable and illegal” activity in the vote.

Trump is not expected to formally concede but is likely to grudgingly vacate the White House at the end of his term, according to several people around him. He was in discussion with top allies about the possibility of more campaign-style rallies as he tries to keep his supporters fired up despite his defeat. It was possible they would feature his family and top supporters but not the president himself.

The president was given cover to keep fighting by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, seen by many in the GOP as the one who may eventually need to nudge Trump to the exit.

“Our institutions are actually built for this,” McConnell said as he opened the Senate on Monday. “We have the system in place to consider concerns and President Trump is 100% within his rights to look into allegations of irregularities and weigh his legal options.”

Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer countered that the Republicans’ refusal to accept the election results was “extremely dangerous, extremely poisonous to our democracy.”

“Joe Biden won the election fair and square,” Schumer said.

A few GOP senators sent tepid nods toward a transition. Sen. Ben Sasse of Nebraska offered congratulations to Biden, and Sen. Susan Collins of Maine noted the Democrat's “apparent victory.” But many Republican lawmakers were reluctant to speak up about the election, seeing little political incentive to take a firm stance on Trump’s transition from the White House.

Republicans on Capitol Hill have been hesitant to push Trump to concede to Biden, knowing it would anger their base of Trump’s most devoted supporters. Most were also not overtly encouraging the president’s unfounded claims of fraud, while allowing baseless questions about the election process to linger.

Adding to the sense of uncertainty, the General Services Administration held off on formally beginning the transition, preventing Biden’s teams from gaining access to federal agencies. An agency spokesperson said late Monday that an “ascertainment” on the winner of the election had not yet been made. Citing what the agency did during the extended 2000 electoral recount, it signaled that it may not do so until Trump concedes or the Electoral College meets next month.

Across government, there were signs of a slowdown.

In weekly Monday morning all-hands phone calls for Midwest-based employees of the Environmental Protection Agency, mid-level administrators responded to questions about the transition by telling staffers they had no information yet, said Nicole Cantello, an agency employee and president of the Chicago local of a union representing EPA workers.

Up to Friday, at least, EPA employees told agency retirees that the agency’s political appointees were refusing to discuss any transition, saying they were sure Trump would be reelected.

A senior administration official said presidential personnel director John McEntee, the president’s former personal aide, has sent word to departments that they should terminate any political appointees seeking new work for now. Another official said the warning was not seen as likely to result in any firings but rather meant to reinforce to staff that they should not act counter to Trump while he refuses to concede. Those officials and others who were not authorized to discuss internal policies or describe private discussions requested anonymity.

At the U.S. Agency for International Development, which already underwent an abrupt post-election change in leadership, staffers were instructed not to begin acting on transition planning until the GSA approved it, according to officials familiar with the matter.

But some elements of the federal government already were mobilizing to prepare for Biden to assume power. The U.S. Secret Service and Federal Aviation Administration extended a flight restriction over Biden’s Wilmington, Delaware, home through Inauguration Day. Biden's security detail has been bolstered with agents from the Presidential Protective Division.

And despite Trump’s public stance, there was a growing realization in his inner circle that the election result would be impossible to overturn.

Legal challenges already have been dismissed in battleground states like Georgia and Wisconsin. And Trump’s legal challenge was dealt another blow Monday when campaign adviser David Bossie, tasked with leading the effort, tested positive for the coronavirus.

Bossie had been at the indoor White House election night party now being perceived as a possible superspreader event after other attendees — including chief of staff Mark Meadows, Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Ben Carson and other aides — contracted the virus.

Some senior officials have tried to make the case that Trump should turn his efforts to cementing his legacy, but they are wary of being labeled disloyal for even thinking it.

At the White House, attendance among aides had dropped off since election night — partly because of the result and partly because a number are in quarantine after contracting or being exposed to people who came down with COVID-19. And Vice President Mike Pence was slated to depart Tuesday for a vacation in Florida.

In the closing days of the election, Trump repeatedly described campaigning as “my job,” and it steadily crowded out his official duties.

Trump’s public schedule hasn’t included an intelligence briefing since Oct. 1. The White House hasn’t provided a “readout” of any call between the president and a foreign leader in weeks. He hasn’t met with members of the White House coronavirus task force in months. He also offered no public comment on Tropical Storm Eta lashing the Florida Keys.

The drawn-out resolution to the election has only added to the culture of suspicion that has permeated the hollowed-out West Wing.

Aides said there were two camps at the White House: those who have already accepted the outcome and those who are still working through it and pushing Trump to keep fighting. Staffers don’t know in which camp their officemates reside and those who are looking ahead to new work are fearful of being branded as disloyal.

The Trump campaign has claimed there has been a widespread, multi-state conspiracy by Democrats to skew the vote tally in Biden’s favor, without hard evidence to back it up. There would need to be proof of illegally cast votes or improperly counted ballots on a massive, organized scale in order to throw out enough ballots to overcome Biden’s sizable lead across multiple states. And that just hasn’t emerged. In fact, election officials from both political parties have publicly stated the election went well.

But in every election, there are problems: voting machines break, long lines force some people away, ballots are miscast and lost. And 2020 has been no exception.

The Latest | Jury selection in Trump's hush money trial shifts to picking alternates

2024-04-19 23:56 Last Updated At：04-20 00:00

NEW YORK (AP) — Lawyers in former President Donald Trump 's hush money case shifted their attention Friday to picking alternates as jury selection resumed for a fourth day. The proceedings began again with the questionnaire phase of jury selection and 22 possible jurors were brought in. As many as five alternate jurors must be picked.

Thursday's proceedings demonstrated unpredictability in the selection process, with two jurors who had been seated a day earlier being dismissed from the panel. A total of 12 jurors and one alternate were ultimately sworn in.

The judge has suggested that opening statements could begin as early as Monday, before prosecutors begin laying out their case alleging a scheme to cover up negative stories Trump feared would hurt his 2016 presidential campaign.

The hush money case is the first of Trump’s four indictments to reach trial.

At the heart of the allegations is a $130,000 payment made to porn actor Stormy Daniels by Michael Cohen, Trump’s former lawyer and personal fixer, to prevent her claims of a sexual encounter with Trump from becoming public in the final days of the 2016 race.

Prosecutors say Trump obscured the true nature of such payments in internal business documents. Trump has said none of the alleged sexual encounters occurred. He has pleaded not guilty to 34 felony counts of falsifying business records.

Currently:

— The hush money case is just one of Trump's legal cases. See the others here

— Judge in Trump case orders media not to report where potential jurors work

— Social media searches play central role in jury selection for Trump’s trial

— Only 1 in 3 US adults think Trump acted illegally in New York hush money case, AP-NORC poll shows

Here's the latest:

New York is the most populous city in the U.S., but Donald Trump's hush money trial has shown that it can also feel a lot like a small town.

One prospective juror said she had connections to not one but two people who’ve been in Trump’s orbit: the former president’s ex-lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen and former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, who backed Trump in 2020 but later ran against him.

The woman disclosed that she works at the same company as a Cohen relative — though they’ve never crossed paths — and that someone in her family is friends with Christie. Despite that, she assured the court that she could be fair and impartial.

The latest questionnaire round in jury selection in Donald Trump's hush money trial began Friday with a prospective juror saying she has anxiety and isn’t sure she can serve. She said that she takes medication for the condition and that as more days pass, “I don’t think I will be able to be completely fair” and focused on the trial.

Judge Juan M. Merchan excused her.

Because 22 jurors are being questioned, Merchan granted a prosecutor’s request for five extra minutes of questioning. Instead of 20 minutes, prosecutors will have 25 questions to inquire of the group.

Another potential juror, a woman with adult children, said she doesn't believe in watching the news. She added that her husband sends her news that seems important and that she has no strong opinions on Trump.

As potential jurors ran through the questionnaire, Trump appeared to lean over at the defense table, scribbling on some papers and occasionally exchanging notes with his lawyers.

But when another potential juror mentioned that he follows the White House Instagram account, including when Trump was in office, the former president looked up and toward the jury box.

Donald Trump shuffled through papers at the defense table Friday morning after walking into Manhattan court for the fourth day of jury selection in his hush money trial.

He turned stoic and stern as news photographers came in to snap pictures of him, as is the daily custom before court resumes.

Twenty-two possible jurors are being brought in as jury selection is set to resume. As many as five alternate jurors must be selected before jury selection is over. One alternate was already sworn in at the end of the day Thursday.

Donald Trump lost a bid Thursday to pause a string of lawsuits accusing him of inciting the U.S. Capitol attack, while the former president fights his 2020 election interference criminal case in Washington.

U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta in Washington denied defense lawyers’ request to put the civil cases seeking to hold Trump responsible for the Jan. 6, 2021, riot on hold while a separate criminal case accusing him of conspiring to overturn his election defeat to President Joe Biden plays out.

The lawsuits brought by Democratic lawmakers and police officers who defended the Capitol on Jan. 6 seek civil damages for harm they say they suffered during the attack, which aimed to stop Congress’ certification of Biden’s victory.

Speaking to reporters inside the lower Manhattan courthouse, former President Donald Trump once again railed against his hush money trial, demanding Judge Juan M. Merchan lift a gag order limiting what he can say publicly about witnesses.

“The gag order has to come off. People are allowed to speak about me and I have a gag order,” he said.

Prosecutors with the Manhattan district attorney’s office are currently looking to fine Trump over violating his gag order after disparaging witnesses in the case on social media. A hearing is set for next week.

Donald Trump raised his right fist as he headed to his motorcade while leaving Trump Tower on Friday.

Soon afterward, the former president arrived at the court in Manhattan where more potential jurors will be questioned in his hush money case.

A third panel of potential jurors will be questioned Friday in Donald Trump’s hush money case, drawing jury selection a step closer to completion.

After a jury of 12 New Yorkers was seated Thursday, lawyers were expected to turn their attention to picking remaining alternates who can vow to set aside their personal views and impartially judge the presumptive Republican presidential nominee.

Judge Juan M. Merchan has suggested that opening statements in the criminal trial could begin as early as Monday.

Trump has pleaded not guilty.

The trial will place Trump in a Manhattan courtroom for weeks, forcing him to juggle his dual role as criminal defendant and political candidate against the backdrop of his hotly contested race against President Joe Biden.

Jury selection in Donald Trump's hush money case proceeded at a plodding pace Thursday when two of the initial seven seated jurors were dismissed.

But late in the day, lawyers settled on the remaining seven in quick succession, along with one alternate. Judge Juan M. Merchan has said his goal is to have five additional alternates.

Even with the roster of 12 jurors set, it’s still possible that the lineup may change as proceedings continue Friday.

Judge Juan M. Merchan was expected to hold a hearing Friday to consider a request from prosecutors to bring up Donald Trump’s prior legal entanglements if he takes the stand in the hush money case.

Manhattan prosecutors have said they want to question Trump about his recent civil fraud trial that resulted in a $454 million judgment after a judge found Trump had lied about his wealth for years. He is appealing that verdict.

Trump says he did nothing wrong and has cast himself as the victim of a politically motivated justice system bent on keeping him out of the White House. He has lashed out on social media about the judge, prosecutors and potential witnesses, prompting the district attorneys to seek sanctions for possible violations of a gag order in the criminal case.

After Thursday’s court proceedings, Trump complained to reporters that he should have been out campaigning but was in court instead for what he said was a “very unfair trial.”

“Everybody’s outraged by it,” he said. “You know the whole world’s watching this New York scam.”

Refusing to concede, Trump blocks cooperation on transition

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Refusing to concede, Trump blocks cooperation on transition

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