Lights go out in Georgia (again) on Trump's fight to reverse Biden win

Trump still the runner-up

The third time was not the charm for President Donald Trump. After a count, and a recount and another recount, Georgia officials reconfirmed that President-elect Joe Biden won the state and recertified the results, rejecting — as has every judge who looked at the non-evidence — baseless allegations that fraud tipped the outcome.

"We have now counted legally cast ballots three times, and the results remain unchanged," Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said Monday during a news conference. Trump has ripped into Raffensperger, Gov. Brian Kemp and Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan — all Republicans — for not intervening on his behalf to keep the state's electors from Biden, an act the officials say would be unwarranted and unlawful. State Attorney General Chris Carr, also a Republican, agreed. "There is no applicable legal avenue for replacing the choice of electors after the election," Carr tweeted.

In the same spirit on Monday, U.S. District Judge Timothy Batten in Georgia tossed out a lawsuit by far-right pro-Trump lawyer Sidney Powell. The plaintiffs "want this court to substitute its judgment for that of 2 and a half million Georgia voters who voted for Joe Biden and this I am unwilling to do," Batten said.

Judicial exasperation trended elsewhere. In Michigan, U.S. District Judge Linda Parker said the allegations of fraud advanced by Powell were based on "nothing but speculation and conjecture" and an attempt to "ignore the will of millions of voters. This the Court cannot, and will not, do. The people have spoken."

In Pennsylvania, a postal contractor's reputed claim — spotlighted by Trump and Fox News' Sean Hannity — of driving a truck with 200,000 filled-in ballots from New York wilted when the worker was questioned. Jesse Morgan said it could have been 250 or 7,500 — "I suck at guessing" — and his vague suspicions about his cargo were fanned by a conversation with his mom. Morgan had a previous brush with social-media fame with videos about his family getting stalked cross-country by ghosts.

Trump keeps pressing on. The Washington Post reports that he called the speaker of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives twice during the past week to make an extraordinary request for help reversing his loss in the Keystone State. It's the third state where Trump has directly attempted to subvert the 2020 election result. State House Speaker Bryan Cutler told the president that the legislature had no power to overturn the state’s chosen slate of electors, Cutler's spokesman said. But late last week, Cutler was among about 60 Republican state lawmakers who sent a letter to Pennsylvania’s congressional representatives, urging them to object to the state’s electoral slate on Jan. 6, when Congress is set to formally accept the results.

That's the date that dead-enders among Trump's staunchest defenders in the House are eyeing for a last stand, CNN reported. Asked if Trump should concede next Monday when the Electoral College casts its votes, Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio said bluntly: "No. No way, no way, no way." Many top congressional Republicans, including leaders of the Senate, believe the presidential election will be over next week, with Biden affirmed as the winner, the network said.

Operation Warp Speed Bump

The Trump administration over the summer declined an offer from Pfizer for a larger pre-order the coronavirus vaccine it was developing, according to The New York Times and ABC News.

Now the pharmaceutical company may not be able to provide more of its vaccine to the United States than the initial order of 100 million doses — enough for only 50 million Americans — until next June because of its commitments to other countries, people familiar the matter told the news organizations.

Trump planned on Tuesday to sign an executive order "to ensure that United States government prioritizes getting the vaccine to American citizens before sending it to other nations," according to a draft statement. But it was not immediately clear what force the president’s executive order would carry because the bulk of the global supply has been claimed, the Times said. A spokeswoman for the Department of Health and Human Services said there are five other vaccine candidates. Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine is on track to receive the first U.S. authorization for emergency use.

Meanwhile, Pfizer and Moderna have declined invitations to Trump's celebratory vaccine summit event Tuesday, according to the health news website Stat. Drug industry figures view the event as largely a public relations stunt, Stat reported.

Reports: Biden's Defense pick set

Lloyd Austin, a retired four-star Army general, will be Biden's choice for defense secretary, Politico and CNN reported, citing three people with knowledge of the discussions as sources.

If confirmed by the Senate, Austin, who formerly led the U.S. Central Command, would become the first Black Pentagon chief. Biden has been under growing pressure to nominate a Black person to the job.

Biden's transition team said the president-elect will officially announce his Pentagon pick and other members of his economic and domestic Cabinet before the end of this week. Among the high-profile posts still to be filled is attorney general.

Bloomberg News reported Monday that former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack has emerged as a leading candidate for agriculture secretary, a job he had for eight years under Barack Obama.

Meanwhile, The Washington Post reported that members of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus met virtually with some of Biden’s transition team Monday to express concern that there will be insufficient Asian American representation in top-tier spots in the incoming administration.

Janison: An orange Trump-suit?

Trump never got to "lock her up" — meaning Hillary Clinton — or any of the other foes he wanted put in front of an anti-Democratic inquisition. Now on his way out, there are questions on whether any of his actions merit criminal charges once his presidential immunity is gone, writes Newsday's Dan Janison.

Andrew Weissmann, a senior prosecutor in the Mueller investigation, argued in a recent commentary that "the next attorney general should investigate Mr. Trump and, if warranted, prosecute him for potential federal crimes." Weissman said there was "ample evidence" that Trump obstructed justice in the Russia inquiry.

As president-elect, Biden hasn't encouraged a "lock-him-up" position, but he hasn't ruled out the possibility that a Justice Department operating with restored independence could go down that road.

Trump has been talking about a preemptive pardon for himself, and for members of his family and inner circle, before he loses presidential privileges on Jan. 20. The tacit admission — that crimes may have been committed — such pardons might entail might not worry him. At no point in his presidency, or even before it, has Trump expressed a typical citizen's confidence that the U.S. judiciary is basically on the level.

But he can't pardon himself out of jeopardy from an investigation by Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance's office into whether he misled tax authorities, banks or business partners.

Giuliani's cloud lingers

Rudy Giuliani's #stopthesteal tour last week moved battleground-state lawmakers to action after all. They are canceling legislative sessions scheduled for this week and scrambling to get tested after precaution-flouting Trump election lawyer was hospitalized with the coronavirus.

The Michigan House announced it had canceled its voting session scheduled for Tuesday. "Multiple representatives have requested time to receive results from recent COVID-19 tests before returning to session, out of an abundance of caution," said state House Speaker Lee Chatfield. Arizona's legislature is taking the whole week off.

A statement from the Trump legal team tried to play down the chances that Giuliani was spreading the virus while agitating for legislators to reject election results. A county health official for Lansing, Michigan's capital, said it's "extremely likely" Giuliani was contagious when he testified there before a legislative committee Wednesday.

Giuliani's diagnosis was revealed "only days after being in a confined conference room in Lansing for several hours without a mask," said Ingham County Health Officer Linda Vail. "Adding to my concern is that many attendees were also unmasked. This is the highest level of risk."

While he didn't go to the hospital until Sunday, a person in contact with the 76-year-old former New York City mayor said he began feeling ill late in the past week, The New York Times reported.

Trump said he spoke to Giuliani on Monday, and "he’s doing very well. No temperature." Left unexplained was what was serious enough about his condition to require admission to Georgetown University Medical Center in Washington.

Moderates seek common ground on COVID relief

A bipartisan House group that includes Rep. Thomas Suozzi (D-Glen Cove) says its effort to find a coronavirus relief compromise laid the groundwork for a Senate version now getting pushed by moderate Democrats and Republicans in the Senate.

"This model of how we're working together, to me, is exactly the model to get things done in the next Congress," said Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.), co-chair of the Problem Solvers Caucus with Rep. Tom Reed (R-Corning), at a news conference Thursday. Suozzi, a vice chairman, said, "We need people to look beyond their partisan self-interest and look for what the country needs."

But it's still not clear whether the $908 billion coronavirus measure will attract enough support to get it over the top.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has not mentioned or embraced the bill, which includes funding for businesses and liability immunity for employers that he backs — but also money for state and local governments, a provision McConnell opposes.

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) on Friday said he opposed the compromise bill because it doesn't include direct payments to working-class people and includes immunity for employers from COVID-19 liability lawsuits. For more, see Tom Brune's story for Newsday.

More coronavirus news

See a roundup of the latest regional pandemic developments from Long Island and beyond by Newsday's reporting staff, written by Bart Jones. For a full list of Newsday's coronavirus stories, click here.

What else is happening:

• It's not clear that the White House is going to be in move-in condition for the Bidens on Jan. 20. There have been so many coronavirus infections in the complex that a deep cleaning should be called for, USA Today reports. But neither the White House nor the General Services Administration, which manages federal facilities, would say what precautions, if any, would be taken to make sure the presidential mansion is virus-free.
• Melania Trump announced the completion of a new tennis pavilion at the White House, months after she faced backlash for highlighting the project during the outset of the pandemic. "It is my hope that this private space will function as both a place of leisure and gathering for future First Families," a statement from the first lady said.
• The Trump administration declined to tighten controls on industrial soot emissions, disregarding an emerging scientific link between dirty air and COVID-19 death rates, The New York Times reported. The Environmental Protection Agency’s staff scientists had recommended tightening the current emissions rule.
• Armed pro-Trump protesters gathered Saturday outside the home of Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson as she was about to watch "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" with her 4-year-old son. Benson said they were "shouting obscenities and chanting into bullhorns in the dark of night."
• A new Gallup Poll has found that Biden as president-elect is already more popular among Americans, with 55% favorabilty, than Trump has been at any point during or immediately before his presidency, Business Insider reported.