The Washington Post - USA (2020-11-13)

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 13 , 2020 .THEWASHINGTON POST EZ M2 A

BYSEUNGMINKIM,

JOSHDAWSEY,

MATTVISER

ANDJONSWAINE

wilmington, del. —President-
electJoe Biden began seeing more
support, if indirectly,fromRepub-
licans onThursdayassenior GOP
lawmakers called for him to re-
ceive classified briefingseven as
theTrump administration contin-
ued to baraformal transition.
Trump officials prolonged that
blockadeeven though in private
top campaign aides were candidly
tellingPresidentTrump thathis
prospects of winning reelection
were an uphill battle, according to
sources close to the discussions
who spokeonthecondition of
anonymitytoreflectprivatecon-
versations.Hiscampaign, mean-
time, was scrambling to form a
coherent legalstrategy.
Late Thursday, Biden was pro-
jected as the winner in Arizona,
becoming the firstDemocratic
nominee to win thestatesince
1996.TheEdisonResearch pro-
jection gives Biden 290 electoral
votes to 217forTrump. Biden’s
projected win in Arizona marks
the fourthstateheflippedfrom
Trump’s cache in 2016.
Ta kentogether,those elements
underscoredarealitythatBiden
hasaccepted but one thatTrump
andkeyRepublican officials ha-
ven’t:Thecurrent president is
unlikely to overturn enough bal-
lots inkeystates to undermine
Biden’s presidential win.
Sen. Susan Collins (Maine), a
moderateRepublican who won a
tough reelection bid lastweek,
said Biden needstobebriefed on
classified intelligence—calling
thatprocess the “mostimportant
partofthetransition”and one
thatcan takeplaceeven asTrump
contests the results in court.
“Likeanyapparent winner,he
should have access to office space,
federal employees, materials, sup-
plies, whatever,but thestandard
assistance thatthe apparent win-
ner receives,”Collins told report-
ers onThursday. “Thatdoesn’t in
anyway precludePresident
Trump from pursuing his legal
remedies if he believes there are
irregularities,but it should not
delaythetransition, because we
want the president-elect—as-
suming he prevails —tobeready
on dayone.”
Theacknowledgments came as
Biden and his team continued to
map out his transition, despite the
lack of official certification from
theGeneral Services Administra-
tion thatwould unlockthe re-
sources and access to the federal
government thatBidenand his
team will need to fully prepare for
taking office onJan. 20.
Biden also spokewithHouse
SpeakerNancyPelosi (D-Calif.)
and Senate MinorityLeader
Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.)in
theirfirstsubstantive conversa-
tion since Biden was declared
president-elect, with the trio
stressing the need to haveacoro-
navirus reliefpackagesignedinto
lawbythe endofthe year.
Theconversationeffectively in-
serted Biden asacentralfigure in
the talks, whileTrump continued
to stay out of sight andaway from

governing.The three Democrats

coalesced behindaunified posi-

tion, in particular advocating for

stateand local aid—amainstick-

ing point between Democratsand

Republicans.

Biden held another notable

conversation onThursdaywith

PopeFrancis, according to the

transition team. Biden, who will

become only the second Catholic

to assume theU.S. presidency,

expressedadesire to work togeth-

er on issues including poverty,

climate changeand immigration.

Thepresident-electonThurs-

dayalso traveled to Rehoboth

Beach, Del., where he hasavaca-

tion home and where he isexpect-

ed tostaythrough part of the

weekend. Biden, who onWednes-

daynamedWashington veteran

RonaldA. Klain as his incoming

WhiteHouse chiefofstaff, is not

expected to formally announce

other administration personnel

this week.

But behind-the-scenes conver-

sations between CapitolHill and

the transition team continued to

occur,and Biden’s team has also

tappedacoterie of seniorHouse

and Senate Democratic officials to

serve as liaisons toHill offices

until Biden officially assumes the

presidency,according to congres-

sional aides.

An informal sketch of Biden’s

orbit continued to takeshape,

with Steve Ricchetti, who served

as chiefofstafffor Biden during

his vice presidency, expected to

assumeasenior adviser role and

TedKaufman, who temporarily

succeededBideninthe Senate

when he was elevated to the vice

presidency,becoming the head of

akitchen cabinetofsorts on

whichBiden will rely,according

to aperson familiar with the

structure.Mike Donilon, another

veteran Biden hand, is alsoex-

pected to beasenior adviser to the

president-elect.

One intriguing name being dis-

cussed privately is former Demo-

cratic presidential nomineeHil-

laryClinton as theU.S. ambassa-

dor to theUnitedNations, accord-

ing to the person familiar with the

chatter who spokeonthecondi-

tion of anonymity. Thethinking

behind the move was thatitwould

beaway for Biden to highlight the

importance of thatposition in his

administration and thatplacing

her there wouldraise the prestige

of theU.N.itselfat atime when

global cooperation, and theU.S.

role on the worldstage, has ebbed.

Another name emerging as a

potentialCabinetpick is Rep.

Cheri Bustos (D-Ill.), the chair-

woman of theHouse Democrats’

campaign arm who oversawthe

party’s loss ofHouse seats in the

2020 elections. She has signaled

interestinleading the Agriculture

Department.Aspokeswoman for

Bustos said,“With votesstill be-

ing counted across America, Con-

gresswoman Bustos remains fo-

cused on the taskathand and

making sure front-line members

in uncalledraces have the support

theyneed.”

Meanwhile, the outlookat the

WhiteHouse continued to remain

tense.

Some aides were looking for

jobs, and manywere quarantin-

ing oreven sickened by the fresh

coronavirusoutbreakwithin the

WhiteHouse.Fewwere continu-

ing tofight forTrump’s reelection.

“A lot of peoplearen’t here,”one

administration official in the

West Wing said on Thursday.

Trump remained sequestered

Thursday, markingaweek since

he has spoken in public view.

At his campaign headquarters,

manystaffers wereexpected to be

laid offinthecoming days,two

officials said, with some aides be-

ing notified onThursday.Officials

were also supposed to briefsurro-

gates on legalstrategyThursday

afternoon but postponed the call

twice,aperson familiar with the

planning said.

Later,ina12-minute call, cam-

paign officials said theybelieved

Trump couldstill win therace.

Tim Murtaugh, the campaign

spokesman, asked donors and

surrogates“forpatience”and said

it would takesome time.

“There is notgoing to beasilver

bullet,” he said.Murtaugh spent

much of his time criticizing the

news media, according to an au-

dio recording of the call.

“The campaigncontinues to

firmly believe thatthiselection is

not over,” Murtaugh said.

Justin Clark, the deputycam-

paign manager overseeingthele-

galefforts, told listeners that

“you’regoing to seealot of things

happen,”withoutoffering much

in the wayofspecifics.Clark asked

for people to send to the campaign

for investigation things theysee

onTwitter or on other websites.

Privately,White Housesenior

adviserJaredKushner,thepresi-

dent’s son-in-law, continued to

tell allies thatTrump is “realistic”

about his chances but wants to

continue thefight,aperson who

has spoken to him said. Campaign

manager Bill Stepien and other

top campaign aides have also

briefed Trump on his chances,

casting them as uphill and telling

Trump it is unlikely he will win.

ButTrump does not want to

pull out of thefight until the votes

are certified inkeystates,which

won’t be until lateNovember or

early December.His campaign

filedfive newlawsuits inPennsyl-

vania in anattempt to block 8,

ballots in Philadelphia from being

counted—complaints thatcen-

tered on mail-in ballots thatcity

officials decided to acceptdespite

administrative errorsmade by

voters.

Biden has been declared the

winner ofPennsylvania by multi-

ple media outlets,and he leads

Trump in thestatebymore than

53,000 votes. Kevin Feeley, a

spokesman for the Philadelphia

citycommissioners, said on

Thursdaythatthedisputedbal-

lots had not yetbeen added to the

public vote totals.

TheTrumpcampaignraninto

resistance elsewhere in the courts

in Pennsylvania, as three former

Republican members of Congress

and several veterans of GOP ad-

ministrations joinedtheopposi-

tion to aneffortbyTrump to use

the federal courts to block certifi-

cation of thestate’selection re-

sults.

Trump alleged inalawsuit that

hundreds of thousands of votes in

Democratic Philadelphia and

Pittsburgh are invalid because his

campaign was not able to watch

them being counted, which elec-

tion officials deny.

Agroup includingformer con-

gressmenCharlie Dent andJim

Greenwood (R-Pa.)and former

congresswoman ConnieMorella

(R-Md.), along with formerNew

JerseygovernorChristineTodd

Whitman and former deputyat-

torneygeneral DonaldAyer,filed

abrief onThursdayaskingJudge

MatthewW.Brann to leave the

dispute to thePennsylvaniastate

courts, which are considering a

lawsuitfromTrump on the same

issue.

Another onetime Republican

leader,former senator Saxby

Chambliss (R-Ga.), whose state

has also becomeabattleground

over ballots that Republicans

have contested, toldTheWash-

ingtonPost in an interviewthat

“there was no wholesale fraudu-

lent scheme.”

OfGeorgia, where Biden leads

by roughly 14,000 votes and

whereahand recount is under-

way, Chambliss, who retiredat the

end of 2014,said: “I am on the

ground andIheard nothingabout

anykind of harvesting of ballots

or fraudulenttransactions.Sure,

there are going to be isolated

situations but not onawholesale

basis.”

Other GOPfigures went further

in actively identifying Biden as

the rightful winner.Republican

Gov. Mike DeWine of Ohio, whose

stateTrump won by eight points,

said on CNN onThursdaythathe

sees Biden as the president-elect

evenasTrump has“everyright”to

legally contestthe results.

“Our courts are the bestplace,

frankly,toadjudicatefacts,”DeW-

ine said.

But because ofTrump and his

team’s publicdefiance, many

elected Republican officials have

declined toeven call Biden the

president-elect.Even some GOP

lawmakers who said Biden should

be briefed were careful to distin-

guish between thetype of intelli-

gence Biden received as the Dem-

ocratic nominee and the full-

blownpresidential daily briefing,

which Biden would usually have

access to as the president-elect.

“Weshould be in the same pos-

ture thatweran throughoutthe

whole campaign, both of them

receiving briefings, as they’re

both trying to be able to prepare

and then allow the process to be

able togo through right now,” said

Sen.JamesLankford (R-Okla.), a

member of theIntelligence Com-

mittee.

Still, the consensus among Sen-

ateRepublicans onThursdaywas

thatBiden should be privy to the

nation’s classified secrets.

“I see no problem”withBiden

getting briefings, said Sen.

Charles E. Grassley(Iowa), the

mostsenior Republican in the

Senate.

“I think so, yes,”Sen. LindseyO.

Graham (R-S.C.), an ardent

Trump ally,responded when

asked whether Biden should be

receiving classified briefings.

“Whether he actuallygets the

productitself,Ithink the informa-

tion needs to be communicatedin

some way,”said Sen.John Cornyn

(R-Te x.), anothermemberofthe

Intelligence Committee. “If in fact

he does win in the end,Ithink

theyneed to be able to hit the

ground running.”

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AmyGardner,JohnWagne r, Mike

DeBonis andFelicia Sonmez

contributedtothisreport.

Senior GOP lawmakers say Biden should get briefings

DEMETRIUS FREEMAN/THE WASHINGTON POST

President-electJoeBiden,seenreflectedinamirror ,speaksinWilmington,Del.,onTuesday.Ass eniorRepublicanlawmakers

acknowledgedthatBidenshouldreceiveintelligencebriefings,thepresident-electandhi steamhavecontinuedtomapouthistransition.

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