THE WALL STREET JOURNAL. ***** Monday, December 7, 2020 |A
U.S. NEWS
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp
won’t call a special session of
the state’s legislature, rebuff-
ing a request from President
Trump, Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan
said Sunday.
Mr. Trump asked Mr. Kemp
in a phone conversation Satur-
day to call a special session of
the state legislature and to
push lawmakers to appoint
pro-Trump electors who would
swing the Electoral College in
his favor. Mr. Trump repeated
the request at a rally Saturday
night in Georgia, which Mr.
Kemp didn’t attend.
The initial count and a re-
count in Georgia found that
on ABC, “I don’t believe that
there’s the will in the general
assembly for a special session.’’
Mr. Kemp declined the presi-dent’s request during their Sat-
urday phone call, a person famil-
iar with the conversation said.
Later on Sunday, Messrs.Democrat Joe Biden won the
state by about 12,000 votes,
and Georgia’s secretary of state
is expected to certify on Mon-
day that a second recount con-
firmed Mr. Biden’s victory.
There is no evidence of wide-
spread election fraud in Geor-
gia or other states.
“The governor is not going
to call us into a special ses-
sion,” Mr. Duncan, a Republi-
can, said on CNN. “We’re cer-
tainly not going to move the
goal posts at this point in the
election. We are going to con-
tinue to follow the letter of
the law.”
A second Republican elected
official, Georgia Secretary of
State Brad Raffensperger, saidKemp and Duncan issued a
statement rejecting a similar re-
quest by four members of the
Georgia state Senate, saying
that a special session to select a
separate slate of presidential
electors is not allowed under
state or federal law.
“State law is clear: the legis-
lature could only direct an al-
ternative method for choosing
presidential electors if the elec-
tion was not able to be held on
the date set by federal law,”
Messrs. Kemp and Duncan said
in their statement.
“Any attempt by the legisla-
ture to retroactively change that
process for the November 3rd
election would be unconstitu-
tional and immediately enjoinedby the courts,’’ they wrote.
In the CNN interview, Mr.
Duncan said that he voted for
the president but that Mr.
Trump didn’t win Georgia. “I’m
proud that we’re able to look
up after three recounts and
watch and be able to see that
this election was fair,” he said.
The lieutenant governor said
he was encouraged by Mr.
Trump’s endorsement on Satur-
day of Republican Sens. Kelly
Loeffler and David Perdue in
January’s runoff election, but he
was concerned that Mr. Trump
continued to call into question
the state’s election results.
“The mountains of misinfor-
mation are not helping the pro-
cess,” Mr. Duncan said.BYERICMORATH
Georgia Rejects Trump Call to Reverse Result
Giuliani Has Virus
And Is HospitalizedRudy Giuliani, who has been
leading President Trump’s effort
to reverse his election loss, was
admitted to a Washington hos-
pital on Sunday and has tested
positive for Covid-19, a person
familiar with his condition said.
Mr. Giuliani, 76 years old,
was admitted to GeorgetownUniversity Medical Center after
symptoms came on suddenly,
the person said. The severity of
his condition was unclear. Earlier
on Sunday, Mr. Trump had said
on Twitter that Mr. Giuliani had
tested positive for coronavirus.
Mr. Giuliani, the president’s
personal attorney, has been
traveling on behalf of the presi-
dent to election-related hearings
in Pennsylvania and most re-
cently in Michigan.
—Rebecca BallhausU.S. WATCH
FEDERAL AGENCIES
No Wrongdoing
Found in Kodak Loan
A government watchdog
agency found no wrongdoing in
the process that created a now-
halted U.S. loan toEastman
KodakCo. to produce drug ingre-
dients for the Covid-19 response,
according to a copy of the as-
sessment reviewed by The Wall
Street Journal.
The inspector general of the
agency that brokered the deal,
the U.S. International Develop-
ment Finance Corp., provided his
assessment last week to Sen.
Elizabeth Warren (D., Mass.), who
had called for the investigation
after the one-time photo giant
landed a potential $765 million
government loan in July.
The DFC’s inspector general,
Anthony Zakel, said he found no
evidence that employees of the
agency had any conflicts of inter-
est in the plans, nor did he find
“any evidence of misconduct on
the part of DFC officials.”
Under the plan, Kodak would
produce ingredients for some ge-
neric drugs, including hydroxychlo-
roquine, which Mr. Trump has
promoted as a treatment for the
coronavirus. Researchers have
said the drug has no benefit as
an early outpatient treatment.
Under government pressure,
Kodak had rushed out the an-
nouncement before the loan was
finalized, the Journal earlier re-
ported. The company bungled its
release to local media, sending
Kodak’s stock on a roller coaster.
—Rachael Levy
NEW YORK
Bar Owner in Custody
After Deputy Is Hurt
The co-owner of a New York
City bar that authorities said has
been defying coronavirus restric-
tions was taken into custody
Sunday after running over a dep-
uty with a car, authorities said.
Danny Presti tried to drive
away from his bar, Mac’s Public
House on Staten Island, as depu-
ties were arresting him for serv-
ing patrons in violation of city and
state closure orders, Sheriff Jo-
seph Fucito said.
Deputies attempted to arrest
Mr. Presti as he left the bar early
Sunday, but Mr. Presti got into his
car, struck a deputy and kept
driving for about 100 yards as
the deputy was left hanging onto
the hood, Mr. Fucito said.
Mr. Presti, 34 years old, was
eventually stopped, the sheriff said.
Charges against him were pending.
Mark Fonte, an attorney for Mr.
Presti, said he hadn’t yet had an
opportunity to speak to his client.
The injured deputy was taken
to a hospital. His condition wasn’t
available.
—Associated Press
ILLINOIS
Dog, Owner Reunited,
Three Years Later
A whiff of her old blanket was
enough for Lola: The black Lab
was back in her owners’ arms
three years after the Michigan
dog disappeared on a trip to sub-
urban Chicago.
“I feel like I’m in a dream right
now,” Debra Mejeur said Saturday
when she and her husband,
Steve, were reunited with Lola.
Lola vanished from a fenced
yard in 2017 when the Mejeurs,
of Kalamazoo, were visiting a
friend in Elk Grove Village, Ill.
The couple returned for about
a month hoping to find the dog.
DuPage County authorities got
a call last week from a couple in
Glendale Heights who had noticed
Lola the past few years going
into a forest preserve. A micro-
chip revealed Lola’s owners.
Lola wagged her tail when she
smelled her old blanket.
—Associated Press