Don Jr tests positive, as his father dodges media questions

Georgia secretary of state calls out GOP ‘emotional abuse’

Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger accused Republicans of emotionally abusing the American public with their misinformation about voter fraud.

“There’s just people who are really angry and they’re being spun up,” Mr Raffensperger told The Hill. “It’s really the spinners that should be ashamed for playing with people’s emotions. Politicians of both sides should never play with people’s emotions. It’s one thing to motivate people, I get that. But to spin people up and play with their emotions, it’s emotional abuse and they ought to grow up and start acting with integrity.”

'Sad to watch’

Pennsylvania's attorney general said that Rudy Giuliani's court performance on Tuesday - his first time arguing before a judge in almost 30 years - was "sad to watch", as Donald Trump's desperate attempts to argue voter fraud appeared to reach a crescendo.

Mr Giuliani, 76, came out of court retirement to argue before Judge Matthew Brann in Williamsport that two voters living in Republican counties were not given the same chance as those in Democrat counties to fix errors on their mail-in ballots.

Senate Republicans push back on Trump firing of Krebs

In a rare break with Donald Trump, several Senate Republicans have offered support for cyber security chief Chris Krebs, with some openly criticising the president’s decision to fire him, according to The Hill.

Senator John Cornyn of Texas said that the decision is the president’s prerogative, but felt it adds to the “confusion and chaos”.

Mike Rounds, senator for South Dakota, said that the president should be proud of the work on election security in which Mr Krebs had played a major role and that he was “disappointed” about his termination.

Rob Portman, senator for Ohio, was full of praise for Mr Krebs during an interview with CNN, saying that he thought he was “very good” and his work was “unprecedented”.

Senator Susan Collins of Maine said it was a “terrible mistake" by the president.

Shelley Moore Capito, senator for West Virginia, described Mr Krebs as very professional and that he had kept them very well informed. Of the firing, she said: “I don’t agree with it."

Similarly, Senator Ben Sasse of Nebraska said that Mr Krebs “obviously should not have been fired.”

Biden worries about massive first responder layoffs as states struggle with budgets

President-elect Joe Biden warned local governments soon could be forced to lay off massive numbers of emergency personnel, including firefighters, because governments at that level must balance their budgets each year but are strapped due to the coronavirus.

“I’m worried,” the incoming chief executive said on Wednesday. “The question’s going to be: when do we have to start laying off?”

“They can’t deficit spend,” he said of local governments.

House and Senate Democrats have pushed for millions in aid to help state and local governments, but have made no headway in months-old talks with Republicans and the Trump White House about a new coronavirus relief bill.

The Independent’s Washington Bureau Chief John T Bennett reports.

Lindsay Graham under fire for interference in state’s tight election results

Graeme Massie reports on the growing backlash to the South Carolina senator’s phone call to the Georgia secretary of state.

Trump digs deep and retweets himself from 2012

Keen observers of Trumpworld often like to say “there’s always a tweet”, meaning that as such an obsessive Twitter user, whatever Donald Trump does, there is usually a tweet where in the past he criticised someone else (usually Barack Obama) for doing the same thing.

This afternoon he dug out one of his old tweets from 2012 in which he claimed there were reports of votes for Mitt Romney being switched to Barack Obama, thereby highlighting that he has a history of baseless allegations of voter fraud.

Here’s a report from 2012 showing exactly the opposite happening.

Trump Pentagon appointee: Removing troops from Afghanistan and Iraq is ‘fraught with risk’

Donald Trump’s formal reduction of troops in Iraq and Afghanistan before the next presidential administration is “fraught with risk”, according to the newly-installed Pentagon chief.

Acting Secretary of Defence Christopher C Miller said the US would not hesitate to strike back if malign actors undermined the recently-announced withdrawal to 2,500 troops in each country by 15 January 2021.  

Trump legal adviser called him an ‘idiot’ and said arguments for supporting him were 'blatantly stupid’

Trump campaign legal adviser Jenna Ellis was not always such a fan according to reporting by CNN’s KFILE.

An investigation of her social media posts and radio appearances from 2016 brought up a trove of statements in which she slammed the then presidential candidate.

Ms Ellis called him an “idiot”, “boorish and arrogant”, a “bully", not a ”real Christian", and called his comments about women “disgusting”.

She also called him an “American fascist”, said his values were “not American”, that he was “unholy”, “abusive”, "treacherous" and that he was out “to destroy American democracy”.

His supporters she attacked for not caring that he was an “unethical, corrupt, lying, criminal, dirtbag", and said they do not care about the truth, or facts or logic.

The arguments for supporting Donald Trump she called “ridiculously illogical, inconsistent, and blatantly stupid”.

In a statement to CNN on Wednesday, Ms Ellis said: “I am glad to have learned that I was completely wrong about Trump back then and I've said that over and over publicly, as I saw him keeping his promises, and then eventually getting to know him personally.”

She added: “I appreciate KFILE showing clearly through past statements that I think for myself, and that my mind was changed based on fact and personal knowledge.”

Biden should launch sweeping criminal probe into Trump administration, House Democrat says

At least one Democratic lawmaker is calling for the Justice Department to open up a sweeping criminal investigation once Joe Biden is in office into Donald Trump and people who worked in his administration.

New Jersey Congressman Bill Pascrell Jr, a member of the House Ways and Means Committee that has been attempting to probe Mr Trump’s finances for the last two years, accused the outgoing president of “treason” in a lengthy statement that also called for his and his “enablers’” potential prosecution.

“Donald Trump and members of his administration have committed innumerable crimes against the United States,” the congressman said in his statement this week.

“He has endangered our national security. He ripped families apart. He poisoned the Census. He has personally profited from his office. He has attacked our elections and sought to throttle democracy. He was rightly impeached by the House of Representatives. He has engaged in treachery, in treason. He has all but given up on governing and protecting our nation and if he had a shred of dignity he would resign today,” Mr Pascrell said.

Griffin Connolly reports.

Senate expected to recess tonight for Thanksgiving

The Senate is expected to recess tonight until after the Thanksgiving holiday, likely returning the week of 30 November.

There has been no progress on a Covid-19 relief deal and a potential government shutdown looms on 11 December.

White House chief of staff Mark Meadows said he couldn’t guarantee the government could avert a shutdown.