Networks call Georgia for Biden as security officials say vote was ‘secure’

Trump campaign celebrates news of a Georgia recount

Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger announced on Wednesday that the battleground state would hand count its votes during a recount to ensure voters have confidence in the election results. 

This decision, which was pushed by the Trump campaign, was celebrated among the president’s staff. 

“What we’re talking about today is a major announcement in the state of Georgia by the Secretary of State today, by announcing a hand recount of every single vote. This has never been done in Georgia before. This is an important first step in the process to ensure that the election was fair and that every legal vote was counted,” said Tim Murtaugh, Trump campaign communications director. 

Donald Trump is behind Joe Biden by more than 14,000 votes. It is unlikely that the recount will flip the state from blue to red, but the Trump campaign still is pushing for a recount. 

The recount, which should be done by 20 November, could delay when the state certifies its results. 

John Bolton condemns GOP for ‘coddling’ Trump in searing op-ed: ‘His time is running out’

President Donald Trump’s ex-national security adviser released a scathing Op-Ed condemning him for “frustrating” President-elect Joe Biden’s transitions and launching “frivolous” attacks on the electoral process.

“Any aggrieved candidate must at some point produce valid legal arguments and persuasive evidence,” John Bolton wrote in his latest piece for Washington Post. “Trump has so far failed to do so, and there is no indication he can.”

Chris Riotta has the story: 

Trump’s ‘patriot’ postal worker flip-flops on electoral fraud story – but his story doesn’t even matter

A postal worker in Pennsylvania who was described by Donald Trump as a "brave patriot” for alleging fraud in mail-in ballots admitted to investigators that he had made the whole thing up, then claimed he was forced to recant - and his accusations do not affect the election anyway, Harriet Alexander writes.

Pennsylvania’s chief election officer announced on Tuesday that around 10,000 ballots were received between the close of polls on Election Day and the evening of 6 November — a number far too small to undermine President-elect Joe Biden’s margin of victory in a critical battleground state.

Mr Biden leads by more than 47,000 votes, as the state continues to count ballots.

Are we really going to have a civil war to protect Donald Trump’s hurt feelings?

Stephen Lyons with his take for The Independent: 

Pompeo to visit countries with leaders who recognise President-elect Biden

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will head to France, Turkey, Georgia, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia starting on Friday. 

The trip comes as Mr Pompeo has yet to acknowledge that Joe Biden was the projected winner of the US election. 

During a press conference with reporters on Tuesday, Mr Pompeo said there will be a “smooth transition to second Trump administration”. He later walked back portions of that statement on Fox News. 

All seven leaders of the countries Mr Pompeo will visit have acknowledged and congratulated the president-elect, even though President Donald Trump has yet to concede. 

Mr Pompeo has faced backlash for refusing to accept the election results given that his office has previously slammed other countries for not accepting their own democratic processes. 

The interactions with world leaders might be awkward with Mr Pompeo, and he was asked on Tuesday how he would address each leader given they have all offered up congratulations to President-elect Biden. 

“We’re reminding everyone that all the votes haven’t been counted. We need to make sure the legal process is fully complied with, and that America will do what it does best,” Mr Pompeo said on Fox News. 

Trump hits out at Republican election official whose work on tackling fraud his campaign previously praised

The Philadelphia election official accused by Donald Trump of having “refused to look at a mountain of corruption and dishonesty” was previously praised by Republicans for his work rooting out voter fraud.

Al Schmidt, the only Republican among Philadelphia’s three city commissioners, who run elections, on Wednesday morning described the vote as being “the most transparent and secure election in the history of Philadelphia”.

He said there had been no credible allegations of voter fraud at all — his team even checked a list circulating on Twitter of dead people who were supposed to have voted — and said he was dismayed by the deluge of baseless accusations.

Harriet Alexander has the story: 

Facebook extends ban on US political ads and refuses to call Biden winner in email to advertisers

Facebook has extended its ban on US political adverts for another month as it refused to call Joe Biden the winner in an email to advertisers.

The social media giant said it was continuing its ban to prevent misinformation as Donald Trump refused to concede the election to Mr Biden, despite his victory.

“While multiple sources have projected a presidential winner, we still believe it’s important to help prevent confusion or abuse on our platform,” the company wrote in an email to its advertisers, according to Reuters.

Graeme Massie has the story: 

White House ‘requesting names of those who clapped out departing Pentagon official’

The White House has reportedly demanded a list of names of people who clapped as a departing Pentagon official left the building, having resigned after his boss was fired by Donald Trump.

James Anderson, the acting under secretary of defense for policy, was a key advisor to Mark Esper, the defense secretary who Mr Trump announced via tweet on Monday had been “terminated”.

Mr Anderson, a former marine who taught at the Marine Corps War College before joining the Department of Defense, resigned on Tuesday

Harriet Alexander reports: 

Biden’s lead in Pennsylvania grows to more than 50K votes

Ballots are still being counted in Pennsylvania, and Joe Biden’s lead has only grown since Election Day last week. 

He now holds a lead of 50,215 votes over Donald Trump, which is bad news for the sitting president. 

Pennsylvania was the battleground state to put Mr Biden over the 270 Electoral College votes he needed to take the White House. The Associated Press and other news organisations projected Mr Biden would win the state’s 20 electoral votes on Saturday as more absentee ballot results came in, thus projecting the candidate as the next president of the United States. 

This hasn’t stopped the Trump campaign from claiming there was voter fraud in the state. But the campaign has yet to provide sufficient prove to overturn the wide lead Mr Biden now holds in Pennsylvania. 

The state automatically recounts its votes if the margin between two candidates is less than 0.5 per cent, but Mr Biden’s lead is above the recount territory at 0.7 per cent. 

Greta Thunberg launches veiled attack on Trump for not conceding election to Joe Biden

Greta Thunberg has launched thinly-veiled criticism of Donald Trump’s failure to concede the presidential election to Joe Biden.

Mr Biden was declared the winner on Saturday after his home state of Pennsylvania, with 20 Electoral College votes, pushed him past the 270-mark needed to win.

But Mr Trump has refused to concede that he has lost and continues to frantically post to Twitter, including in all-caps, alleging “BALLOT COUNTING ABUSE!” and “WE WILL WIN!”

The climate activist tweeted on Wednesday: "It becomes clearer and clearer that it doesn’t seem to end with giving up on empathy, equality, facts and science.

“It appears after that follows diminishing or denying democracy itself. A global phenomenon - all for greed and power.”

Louise Boyle reports: