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

Trump’s ‘slush fund’: Experts say money for legal battle could go to president

A longtime campaign finance attorney has called Donald Trump’s election defence fundraising campaign a “slush fund," writes James Crump. 

Last week, as Mr Trump’s chances of reelection dwindled when President-elect Joe Biden pulled ahead in several swing states, his campaign sent out emails and text messages that led to a website raising money for an “election defense fund” to contest the outcome.

His campaign has repeatedly falsely claimed that there was widespread fraud in last week's election, and the emails promised that money donated would go to Mr Trump contesting Mr Biden’s victory in court.

That’s the message from Arizona’s attorney general, himself a Republican, when asked about the state’s results on Fox News last night. He also criticised Trump campaign attempts to question the count in the state, saying a lawsuit filed by them relates to just 200 ballots - not nearly enough to sway the outcome.

Joe Biden has appointed Ron Klain as his chief of staff.

Mr Klain has worked with the president-elect for some time, being a key adviser on his campaign and his own chief of vice-presidential staff during Barack Obama’s first term. He was also Al Gore’s chief of staff in the mid-1990s.

Mr Klain also has experience in public health as the Ebola response coordinator, and played a central role in drafting and implementing the Obama administration's economic recovery plan in 2009.

In a statement on Wednesday night, Mr Biden suggested he chose Mr Klain because his long experience in Washington had prepared him for challenges like Covid-19, which will involve drawing on work from across government and with Congress.

"His deep, varied experience and capacity to work with people all across the political spectrum is precisely what I need in a White House chief of staff as we confront this moment of crisis and bring our country together again," said the president-elect.

Only 27 per cent of Republicans think it is most likely that Joe Biden will be sworn in as president on inauguration day, according to a new survey by YouGov, writes Louise Hall.

Almost half (47 per cent) of Republicans surveyed still think Donald Trump will be sworn in for a second term, the survey, conducted just over a week after the general election, revealed.

The Associated Press and Fox News called Arizona for Joe Biden quite early on - sparking (fire and?) fury in the White House.

Decision Desk, the website which was also the first to call the whole presidential election for Mr Biden, has now also called Arizona.

Meanwhile, Arizona’s attorney general says it is unlikely Mr Trump will be able to catch the Democrat.

Mark Brnovich also cast doubt on a pro-Trump lawsuit in Maricopa County, telling Fox News: "We are literally talking about less than 200 votes that are in question and doubt. So the reality is, even if it was possible that those votes flipped, those 200 votes, I do not think it will make a difference in Arizona just because of the numbers."

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In more bad news for the president, the law firm Snell & Wilmer, representing the Republican National Committee, has pulled out of the legal action Mr Brnovich referenced.

Along with Scott Morrison of Australia, Joe Biden held phone calls with the leaders of Japan and South Korea overnight.

The trio make up three of Washington’s most important Asian allies.

Moon Jae-in said that he and the president elect had a 14-minute discussion in which the incoming US leader reaffirmed America’s commitment to defend South Korea and said he would closely coordinate with Seoul in a push to defuse a nuclear standoff with North Korea.

Washington’s ties with Seoul formed the "linchpin of security and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region", Mr Biden’s office said he told Mr Moon.

It was reported yesterday that Mr Biden is expected to extract slightly more financial support from Seoul for the US troop presence on the Korean peninsula, but to a significantly smaller degree than Donald Trump has been pushing for - about $1bn compared to $5bn in new contributions from the host nation.

Yoshihide Suga’s office said he and Mr Biden agreed to deepen their countries’ alliance in the face of China's growing influence and North Korea's nuclear threats.

Joe Biden wants to see a Brexit deal struck between the UK and EU, Micheal Martin has said.

The Irish premier said it meant Boris Johnson should “knuckle down” and see through the negotiations.

"He is very committed to the Good Friday Agreement," Mr Martin said of the US president-elect. "Particularly in relation to Brexit, he would favour obviously a deal between the European Union and Britain."

"And I think that's where, if I could respectfully say it, that's where the British government should head, in that direction, in my view. It should knuckle down and... get a deal with the European Union."

"It is crucial that we get a deal - in my view: where there is a will there is a way," Martin told BBC Radio, adding that a no-deal would be "ruinous" for the United Kingdom.

The US State Department is reportedly refusing to pass on messages sent for president-elect Joe Biden by foreign leaders, in yet another sign of the impact on the administration of Donald Trump’s refusal to concede defeat in the election, writes Mayank Aggarwal..  

It has now been five days since all major US media outlets called the election for Mr Biden, projecting 290 electoral college votes in his favour compared to 214 for the Republican incumbent.

Left-wing lawmakers Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders are reportedly set to be frozen out of president-elect Joe Biden's cabinet amid concerns the Democrats could lose more seats in upcoming elections, writes Matt Mathers.

The party clung on to its House majority but lost five seats while Republicans picked up six and secured their majority in the Senate, barring a major upset in Georgia's runoff election.

A Republican senator has said he will “step in” to ensure Joe Biden recieves intelligence briefings if the Trump administration continues to block the president-elect’s transition.

"There is no loss from him getting the briefings and to be able to do that and if that's not occuring by Friday I will step in as well, and to be able to push and to say this needs to occur so that regardless of the outcome of the election ... people can be ready for that actual task," said James Lankford of Oklahoma.

Mr Lankford was speaking in an interview with Oklahoma radio station KRMG.

Mr Biden has previously been asked about the lack of intelligence briefings and said that while they would be nice to have at the moment, they were not “critical”.

The General Services Administration’s Trump-appointed leader is still yet to take the action that would allow government agencies to work with the Biden transition team.

And reports now say the State Department under Mike Pompeo is refusing to pass on messages from international leaders to the president-elect.

Mr Pompeo is fully behind Mr Trump’s false claims of electoral fraud, even going so far as to claim there will be a “smooth transition to a second Trump administration” - despite his department’s role in promoting democracy in other countries.