Watch Live:

President-elect Joe Biden attends virtual roundtable with front-line health care workers

Trump news – live: President launches tweet storm insisting he won, as Graham urged to step down

Gino Spocchia and Oliver O'Connell
·1 min read
(AP)
(AP)

In a Twitter spree on Wednesday, president Donald Trump launched an attack on the recount due to be completed in Georgia this week, which he labelled a “joke" process, and claimed to have “won” the state of Michigan. His election campaign, meanwhile, filed a request to recount votes in some counties in Wisconsin, where he has also alleged election fraud without basis.

Somewhat ironically, the US president had earlier promoted a survey that showed how his baseless attacks on the democratic process had undermined Republican’s faith in the election, with almost half of those polled by Reuters/Ipsos saying they believed his assertions that it had been “rigged” against him.

On Tuesday night, he continued to provoke outrage among opponents and Democrats, who denounced his decision to “terminate” the director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, Chris Krebs, who last week disputed the US president’s baseless attacks on the democratic process.

In a Twitter post that was flagged for misinformation, Mr Trump directly tied his decision to a report recently published by Mr Krebs which said there was no evidence of any tampering with the election apparatus, as alleged by the president, more than two weeks after election day. Mr Krebs wrote afterwards that “In defending democracy, do or do not, there is no try. This is the way."

Latest Stories

  • The Trumps are refusing to turn over the keys to the Bidens — and Michelle and Barack Obama have had enough

    Two days after the 2016 election, the Obamas welcomed then-President-elect Donald Trump and Melania Trump to the White House in a symbolic gesture epitomizing the peaceful transfer of power. The Trumps have afforded the Bidens no such invitation.

  • Black Californian family confronted by ‘racist white neighbour’ brandishing a taser: ‘Act like white people’

    Husband of woman accused of racially offensive comments says it was ‘a minor incident’

  • Fox & Friends guest compares holiday coronavirus restrictions to 'separation of families'

    Fox & Friends chatted about Americans' impending "revolt" against the "separation of families" -- but not the family separation crisis that has remained unsolved for the past two years.Over the past few weeks, medical experts around the country have warned Americans against having big gatherings this holiday season as COVID-19 case numbers break new records, with some officials putting express limits on how many people can gather in one private residence. But to Fox Business' Charles Payne, the real problem is the "isolation" that comes with these restrictions -- none of which exceed a limit of 10 people in a home. It's essentially the "separation of families," Payne continued, with host Steve Doocy agreeing. "Politicians don't care," host Brian Kilmeade chimed in.> Fox's Charles Payne on Thanksgiving: "One of the big, overarching stories with all of this has been the isolation story, the separation of families ... The notion that you're gonna come to my house and count how many people are there, that is separation of families." > > pic.twitter.com/OdYDM9FSau> > -- The Recount (@therecount) November 17, 2020Payne's choice of words is interesting considering family separation at the border split thousands of children from their parents over the past few years. And unlike the family separation brought about by an effort to slow the spread of a deadly disease, for at least 666 children, their separation may be permanent. Editor's note: This story has been updated.More stories from theweek.com 7 scathingly funny cartoons about Trump's refusal to concede Trump is reportedly 'very aware' he lost the election but is putting up a fight as 'theater' Texas senator suggests it's too soon to declare Biden the winner because Puerto Rico is still counting votes

  • The 7 Best Airbnbs in Austin, Texas

    From a vintage trailer to a lush 1950s bungalow, AD has you covered  Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest

  • Anti-Trump Republican Gov. Larry Hogan appeals to 'exhausted majority' as he teases presidential bid

    Larry Hogan, the Republican governor of Maryland, has a simple message: There is another way. Arguing before the Ronald Reagan Institute that this is a nation of “civility and pragmatism,” he observed that “most of us are sick and tired of all the drama.”

  • Rights group condemns Iraq for execution of IS-linked men

    A prominent rights group condemned Iraq on Tuesday for the mass execution of 21 people, some with suspected links to the Islamic State group, who had been convicted on terrorism charges. The prisoners were hanged Monday in Nasiriyah Central Prison in southern Iraq, according to a semi-official provincial news site. There was no official confirmation of the executions by the Iraqi government and the judiciary has not issued a statement.

  • U.S. drug charges against former Mexican defense minister are dropped

    A federal judge on Wednesday granted a U.S. government request to drop drug charges against former Mexican Defense Minister Salvador Cienfuegos and return him to Mexico, a move Mexico said would restore trust in the countries' severely strained security cooperation ties. The dismissal came one day after a surprise announcement by U.S. Attorney General William Barr and Mexican Attorney General Alejandro Gertz Manero that the U.S. case would end, just one month after being announced. Cienfuegos, 72, was Mexico's defense minister from 2012 to 2018 under former President Enrique Pena Nieto.

  • Joe Biden announces who will be in his White House team

    The first round of senior staff appointments reflects a mix of longtime loyalist and Democratic operatives, as well as an absence of high-profile progressives far-left faction of the party.

  • The FBI is reportedly investigating Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton

    The FBI is investigating Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) over allegations from his agency's former top lawyers that he illegally used his office to help a campaign donor and friend, real estate developer Nate Paul, The Associated Press reported late Tuesday, citing two people with knowledge of the investigation. Paxton, who is still awaiting trial on criminal securities fraud charges from 2015, has denied wrongdoing and said he won't step down.Eight former top officials accuse Paxton of bribery, abuse of office, and other crimes. Since those aides contacted federal authorities about their allegations between Sept. 30 and Oct. 1, four were fired, three resigned, and one was placed on leave. Four of them have filed a whistleblower suit against Paxton in state court.Paxton allegedly helped Paul in at least four ways, including ordering his office to hire an outside lawyer to pursue Paul's claim that the FBI improperly searched his home and office last year. Paul said in a deposition last year he had hired a woman on Paxton's recommendation, but not as a favor — Paxton had reportedly carried out an extramarital affair with the woman. The full scope of Paxton's ties to Paul are not known, AP notes.Before AP revealed the FBI investigation, Paxton said in a statement Tuesday that allegations against him are "overblown, based upon assumptions, and to a large degree misrepresent the facts," the Austin American Statesman reports. "I make no apologies for being a fierce investigator and defender of individual rights in the face of potentially unreasonable and authoritarian actions," he added. "Doing so is not favoritism. It is doing what the people of Texas expect from every law enforcement agency, their attorney general, and the staff of this office."Paxton, it might be noted, is not intervening in accelerating federal land seizures of private property in the Rio Grande Valley to build President Trump's border wall. Last week, for example, government lawyers filed a "motion for immediate possession" of a strip of an elderly landowner's ancestral lands in Mission, Texas, NPR reports. In 2017, Paxton, previously a defender of private property rights against federal infringement, said he was fine with Trump comandeering land for his border wall as long as the Texas landowners are "compensated fairly."More stories from theweek.com 7 scathingly funny cartoons about Trump's refusal to concede Trump is reportedly 'very aware' he lost the election but is putting up a fight as 'theater' Texas senator suggests it's too soon to declare Biden the winner because Puerto Rico is still counting votes

  • Navalny files defamation suit against Kremlin over spying claims

    Alexei Navalny is suing the Kremlin over claims that the Russian opposition leader has been working hand in hand with the US intelligence. Mr Navalny, who spent weeks in a coma after a nerve agent poisoning, said on Tuesday that he has filed a lawsuit against Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov over his remarks about Mr Navalny’s alleged ties to the CIA. “I don’t typically sue propagandists... but the important thing here is that Peskov is not merely a person whose job is to spread lies. He is a deputy chief of presidential staff,” Mr Navalny said in an Instagram post, calling Mr Peskov a “mustachioed liar.” Mr Peskov on Tuesday refused to comment on the lawsuit against him. The 44-year-old opposition leader who ran an impressive campaign across Russia before he was barred from running for president in 2018 fell suddenly ill on a plane from Siberia to Moscow in August and spent three weeks in a coma before recovering. Several European laboratories independently confirmed that Mr Navalny was poisoned with the Soviet-era nerve agent Novichok which was used in the 2018 attack on former Soviet spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter. Mr Navalny has pointed the finger at President Vladimir Putin as the only person who could have ordered the Novichok attack. The European Union last month imposed sanctions on six top Russian officials and a chemical research centre over the Navalny poisoning. The Kremlin has denied any involvement in the attack and vowed to slap European officials with visa bans in retaliation. The original claim about Mr Navalny’s alleged ties to the US intelligence was made by Russian parliament speaker Vyacheslav Volodin who accused Mr Navalny of being a CIA spy. Mr Peskov, the Kremlin spokesman, mentioned the allegations in September, claiming that Mr Navanly works with “CIA specialists” who “put in his mouth everything that he says.” President Putin’s most formidable foe, Mr Navalny was discharged from a Berlin hospital in September and remains in Germany to continue his treatment. He has vowed to return to Russia as soon as he has made a full recovery.

  • Delaware Teens Lured a Classmate Into the Woods—Then Murdered Her With a Baseball Bat: Prosecutors

    A Delaware teenager has been charged with murder after allegedly luring her classmate into the woods and beating her to death with the girl’s ex-boyfriend, prosecutors said.Annika Stalczynski, 17, was arrested on Monday after a New Castle County grand jury indicted her on several charges—including first-degree murder, possession of a deadly weapon during commission of a felony, and conspiracy—for Madison Sparrow’s Oct. 2 slaying, according to the Delaware Attorney General’s office. Prosecutors allege Stalczynski, along with Sparrow’s ex-boyfriend, 19-year-old Noah Sharp, conspired to lure the teenager to the woods behind Maclary Elementary School, before they ambushed and fatally beat her with a metal baseball bat.The grand jury also indicted Sharp, who was arrested a few days after Sparrow’s death, on the same charges. The teenagers are in custody on $1 million bail.Utah Man Dies in Car Crash After Confessing He Killed His Wife: Authorities“Every murder is an outrage, but the murder of a child strikes at everything we hold dear,” Attorney General Kathy Jennings said in a statement. “Madison was stolen from her family and friends with her life and her dreams still ahead of her. A life has been taken and a cruel trauma has been inflicted on hundreds of people who knew and loved this kind, gentle young woman.”“My heart aches for Madi’s parents, the Sparrow family, and the entire Newark Charter community. We can never replace what these people have lost, but we can—and will—hold her killers accountable,” she added.According to court documents, prosecutors allege Sparrow, a junior at Newark Charter School, was reported missing by her mother at around 8:30 p.m. on Oct. 2 after she did not return from a trip to the store with a girlfriend.Another Fort Hood Soldier Has Been Arrested for Murder: AuthoritiesThe following day, police issued a Gold Alert for Sparrow—a notification that’s typically sent out when a senior citizen, suicidal person, or a person with a disability has gone missing. Investigators also spoke to friends and family, who revealed the 17-year-old had gone “to an area in Newark where her ex-boyfriend Noah, was located.”When authorities went to the “wooded area,” which was located behind Maclary Elementary School, they found an aluminum baseball bat, droplets of blood, and Sparrow’s clothing, according to court documents.Prosecutors state Sharp used the bat to fatally beat Sparrow to death—and that Stalczynski had planned the murder with the 19-year-old. An autopsy report confirmed Sparrow died of blunt force trauma to the head.It is not immediately clear why Stalczynski assisted Sharp in the grisly crime. But according to State Prosecutor A.J. Roop, Stalczynski and Sparrow were classmates at the Newark high school and had "known each other for some time."“I believe that they had a relationship going back over a number of years,” Roop said, according to Delaware Online. “I won't get into much more than that, or what the status was recently, but they were acquaintances, and they did know each other.”When investigators questioned Sharp on Oct. 5, following his arrest, the 19-year-old admitted he murdered his ex-girlfriend—confirming he used the bat to commit the crime, court documents state. Sharp added that after killing Sparrow, he moved her body to another “wooded area” about 20 minutes away from the elementary school off Route 896. Hours later, authorities found her body.Grand Jury Declines to Charge Officer Who Killed 21-Year-Old Dreasjon ReedSparrow’s death was met with an outcry of support online, where hundreds sent their condolences and shared stories about the 17-year-old and her family. Two vigils were also held in her honor—one in New Jersey and one at her high school—where hundreds of people met to honor the teenager described by her grandfather as “wise beyond her years.”“To think such a bright light is extinguished at such a young age senselessly,” Sparrow's grandfather, Tom Mason, said at one vigil last month. “This was not an illness. This was not even a car accident. It was an act of violence. It’s inconceivable.”Although prosecutors do not state in court documents why Sharp wanted to kill his ex-girlfriend, they do reveal the 19-year-old admitted the crime was premeditated and that he and Stalczynski murdered Sparrow “in the afternoon/evening hours” the day the teenager went missing.On Tuesday, Jennings stressed his office cannot reveal any possible motives or additional details about the grisly crime because prosecutors are “ethically restrained, for good reason.”“We want to make sure that fair trial rights are preserved, and quite frankly, we cannot imagine how painful this is for Madison's family and friends,” Jennings said. “We don't want them to suffer anymore.”Read more at The Daily Beast.Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast hereGet our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.

  • Trump's decision to pull troops from Afghanistan could put Biden in 'a strategic corner'

    While the drawdown of U.S. troops in Afghanistan that the Trump administration announced Tuesday gives President-elect Joe Biden something close to what he advocated for as vice president, it may paint him into a corner as an incoming president, military experts say.

  • Breonna Taylor grand juror says prosecutors wanted to give cops a 'slap on the wrist'

    A woman who sat on the Breonna Taylor grand jury said she believes their investigation was incomplete and that prosecutors wanted to give police “a slap on the wrist and close it up.”

  • Photos Show California Gov. Newsom Flouting Coronavirus Precautions at Upscale Napa Restaurant

    Newly released photos appear to show California Governor Gavin Newsom and his wife in an unmasked group eating shoulder-to-shoulder indoors at a birthday party earlier this month.FOX 11 Los Angeles obtained photos from a 50th birthday party for Jason Kinney, a longtime lobbyist and Newsom adviser, at French Laundry on November 6, taken by a witness who told the outlet the group was so loud that open sliding glass doors near where they were seated had to be closed.> EXCLUSIVE: We've obtained photos of Governor Gavin Newsom at the Napa dinner party he's in hot water over. The photos call into question just how outdoors the dinner was. A witness who took photos tells us his group was so loud, the sliding doors had to be closed. 10pm on @FOXLA pic.twitter.com/gtOVEwa864> > -- Bill Melugin (@BillFOXLA) November 18, 2020On Monday, Newsom apologized for attending the party saying he made a “bad mistake.”“I should have stood up and … drove back to my house…The spirit of what I’m preaching all the time was contradicted,” he said. “ I need to preach and practice, not just preach.”Newsom said that he wanted to “own” his mistake because he was concerned his actions might undermine the message of caution he had sent to residents. The governor instituted new coronavirus restrictions this week, closing indoor dining across much of the state and urging residents to avoid large Thanksgiving gatherings."I’m doing my best every single day in trying to model better behavior,” he said.A spokesman for Kinney defended the gathering, telling FOX 11 that the seating at the upscale restaurant north of San Francisco was considered outdoors. “The guests and the restaurant followed all applicable state and county public health guidance," the spokesperson said. "The guests specifically required outdoor seating. And that’s outdoor seating, as confirmed and provided by the restaurant.”  The backlash comes as daily coronavirus cases in the state have doubled in the last 10 days, "the fastest increase California has seen since the beginning of this pandemic," Newsom said Monday. The state surpassed 1 million coronavirus cases last week.

  • Taiwan grounds F-16 fighter fleet after jet disappears during a nighttime training mission

    Taiwan has grounded all of its F-16 fighter jets for safety checks as rescuers continue to search for one that went missing during a training exercise, authorities said Wednesday. The decision removes around 150 planes from Taiwan's skies, leaving the democratic island relying on an even more limited fleet to warn off Chinese jets that have been buzzing it at an unprecedented rate in recent months. The air force said a single-seat F-16 flown by a 44-year-old pilot disappeared from radar at an altitude of some 6,000 feet (1,800 metres) two minutes after taking off from Hualien air base in eastern Taiwan on Tuesday night. The disappearance comes less than three weeks after a pilot was killed when his F-5E fighter jet crashed into the sea during training, prompting a similar grounding. "The rescue mission is our top priority now. The air force has grounded all F-16s for checks and I've instructed an investigation into the cause of the incident," President Tsai Ing-wen told reporters. Taiwan lives under the constant threat of invasion by China, which views the island as its own territory and has vowed to seize it one day, by force if necessary.

  • Wisconsin police officer who fatally shot three people in the last five years is resigning

    Wauwatosa Police Officer Joseph Mensah, who had been suspended since July, is resigning from the department.

  • Official in charge of signing off on Biden's win is reportedly 'afraid on multiple levels'

    President-elect Joe Biden's victory over President Trump can't be ascertained until General Services Administrator Emily Murphy signs off on it, but she is continuing to hold out while Trump refuses to concede. Murphy has been subject to criticism for delaying the inevitable, but sources close to her told CNN that the "consummate professional" believes she's doing "her honest duty as someone who has sworn true allegiance to the Constitution of the United States of America and the laws that govern her position."The sources also said Murphy is struggling with what she considers a no-win situation. She reportedly feels pressure from both sides of the political spectrum as she tries to interpret unclear law and precedent. "She absolutely feels like she's in a hard place," a friend and former colleague told CNN. "She's afraid on multiple levels. It's a terrible situation."Not everyone is as sympathetic, though. Another former colleague said that while Murphy is "an ethical and moral person," she is "absolutely making the wrong decision" since "there really is no question" that Biden won. Read more at CNN.More stories from theweek.com 7 scathingly funny cartoons about Trump's refusal to concede Trump is reportedly 'very aware' he lost the election but is putting up a fight as 'theater' Texas senator suggests it's too soon to declare Biden the winner because Puerto Rico is still counting votes

  • Republican Senator Loeffler to debate Democratic challenger Warnock in Georgia December 6

    U.S. Republican Senator Kelly Loeffler has agreed to debate Democratic challenger Raphael Warnock in December, her spokesman said Tuesday, setting up a face-off in one of a pair of runoff races that will decide control of the Senate. Warnock had challenged Loeffler to meet him in three televised debates ahead of the Jan. 5 runoff election. Both of Georgia's Senate seats are in play in the January runoff, which was triggered by state law after no candidate reached 50% in the first round of voting Nov. 3.

  • A 61-year-old British diplomat jumped into a river in China to save a 24-year-old woman who fell in

    Stephen Ellison received praise for his actions after social media users shared the video far and wide online.

  • Taiwan refuses to renew pro-China news channel's license

    Taiwan’s government refused to renew the broadcast license of a leading pro-China cable news channel on Wednesday, prompting complaints of political interference. The National Communications Commission cited repeated violations of rules on accurate reporting in saying it had rejected CTiTV’s application to renew its license. The channel is owned by the Want Want China Times media group, which also publishes one of Taiwan’s main newspapers and has long been associated with a Beijing-friendly political view, partly attributed to its extensive business interests in China.