Key gov’t agency recognizes Biden as winner, begins transition process
A federal agency has acknowledged former Vice President Joe Biden as the apparent winner of the presidential election and has begun the transition process for his incoming administration.
The United States General Services Administration head, Emily Murphy, has approved the transition process, following a period of refusing to formally begin the process.
“I have always strived to do what is right,” wrote Murphy to Biden, as reported by The Washington Post. “I was never directly or indirectly pressured by any Executive Branch official — including those who work at the White House or GSA — with regard to the substance or timing of my decision.”
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Murphy recounted getting threats “online, by phone, and by mail directed at my safety, my family, my staff, and even my pets in an effort to coerce me into making this determination prematurely.”
For his part, President Donald Trump tweeted that he approved of the formal process so that the harassment of Murphy and others at the GSA would stop.
“I want to thank Emily Murphy at GSA for her steadfast dedication and loyalty to our Country. She has been harassed, threatened, and abused – and I do not want to see this happen to her, her family, or employees of GSA,” tweeted Trump.
“… in the best interest of our Country, I am recommending that Emily and her team do what needs to be done with regard to initial protocols, and have told my team to do the same.”
Despite saying he greenlit the transition process, Trump has maintained that his lawsuits will eventually succeed and the election results will be found to be in his favor.
“What does GSA being allowed to preliminarily work with the Dems have to do with continuing to pursue our various cases on what will go down as the most corrupt election in American political history? We are moving full speed ahead,” he tweeted.
Biden won the election with nearly 80 million popular votes and 306 electoral points, which is well over the 270 minimum necessary to be declared the winner, according to numbers reported on by the Associated Press on Tuesday.
Trump and many of his supporters have argued that the election had widespread fraud and have not recognized the Biden victory, instead taking to the courts to challenge the results.
The move by the GSA comes as the Pennsylvania Supreme Court gave the Trump campaign another legal defeat regarding the counting of ballots in the swing state.
On Monday, the court rejected a request by the Trump campaign to block the counting of 10,000 votes in Philadelphia and Allegheny counties; Biden presently leads in the state by 81,000 votes.
"Here we conclude that while failures to include a handwritten name, address or date in the voter declaration on the back of the outer envelope, while constituting technical violations of the Election Code, do not warrant the wholesale disenfranchisement of thousands of Pennsylvanian voters," wrote Justice Christine Donohue for the Pennsylvania high court.
