Politics live updates: Biden team cries foul over halt in Pentagon talks; Congressional leaders get first dose of vaccine

USA TODAY's coverage of the 2020 election and President-elect Joe Biden's transition continues this week as he rolls out more of his picks for top jobs in his administration and prepares to take the oath of office Jan. 20. The Electoral College affirmed Biden's win Monday, officially giving Biden enough electoral votes to defeat President Donald Trump. Congress will count and certify the results in a joint session Jan. 6. 

Be sure to refresh this page often to get the latest information on the election and the transition.

Barr said CIA 'stayed in its lane' during Russia probe

Attorney General William Barr said Special Counsel John Durham’s probe is now narrowly focused on the conduct of a small group of FBI agents, telling the Wall Street Journal that the Central Intelligence Agency did not do anything improper during the early months of the Russia investigation.

“The CIA stayed in its lane,” Barr said in an interview published Friday by the Wall Street Journal’s opinion section. Barr also said Durham is looking at “certain private actors” (he did not elaborate, according to the Wall Street Journal), as well as an assessment by the intelligence community that Russia preferred Trump to win in the 2016 election.

The wide-ranging interview, which touched on several controversial events of Barr’s tenure, was published days before the attorney general is set to leave the Justice Department. President Donald Trump announced earlier this week that Barr will resign after weeks of speculation about the attorney general’s fate.

Barr has been Trump’s most effective advocate of presidential authority, but the relationship has soured in recent months. In early December, Barr departed from the president by declaring that the Justice Department has not found widespread evidence of voter fraud that could alter the outcome of the election.

Barr, who has repeatedly said he believes the FBI improperly spied on the Trump campaign, appointed Durham in 2019 to investigate the early stages of the Russia investigation. Barr later made Durham special counsel – one of his last acts in office – guaranteeing Durham will be able to continue his investigation during the Biden administration.

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In his interview with the Wall Street Journal, Barr criticized Robert Mueller, who took over the FBI’s Russia probe, saying the former special counsel should have exposed what he believed to be misconduct by FBI agents.

Barr frustrated the president and his Republican allies who had been anxious for the Justice Department to release damaging findings from Durham’s investigation before the presidential election. Barr was also criticized for not disclosing that Hunter Biden, President-elect Joe Biden’s son, was under investigation over his taxes. The younger Biden revealed earlier this month that he was being investigated.

Barr told the Wall Street Journal that he does not regret staying silent about the Hunter Biden probe, citing the Justice Department’s rule against confirming the existence of investigations. He said the rule is “not absolute,” but unless the government has “decisive evidence of a serious crime against a candidate,” the rule should be followed.

— Kristine Phillips

Biden team complains about Pentagon resistance to transition

Yohannes Abraham, executive director of President-elect Joe Biden's transition, told reporters Friday that transition teams at the Defense Department were told Thursday that meetings were being halted for a two-week holiday break.

Transition teams, which meet between the incoming and outgoing administrations to ensure a smooth transition after the inauguration Jan. 20, have run into resistance among political appointees in a number of departments and agencies, but Abraham declined to name others.

“Our agency review teams make progress on shortened timeline. We benefited from constructive cooperation within many departments and agencies,” Abraham said. “But we have met isolated resistance in some corners, including from political appointees within the Department of Defense. We were concerned this week with the abrupt halt in already limited cooperation there. As indicated by DOD earlier today, we expect decision to be reversed.”

Abraham said cooperation from the Pentagon is important for national security, particularly because of the classified and non-public information involved.

“A failure to work together could have consequences well beyond January,” said Abraham, who added that career professionals have made “valiant efforts to be cooperative.”

Abraham said it is important for meetings and responses to requests for information continue through the holidays because of the delay in the transition based on President Donald Trump’s refusal to accept the results of the election.

“There was no mutually agreed upon holiday break,” Abraham said. “There is no time to spare.”

Resistance goes beyond the Pentagon, but among political appointees rather than career officials.

“There have been pockets of recalcitrance and DOD is one of them,” Abraham said. “It’s our hope and expectation across the board given the challenges that the country faces that all of the agency review teams be given the access to information that they need to do the job that they need to do the job that they need to do for the American people.”

– Bart Jansen

Pelosi, McConnell get first doses of the COVID-19 vaccine

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi received her first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine Friday in the office of the Attending Physician in the Capitol, her office said.

Pelosi, 80, said in a Thursday evening statement that even after getting vaccinated, she would continue to wear a mask and follow other CDC guidelines to prevent the spread of the virus.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell received the COVID-19 vaccine later Friday.

“Vaccines are how we beat this virus,” McConnell said in a statement posted on Twitter.

McConnell, 78, posted a picture with the Attending Physician of the Capitol Brian Monahan, and said he would get back to negotiating a COVID-19 stimulus package.

– Nicholas Wu

Biden staff might not fully occupy White House on Jan. 20

President-elect Joe Biden’s White House staff probably won’t be fully working out of the West Wing when his administration begins Jan. 20, press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters Friday.

She didn’t have specific announcements about how the staff would function amid restrictions to prevent the spread of COVID-19. But she said the administration would follow guidance from medical experts, which is expected to be detailed in January.

“I think we expect that everybody who would traditionally be and historically be working out of West Wing probably will not be working out of the West Wing on Jan. 20 and 21,” said Psaki, who served as communications director for former President Barack Obama. “We are waiting for and will abide by the guidance and direction by our medical direction on our doctors.”

The transition already tests its staffers and reporters coming into contact with them, requires staffers to wear N95 masks and requires staffers to quarantine after testing positive for the virus. But it’s not clear how those rules will play out for working in the close quarters of the White House. The administration seeks to serve as an example for the American public, Psaki said.

“There are stringent standards and expectations,” Psaki said. “It’s of course to keep everybody safe.”

-- Bart Jansen

Biden to receive vaccine Monday; Harris to get hers after Christmas

President-election Joe Biden and Jill Biden will get the first dose of the Pfizer vaccine on Monday in Delaware, Jen Psaki said Friday.

Vice President-elect Kamala Harris will stagger her vaccination, to avoid getting it at the same time as Biden, by receiving hers the week after Christmas, Psaki said. The staggering was based on advice from medical experts, but Psaki declined to specific the reasoning behind the recommendation.

– Bart Jansen

COVID-19 stimulus deal is close but debate remains over Federal Reserve lending powers

Lawmakers continued to negotiate over the final provisions of a COVID-19 stimulus deal Friday morning, but a debate over Federal Reserve lending authority threatened to throw a wrench in negotiations.

One of the largest remaining holdups, according to two Democratic aides not authorized to speak on the record, was Sen. Pat Toomey’s insistence on restricting emergency Federal Reserve lending powers authorized in March that are set to expire at the end of the year.

Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., said in a Friday statement that sunsetting the Fed’s authority “would set a terrible precedent, hurt the Fed’s independence, and weaken its ability to respond quickly to future crises.”

Republicans counter that the authority was already set to expire at the end of the year.

In a statement, Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., defended the provision as affecting only a “narrow universe” of the Federal Reserve’s lending authorities. The provision would only affect five of the Federal Reserve’s lending authorities, Toomey said, and would ensure those authorities expire at the end of 2020 and would require congressional action to restart or duplicate them.

 

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