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White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany said on Friday that the General Service Administration would certify the election of Joe Biden at the “right time,” while calling the 2016 transition process from Barack Obama to Donald Trump a “inexcusable”.
The Biden transition has been in limbo, awaiting the GSA’s “verification” decision – the formal declaration made by the presidential transition law of 1963. Until this finding is made, Biden’s team will not. can not officially start the transition process. The delay is costing Biden’s team access to more than $ 6 million in federal funding, security clearances and the ability to meet with intelligence agency officials.
SUBMISSION TRANSITION TEAM CONTINUES TO RAISE FUNDS PENDING GSA CERTIFICATION
But McEnany, at the White House press conference on Friday, said the GSA would “decide on the finding at the right time,” noting that there was a “constitutional process” underway, while highlighting the efforts of litigation of the Trump campaign around the 2020 presidential election.
“There are questions that need to be answered,” McEnany said. “The GSA will determine when verification is reached.”
“There is a presidential transitional law that determines exactly what an administration must do before an election,” McEnany said. “We did everything we had to legally do.”
President Trump has yet to concede, although President-elect Biden has garnered more than the 270 electoral votes needed to win the presidency.
McEnany has defended the move, saying the Trump campaign is “pursuing ongoing litigation” and “taking matters from day to day.”
“The president has been clear – he wants every legal vote to be counted and no illegal vote to be counted,” McEnany said.
As for the concession, she said: “I’ll leave it to the president.”
But McEnany pointed to Trump’s transition process in 2016, reflecting on the Russia inquiry and Democrat resistance.
“Her presidency was never accepted,” she said, referring to the investigation into Russia, calling them “baseless allegations” and an effort to “reverse the will of the American people. “.
McEnany criticized the initial FBI investigation into Russia, saying it was an effort to try to “silence the voice of the American people”, and pointed to Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) warrants that were approved to monitor former Trump campaign aide Carter Page.
McEnany then moved on to Trump’s transition period, nominating Senator Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., Who at the time said she would “obstruct” and “investigate” Trump’s transition, the Press officer.
“You have 70 lawmakers saying we’re not coming to his inauguration – the Democrats,” McEnany said, then returned to the “bogus” and “largely debunked” Steele dossier and the former two-year investigation. special adviser Robert Mueller on whether Trump or members of his campaign coordinated or collaborated with the Russians to influence the 2016 election.
“In 2016, many sought to undermine him, discredit him and deny his victory,” McEnany said. “There were no calls to the unit.”
TRUMP-RUSSIA PROBE DECLASSIFIED DOCUMENTS TO DATE: WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
She added: “Let us not forget what President Trump had to endure four years after he took office.”
During his inauguration on January 20, 2017, however, Trump praised the Obama administration for its assistance during the transition.
“Every four years, we come together on these milestones to effect the orderly and peaceful transfer of power, and we are grateful to President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama for their gracious assistance throughout this transition,” said Trump. “They were magnificent.”
The Trump campaign has filed lawsuits in several battlefield states where Biden was ruled by a razor-thin margin, including Arizona, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Georgia. The campaign claimed cases of illegally counted votes after polling day and that poll observers were prevented from observing the count.
While awaiting GSA certification, Biden’s transition team continues to raise funds to support planning.
A Biden transition official told Fox News Thursday that the Biden-Harris transition “has been planning every possible scenario for months.”
“Until the GSA administrator respects the will of the people and is a good steward of taxpayer resources, we will execute contingency plans, including continuing to solicit private funds to support transition planning.” the official said in a statement. “The nation faces too many challenges not to have a fully funded and smooth transition to prepare the president-elect and vice-president-elect to rule on day one.”
Politico reported Thursday that the Biden transition has raised more than $ 8 million and may increase his target in anticipation of the GSA delay. The funding would help cover the costs associated with the transition, including staff compensation.
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