Trump adds to administration team as recounts loom

We’re doing this to ensure the integrity of our system.

George Martin, Green Party

President-elect Donald Trump has pressed forward with two more administration picks, as failed Green Party candidate Jill Stein took new steps to force recounts across key Midwestern battlegrounds that could complicate his push for national unity.

Stein, who earned little more than 1 per cent of the national vote, has formally requested a Wisconsin recount, vowing to do the same this week in Michigan and Pennsylvania.

Wisconsin officials said they would move forward with the first presidential recount in the state’s history.

There is no evidence of election tampering in the states where Trump scored razor-thin victories, but Green Party spokesman George Martin insisted that “the American public needs to have it investigated to make sure our votes count.”

“We’re doing this to ensure the integrity of our system,” he said.

Trump’s team ignored questions about the looming recounts. Set to assume the presidency in 55 days, he was focused instead on the daunting task of building an administration from scratch.

Gathered with family at his Palm Beach estate for the holiday weekend, Trump made two senior-level staff appointments and scheduled meetings with several more prospective administration officials.

He tapped Fox News analyst Kathleen Troia “KT” McFarland to serve as deputy national security adviser and campaign attorney Donald McGahn as White House counsel. Trump cited McFarland’s “tremendous experience and innate talent” and said McGahn “has a brilliant legal mind, excellent character and a deep understanding of constitutional law”.

Having faced criticism about the inexperience of his initial picks, Trump finds in McFarland someone who previously worked under three presidents, although none since Ronald Reagan. McGahn, a veteran Republican election lawyer, served as Trump’s attorney during the campaign.

Neither position requires Senate confirmation.

Facing external pressure from Stein, there were also signs of internal discord within the president-elect’s small inner circle as Trump weighed his choices for secretary of state.

The options for the nation’s chief diplomat include former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani, who lacks foreign policy experience but was intensely loyal to Trump, and 2012 Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney, who aggressively opposed Trump’s candidacy but is largely regarded as more qualified.

Meanwhile, Stein announced on her website she has raised enough money to fund recounts in Wisconsin and Pennsylvania and was pursuing additional funding to do the same in Michigan.

Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton leads the national popular vote by close to two million votes. Trump scored narrow victories in key battleground states, however, giving him the necessary 270 electoral votes to assume the presidency.

Wisconsin state administrator Michael Haas said the recount is expected to be completed by the December 13 federal deadline.

Trump’s transition team indicated he was focused on the challenges of governing.

Since arriving at his Palm Beach estate Wednesday, they said, the president-elect has spoken to the prime ministers of Greece, Hungary and Sweden, along with the presidents of Panama and Slovenia.

He is expected to return to his New York City home tonight.