Biden starts to get secret WH briefing
WASHINGTON: Joe Biden has had his first look as presidentelect at the President’s Daily Brief, a top secret summary of US intelligence and world events — a document former first lady Michelle Obama has called “The Death, Destruction, and Horrible Things Book.”
Biden has already had eyes on different iterations of the so-called PDB, which is tailored to the way each president likes to absorb information.
More than a decade ago, Biden read President George W Bush’s PDB during Biden’s transition into the vice presidency. After that, he read President Barack Obama’s PDB for eight years. Beginning Monday, after a four-year break, he’s reading President Donald Trump’s PDB.
Wisconsin, Arizona certify Biden’s win Arizona and Wisconsin confirmed that Biden won in their states on Monday, dealing the latest blow to President Donald Trump’s campaign to overturn his defeat.
Biden defeated Trump by 10,457 votes in Arizona, according to the official results certified by secretary of state Katie Hobbs in Phoenix. The certification confirms that Biden won the state and triggers the appointment of electors who will cast Arizona’s 11 Electoral College votes for Biden when they meet on December 14, unless a court intervenes.
Wisconsin Elections Commission chairwoman Ann Jacobs also officially confirmed the result on Monday, and Democratic governor Tony Evers announced he has signed the document appointing Biden electors for the state’s 10 electoral votes. Jacobs’s action also starts a five-day period for Trump to appeal the outcome of a recount.
Arizona and Wisconsin are the last contested battleground states to make their presidential election results official. Pennsylvania, Michigan and Nevada certified Biden’s victories last week, and Georgia made his win there official on November 20.
Trump’s controversial Covid adviser quits President Trump’s controversial special adviser on the coronavirus, Dr Scott Atlas, has resigned.
During his four months in the role, Atlas, who had no formal experience in public health or infectious diseases, questioned the need for masks and other measures to control the pandemic that has killed over 268,000 people in America. He was against lockdowns and promoted the idea of herd immunity. The 65-year-old the Stanford University neuroradiologist resigned on Monday at the end of his 130-day temporary assignment.
Atlas tweeted a photo of his resignation letter on Monday. In the letter, he said his “advice was always focused on minimising all the harms from both the pandemic and the structural policies themselves, especially to the working class and the poor.”
WH Christmas decor acknowledges Covid-19 First responders and frontline workers being challenged by the deadly coronavirus pandemic are highlighted in White House Christmas decorations that also give a special nod to Melania Trump’s redesigned Rose Garden.
It’s the final Christmas in the White House for the Trump family, although the president continues to insist that he won the November 3 election.