Biden names chief of staff as another lawsuit filed

WASHINGTON: Presidentelect Joe Biden yesterday named longtime adviser Ron Klain as his White House chief of staff, his first major appointment, as he builds his administration regardless of whether President Donald Trump accepts the election results.

Klain (59) served as Biden’s chief of staff when he was vicepresident under President Barack Obama and was widely expected to be named to the post.

He also has experience battling a public health crisis, as he worked as Obama's ``Ebola Czar’’ in 2014 during an outbreak of that virus in Africa. A fierce critic of Trump's handling of the coronavirus pandemic, Klain is expected to be a key figure in Biden's response to the crisis.

As Biden moved toward assuming office, Trump’s campaign filed a federal lawsuit in Michigan as it continued its longshot legal strategy of trying to overturn the election results in key states.

All week, Biden has paid little public attention to Trump’s unsubstantiated claims of voter fraud, instead focusing on transition issues as he prepares to be sworn in on January 20.

Democrats and other critics have accused Trump of aiming to undermine public trust in the US electoral system and delegitimise Biden's victory through unproven and anecdotal claims of voter fraud.

Trump’s new lawsuit in Michigan appeared unlikely to alter the outcome in a state he won in 2016 but was losing by roughly 148,000 votes, or 2.6 percentage points, in unofficial Michigan vote totals, according to Edison Research.

The lawsuit alleged voting misconduct, with the focus on the Democratic stronghold of Wayne County, which includes Detroit. Jake Rollow, a spokesman for the Michigan Department of State, said the Trump campaign was promoting false claims to erode public confidence in the election.

``It does not change the truth: Michigan's elections were conducted fairly, securely, transparently, and the results are an accurate reflection of the will of the people,'' Rollow said in a statement.

Georgia Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger announced a hand recount of all ballots cast in the state's 159 counties. He said it was expected to begin this week and would be finished in time to certify the results by a November 20 deadline. — Reuters