Trump-Biden transition: Attorney Sidney Powell back at White House Sunday

Powell has pushed Trump to issue an executive order to seize voting machines.

President Donald Trump is slated to hand over control of the White House to President-elect Joe Biden in 31 days.


Attorney Sidney Powell back at White House Sunday

Attorney Sidney Powell was back at the White House Sunday to push President Donald Trump and his administration to issue an executive order to seize voting machines for examination, two sources with direct knowledge tell ABC News.

It is unclear if Powell met face-to-face with the president Sunday.

She met with Trump in the Oval Office Friday night and was joined by Trump's former national security adviser, retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn.

Sources, who were against the move Friday evening, were stunned to hear Powell was back in the building Sunday.

Critics expressed alarm at Friday's meeting, which was first reported by The New York Times. Noah Bookbinder, who heads the watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, told ABC News that the ideas raised in the Oval Office would represent an "abuse of power" and were "wrong and must be condemned."

- ABC News' John Santucci, Katherine Faulders


Jennifer Granholm talks Biden administration's 'robust' plans for climate change, response to cyberattack

Speaking Sunday on "This Week with George Stephanopoulos," former Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm, who was just announced as nominee for Energy Secretary in President-elect Biden's administration, said Biden had "robust"plans for addressing climate change and responding to the massive SolarWinds hack.

"The civil servants, the investigators, the scientists who are doing the investigation, they've got to be able to come up with very specific answers so we know what the response will be. But Joe Biden I know will have a robust response once we find out the perpetrator and extent of it," Granholm said about the cyberattack.

On Biden's plans to address climate change, Granholm said, "The Green New Deal was an important framework for what Joe Biden has put on tap, but I mean really, this is the most robust climate change plan ever."

Read the full story here.

-Molly Nagle (edited)


Cyber hack resulted in 'big haul' and is 'ongoing': Sen. Mark Warner

Sen. Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, joined with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and his Republican Intelligence Committee counterpart, Sen. Marco Rubio, on "This Week" Sunday in placing the blame for the government cyberattack on Russia, despite President Trump's downplaying of the country's involvement Saturday.

"I would echo what Secretary Pompeo has said and Marco Rubio has said. All indications point to Russia," Warner said. "This is extraordinarily serious, and when the president of the United States tries to deflect or is not willing to call out the adversary as we make that attribution, he is not making our country safer," he further said.

The senator also told George that the intrusion "may be ongoing" and that, despite current indications that only "non-classified networks" were breached, the attackers nevertheless got away with a "big, big haul" and that it could be some time before the government is able to fix the underlying vulnerabilities.

Read the full story here

- Adam Kelsey



Biden administration proposing one of the most ‘ambitious climate plans in history’: Harris

Wrapping up Saturday's event announcing members of the incoming administration's climate and energy team, Vice President-elect Kamala Harris emphasized how forceful Biden's plan is in fighting climate change.

"Part of the reason I was so proud to join Joe Biden as his running mate was because he was proposing one of the most ambitious climate plans in history, a plan to secure carbon pollution-free electricity by 2035, a plan to achieve net-zero emissions no later than 2050, a plan to invest in a clean energy future and create millions of good-paying union jobs along the way," she said.

"And the team that President-elect Biden and I are announcing today will help make that plan a reality," Harris added.

The vice president-elect said the appointees and nominees announced Saturday represented some of the country's "most seasoned public servants and climate experts" and reflected the "very best of America."

"They are compassionate leaders who understand that, ultimately, addressing climate change is about building safer communities and healthier communities and thriving communities for all Americans," Harris said.


Nevada reminds of 'faithless elector' state law binding votes to will of people

In a video meeting with little fanfare, Nevada's six Democratic electors cast votes for Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris -- the first electors in the country to cast their votes. Silent clapping ensued at the conclusion of the meeting.

Prior to the electors casting their votes for Biden and Harris, deputy Secretary of State Mark Wlaschin reminded the electors they are legally required to vote for the Democratic ticket as it clinched more votes in the state, and if they did not, they would be replaced. At the start of the meeting, they signed a pledge agreeing to vote for the candidates who received the highest number of votes in the general election.

"In addition to this pledge, state law requires you to vote for Joseph R. Biden for president, and Kamala D. Harris for vice president. If you vote for any other person, or leave your ballot blank, neither of your ballots will be accepted, and your position as Presidential Elector will be vacated, and an alternate would be selected to fill your vacancy," Wlaschin said.

Thirty-three states -- including Nevada -- and Washington, D.C., require electors to keep their pledge. In at least five states, penalties exist for defiant votes, while over a dozen states cancel and replace the rogue elector.

More laws are likely to be enacted over the coming years to require electors to follow the popular vote after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled earlier in the year that it is constitutionally permissible to bind electors to vote for the popular vote winner.

While experts aren't anticipating any spectacles with "faithless" electors this year, ten members of the Electoral College voted or attempted to vote against the candidate that won in their state in 2016.

-ABC News' Kendall Karson