Trump-Biden transition updates: Trump pushes voter conspiracies at Ga. rally

Gabriel Sterling, the voting system implementation manager in Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger's office, told ABC News Prime anchor Linsey Davis Wednesday he believes  Sens. Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue have been unfairly put "in a box" by Trump's rhetoric and stance on the election. 

"They don't want to lose the Trump supporters, but by acting this way they're going to lose another chunk of supporters, and so it's a box they can't get out of and the president, it was unfair of him to put them in the situation," Sterling said.

Sterling's comments come a day after his impassioned pleas to the president to stop spreading false claims and conspiracies about the election and to condemn violent threats that have been directed at election officials. 

During that press conference, he called on Perdue and Loeffler to condemn the violent threats, which they did in statements, while also continuing to sow doubt in the election. 

Sterling said he still plans to vote for them because, as a Republican, he said he wants to see the Republican Party maintain control of the Senate. 

Davis pressed him on this, saying his support for the senators makes his "compelling argument ... kind of fall a little hollow." Sterling said it's been somewhat of an internal struggle for him.

"Linsey, being a human being sometimes means dealing with ambiguity in your own mind and trying to balance out what you think is the right thing for the long term versus the right thing when you're in the moment," he said. 

"For the long term of this, I'm gonna continue to fight for the sanity and sanctity of my party, and the policies and values that I want to fight for," he added later.  "I was angry. I still believe that. And I do think if they step up, they can do better." 

Sterling said he would continue defending what he called the "safest, most secure election in the history of the United States, and that he "would go to (his) death bed" believing it was just that. 

"These two senators, they still have time in my opinion to step up and step out and do the right thing," Sterling said.

There were unmistakable signs Wednesday of a growing rift in the Republican Party as allies of Trump -- still fastened to the idea that the 2020 election was rigged -- implored a large crowd of supporters to forget about the pivotal Georgia runoff elections.

Urging Georgians to make clear "you will not vote until you know your votes are secure," Trump ally Sidney Powell told a large and boisterous crowd in Atlanta to focus their energy instead on protesting officials from both parties who she blames for a global conspiracy to throw the election. The widely debunked conspiracy involving the company that makes voting machines is also the premise of her multi-state legal effort.

"There should not be a run-off, at least on Dominion machines," Powell said.

The message could not be further at odds with a national Republican drive to back two GOP candidates who were forced into runoff elections for the state's two U.S. Senate seats -- the outcome of which will determine control of the chamber.

The "Stop the Steal" rally at an Atlanta-area park also featured conservative lawyer Lin Wood, who used the platform to push baseless and outlandish claims about fraud in the 2020 election and generated a huge response with cries for a revolt to put Trump back in office.

Wood, wearing a red MAGA hat, at one point called for the Republican governor of Georgia to be locked up and urged rally-goers to protest outside Brian Kemp's house. The incendiary language came just one day after Gabriel Sterling, a top official in the GOP secretary of state's office in Georgia, made a passionate plea for civility and rebuked Trump for not condemning threats of violence against people overseeing the voting system in his state.

"I want you to go to the governor's mansion, I want you to circle it ... until Brian Kemp comes out and orders a special session of the GA legislature ... then as far as I'm concerned, lock him up," Wood told the excited crowd, which then erupted in "lock him up!" chants.

"I state as a matter of fact you are a criminal," Wood repeated about Kemp. "You need to go to jail."

Powell used similarly inflammatory language in urging the crowd to "flood" Georgia lawmakers with phone calls and letters to protest the certification of the election.

The rally in Georgia was organized by the same "Stop the Steal" group that has been protesting the election results across the country since the election, promoting baseless claims of widespread fraud and urging legislatures to overturn the results.

"Stop the Steal" is a pro-Trump group that quickly emerged flowing the 2020 election fueled by baseless claims of widespread voter fraud. It's led by popular pro-Trump social media activists and has been organizing "stop the steal" rallies around the country calling for the results to be overturned.

Sterling responded to the rally in a press conference Wednesday.

"I find it interesting that somebody who's had a Democrat voting record since 2004 is out there telling Republicans not to vote in an election," he said. "We encourage all voters to vote in an election -- Democrat, Republican, Independent, Green, socialist, you know, Libertarian, whatever party you want to be -- go out and exercise your vote because that's your right as an American."

Sterling also shot down Powell's claims about votes being switched as "not true" and noted that there was also a by-hand audit in the state. 

-ABC News' Will Steakin, Olivia Rubin and Quinn Scanlan

After listening to small business owners and workers discuss the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in a virtual and at times emotional roundtable on Wednesday afternoon, Biden said he wouldn’t be able to make a direct difference in their lives until he takes office -- urging Congress to pass relief in the meantime.

"The full Congress should come together and pass a robust package of relief to address your urgent needs now," Biden said, reminding once again that any packages passed before he gets into office would only be a “down payment,” on his administration's initiatives.

"This isn't a political game," Biden said. "My transition team is already working on what I will put forward in the next Congress to address the multiple crises we're facing, especially the economic crisis and COVID. Come January, the vice president-elect and I are going to fight every day for your families."

Biden also pointedly said that Americans “cannot be traveling” during the holidays, recalling his Thanksgiving, which was celebrated via Zoom, and noting the  surge in cases across the country. He ended the roundtable by urging Americans to “hang on” during the transition, saying it’s going to be “hard as hell” unless some additional relief is passed.

“I really don't want you giving up hope. I promise you, hang on. We're gonna get through this. You're gonna get through this. It’s gonna be hard as hell for the next 50 to 70 days unless the House acts in some way, the Senate acts and passes some of this material,” Biden said.

His message came as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer announced they are backing a new $908 billion pandemic relief bill introduced this week by a bipartisan group of Senate and House lawmakers -- a sign of movement in a stalemate that has dogged Congress for months.

-ABC News' John Verhovek, Molly Nagle, Beatrice Peterson and Mariam Khan

The top U.S. counterintelligence official tasked with overseeing the security of the 2020 election called out Trump ally Joe diGenova in an interview Wednesday over his recent threat calling for fired CISA chief Chris Krebs to be "shot," describing the attack as "embarrassing" while echoing some of Krebs' recent statements that had described the election as secure overall. 

"I think it's wholly inappropriate and just disappointing to me as an American the comments that were made," NCSC director Bill Evanina said during a panel at the Aspen Cyber Summit Wednesday. "As a 32-year government official, it's just baffling to me that you would have someone who was respected once as a U.S. attorney or a judge make those foolish comments." 

"Embarrassing would be the right word," Evanina added. 

Asked if he was concerned about Americans who believed inaccurate conspiracy theories about what happened in this election, Evanina said he was -- while not referring directly to anything peddled by Trump or his legal team. 

"Our elections, as I've said publicly, are the core fundamental basis for which we have the ability to live in an amazing democracy, we have to preserve and protect our elections at all costs," Evanina said. "So the folks who do that, put their lives on the line every day -- metaphorically on the line -- should have the ability to do that with safety and security, not be anguished because one party lost, one party won."

Evanina's comments related to the security of the election are reminiscent of those that landed Krebs in hot water with the president, who later fired him over his statements disputing conspiracies about the integrity of the vote. Trump nominated Evanina for his position as NCSC director in 2018.

-ABC News' Alexander Mallin