Michigan state legislature closes offices due to 'credible threats of violence'

Law enforcement recommended the Michigan legislature close its offices.

President Donald Trump is slated to hand over control of the White House to President-elect Joe Biden in 39 days.


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Trump called Pennsylvania Republican House Speaker last week

Trump reached out to Pennsylvania State Speaker of the House Brian Cutler last week asking about the legislature possibly overturning the election as part of his ongoing and apparent pressure campaign to have GOP-controlled legislatures flip results in his favor in battleground states he lost.

Mike Straub, a spokesman for Cutler, confirmed to ABC News reporting in The New York Times that Trump asked what options were available to the legislature on the phone call.

“Cutler made it very clear what power the legislature has and does not have," Straub told ABC News, adding he is "not aware of the President explicitly asking to turnover [sic] the election results."

Straub separately told ABC News that he was not present for the conversations between Cutler and the president, but he was briefed.

"The president wanted to know what options were available to the legislature to address those concerns... Speaker Cutler was very clear in explaining what power the legislature has and does not have within our state Constitution," Straub said. "One remedy the Trump campaign is seeking in a court case involves the legislature seating electors -- Speaker Cutler explained the legislature does not have that authority."

Cutler separately signed onto a resolution last week imploring Pennsylvania Republicans in Congress to officially contest the election results in January. While this has happened in the past, including over the election of George W. Bush, it is highly unlikely to overturn the election results.

The Supreme Court may decide Tuesday to take up a challenge by Pennsylvania Republican Rep. Mike Kelly over the constitutionality of mail-in voting, but legal experts have told ABC News that is a long shot. With Tuesday being the constitutionally mandated "safe-harbor" deadline for electors, all legal challenges are meant to be resolved by the end of the day, thus ensuring the correct electors will cast their votes in statehouses on Dec. 14.

-ABC News' Alex Hosenball


Former Trump admin official sues Trump campaign lawyer for defamation

Former Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency Director Chris Krebs has sued Trump campaign lawyer Joe diGenova and Newsmax over comments the Trump campaign lawyer made on the TV network calling for Krebs to be "taken out at dawn and shot."

Krebs’ lawyers say that the Trump campaign and “diGenova, spread, stoked, and instigated unfounded allegations of system-wide voter fraud, abuse, and interference—without proffering any evidence deemed credible by any state or federal court—in a naked and politically motivated effort to undermine public confidence in the election,” according to a complaint filed in Montgomery County, Maryland, court.

Trump fired Krebs last month after he repeatedly rebuked unfounded claims made by Trump and his campaign about widespread voter fraud, which the complaint also hits on.

The lawsuit says Krebs has received death threats through email and on Twitter by, in some cases, “angry Newsmax viewers," with people calling Krebs a traitor who should be hung. These threats were so serious, according to the lawsuit, that Krebs’ 10-year-old child asked, “Daddy’s going to get executed?”

“Seeing the pain and fear in those closest to him has only elevated his own pain and fear,” the lawsuit says. Because of this, Krebs has had to leave his house, retain private security and reported threats to law enforcement.

Krebs is seeking Newsmax to remove the clip as well as monetary damages, with the suit saying that diGenova and the network have a “symbiotic relationship.”

-ABC News' Luke Barr


Jenna Ellis says she's positive for COVID-19: Sources

Trump campaign legal adviser Jenna Ellis has informed associates she’s tested positive for coronavirus only days after attending a Christmas party at the White House, igniting panic in the West Wing, multiple sources tell ABC News.

Ellis attended a senior staff Christmas party at the White House on Friday, where she was photographed not wearing a mask.

The news comes just days after it was revealed that Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani has been hospitalized after testing positive for COVID-19. Ellis has spent the last month traveling the country with Giuliani working to overturn the 2020 election results in states including Pennsylvania, Michigan and Arizona on behalf of the president. Both have attended hearings without wearing a mask.

-ABC News' Katherine Faulders, John Santucci and Will Steakin


Clyburn says majority of Biden inauguration will be virtual 

Democratic Majority Whip Jim Clyburn, whose primary endorsement in South Carolina helped put Biden on a path to victory and who was tapped this week to chair Biden’s presidential inaugural committee, began to paint a clearer picture Tuesday of what the public can expect on Jan. 20, saying a majority of the inauguration will be virtual.

"I think the president will be sworn in in a a traditional way, but 75%, 80% of this inauguration will probably be virtual," Clyburn told CNN Tuesday morning, comparing the look to this summer’s Democratic National Convention.

"This inauguration will be an example of what a President Joe Biden would like to see the people of America do," Clyburn added, noting the worsening coronavirus pandemic. "We are not going to violate anything... We are going to discourage anything that could be a spreader."

Providing an alternative, Clyburn said he's hopeful there could be a celebration on the National Mall July 4, adding, "Hopefully things will be under control then."

As Biden is expected to name retired Army Gen. Lloyd Austin to lead the Pentagon at some point this week, Clyburn also offered praise for the "historic" choice of and encouraged Biden to consider more Black candidates he's suggested -- including Rep. Marcia Fudge, D-Ohio, and Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms -- for other senior-level Cabinet positions. The pressure comes ahead of Biden's meeting with civil rights leaders Tuesday afternoon as they advocate for more people of color to be nominated to top spots.

"There are plenty of bodies to be found if you ask the right person," Clyburn said.


Biden nominees and appointees speak on why they're called to serve

Biden and Harris formally introduced newly nominated and appointed members of their administration from Wilmington, Delaware, Friday afternoon, showing off several familiar faces, be it from the Obama administration or from Capitol Hill.

For director of the White House Domestic Policy Council, a position which does not require Senate confirmation, Biden picked Susan Rice. Rice served as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations and later as national security adviser in the Obama administration.

In her remarks, Rice laid out the path of her ancestors on both sides who overcame adversity -- a paternal great grandfather who was born a slave in South Carolina and maternal grandparents who immigrated from Jamaica with no education and worked to send their children to college, leading to her mother’s role in creating the Pell Grant.

“Now at the foot of yet another bridge between crisis and opportunity, I'm honored and excited to take on this role. Joe Biden and Kamala Harris's vision for our future is expansive but achievable," Rice said, stressing her excitement to serve again and the need to develop policies that break down racial barriers that hold all Americans back.

Rep. Marcia Fudge, who has represented Ohio's 11th Congressional District for the last 12 years has been tapped for secretary of Housing and Urban Development and talked about the importance of housing in America and the need to give people hope amid  America’s ongoing crisis.

“Perhaps most importantly of all, we will help people believe once again that their government cares about them, no matter who they are. That we understand their problems, as the president-elect often recalls his father's words,” she said.

Biden's nominee for secretary of agriculture, Tom Vilsack, seemed to address some of the criticism of his previous tenure at USDA (he held the same Cabinet position he's nominated for throughout the Obama administration) by promising to deal with systemic inequities.

Vilsack also mentioned his support for Rep. Jim Clyburn's 10/20/30 plan, an effort the South Carolina congressman said aims to help counties that had a poverty level of more 20% for more than three decades. Those communities would receive at least 10% of federal funds from a specific program. When asked in 2019 if he considered the measure a form of reparations, Clyburn said the measure "absolutely" is.

Biden's pick for secretary of veterans affairs, Dennis McDonough, former President Barack Obama's White House chief of staff, pledged to make the department more inclusive to all veterans, particularly women, veterans of color and members of the LGBTQ community.

Biden's appointed Katherine Tai to U.S. trade representative, who began by recalling her parents' immigrant story of her father, a researcher at Walter Reed, and her mother, who still works at the National Institutes of Health developing treatments for opioid addictions. She also stressed the role trade can play to create opportunities and lift people out of poverty and the need to rebuild relationships around the globe.

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