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.


0

FDA commissioner, Gov. Phil Murphy discuss COVID-19 vaccine on ABC's 'This Week'

Following authorization of Pfizer's vaccine for emergency use by the Food and Drug Administration, Martha Raddatz goes one-on-one with FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn to discuss the next phase of the fight against COVID-19. Then, Raddatz discusses how the vaccine will be distributed with New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy.

Plus, for analysis of all the week's political news, including the Texas election lawsuit that was rejected by the Supreme Court and the Biden transition, Gov. Chris Christie, Rahm Emanuel and the Powerhouse Roundtable join Raddatz. See it on "This Week" Sunday.

-ABC News' Adia Robinson


Doug Emhoff, Twitter defend Jill Biden following WSJ op-ed

Twitter users, including Doug Emhoff, came to Jill Biden's defense following a Wall Street Journal op-ed that called on the incoming first lady to drop the honorific "Dr." from her name as she enters the White House.

"Madame First Lady -- Mrs. Biden -- Jill -- kiddo," essayist Joseph Epstein begins his op-ed, published online Friday evening.

“Any chance you might drop the 'Dr.' before your name?" Epstein continues. "'Dr. Jill Biden' sounds and feels fraudulent, not to say a touch comic."

Biden earned her Doctorate in Education from the University of Delaware in 2007.

Unsurprisingly, the op-ed caused a stir on Twitter, with many -- including the incoming second gentleman -- accusing the writer of misogyny.

“Dr. Biden earned her degrees through hard work and pure grit," Emhoff tweeted Saturday. "She is an inspiration to me, to her students, and to Americans across this country.  This story would never have been written about a man."

"Dr. Jill Biden" was trending on Twitter Saturday afternoon, and 2020 Guggenheim Fellow Sarah Parcak encouraged women who earned a Ph.D. to consider adding “Dr.” to their Twitter name "in solidarity with Dr. Jill Biden and to stand in solidarity against that sexist trash op-ed about her in the WSJ."

Biden uses the name "Dr. Jill Biden" and the handle @DrBiden on Twitter. She has not publicly responded to the op-ed.

Note: The AP Stylebook says to use "Dr." on first formal reference for individuals who hold select medical degrees, such as doctor of medicine and doctor of optometry. Many news organizations use this standard.

-ABC News' Molly Nagle contributed to this report


Trump-appointed judge in Wisconsin rejects another Trump election challenge

While the U.S. Supreme Court has twice refused to hear pro-Trump challenges to the 2020 elections, a federal judge in Wisconsin on Saturday joined the chorus of rulings against Trump in his effort to use the courts to invalidate Biden’s victory.

“This Court has allowed plaintiff the chance to make his case and he has lost on the merits,” wrote U.S. District Court Judge Brett H. Ludwig, a Trump appointee. Ludwig noted that the president had asked “that the Rule of Law be followed,” and he declared in response: “It has been.”

The ruling comes just one day after the U.S. Supreme Court refused to consider an election challenge brought by the Texas attorney general contesting the way elections were run in four states, including Wisconsin. Trump had called that case “the big one,” because he thought it held the best hopes for him of re-litigating the 2020 contest in court.

This latest ruling marks nearly 50 losses for the president  in cases brought by him and his supporters since election day. In Wisconsin, where Biden won by more than 20,000 votes, Trump asked for 221,000 absentee and mail-in ballots to be excluded on the grounds they were collected in ways not laid out by the state legislature. And the president argued that the legislature should be afforded the chance to select an alternate slate of electors.

Ludwig’s 23-page opinion gave wide latitude to Trump -- finding that the president had standing to file his election challenge and was not too late to raise his concerns about the way the election was conducted. But the outcome of the case was the same as rulings in other battleground states -- that Biden’s victory was attained legally and should not be thrown to a legislature to upend.

The president, Ludwig wrote, “has not proved” that state election officials violated his rights. “To the contrary, the record shows Wisconsin’s Presidential Electors are being determined in the very manner directed by the Legislature, as required by Article II, Section 1 of the Constitution.”

Ludwig further noted that if he followed the demands set out in Trump’s lawsuit, “any disappointed loser in a Presidential election, able to hire a team of clever lawyers, could flag claimed deviations from the election rules and cast doubt on the election results. This would risk turning every Presidential election into a federal court lawsuit over the Electors Clause.”

The Trump campaign has not yet responded to requests for comment.

At the moment the federal ruling was handed down, the Wisconsin Supreme Court was hearing arguments on a separate challenge to a recount of votes in the state, which had failed in a lower court.

-ABC News' Matthew Mosk and Alex Hosenball


Trump supporters rally in DC

A day after the U.S. Supreme Court denied Texas' challenge to Biden's 2020 presidential election victory, Trump supporters gathered in Washington, D.C. to protest alleged voter fraud.

The "March for Trump" event, which started at noon on Saturday, includes a march to the U.S. Supreme Court to "demand transparency and protect election integrity," according to promotional materials.

Former Trump administration national security adviser Mike Flynn was among those in attendance.

Trump tweeted Saturday morning that he just found out about the rally and said "I'll be seeing them."


On Friday, the Supreme Court rejected a lawsuit brought by the state of Texas and Republican allies of Trump to throw out millions of votes in four states and overturn Biden's victory. In dismissing the case, the court said Texas had no "cognizable interest" in how Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin and Georgia conduct their own elections.

The rally also comes as members of the Electoral College will meet Monday to formally cast their votes for president.


Michigan legislature closes offices due to 'credible threats of violence' ahead of Electoral College meeting

Ahead of Monday’s meeting of Michigan’s 16 electors at the state Capitol in Lansing, officials announced the state legislature's office buildings will be closed due to "credible threats of violence."

The decision to close the state House and Senate offices — while the presidential electors convene in the Senate chamber to cast their votes for President-elect Joe Biden, who carried the state by more than 154,000 votes — came from a recommendation from law enforcement, officials said.

But the decision was not motivated by anticipated protests outside the capitol, according to a statement from Amber McCann, a spokesperson for Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey.

"The Senate has closed its own workspaces tomorrow based upon recommendations from law enforcement. The decision was not made because of anticipated protests, but was made based on credible threats of violence," McCann said late Sunday night, without adding any details about the threats.

"Senate leadership does not have the authority to close the Capitol. That decision is made by the Capitol Commission," she continued.

A spokesperson for Lee Chatfield, Speaker of the Michigan House, confirmed that the closures apply to the lower chamber as well.

Amid the "safety concerns," state lawmakers will be working remotely on Monday, a Democratic member of the House tweeted.

-ABC News' Kendall Karson