The Trump team certainly isn’t rolling over.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo made waves on Tuesday when he bucked the mainstream narrative that Joe Biden will be president and instead expressed his belief that President Trump will serve a second term beginning in January.
Pompeo’s comment came during a tense news conference at the State Department on Tuesday when the Cabinet member was asked whether he is prepared to work with the Biden “transition” team.
“There will be a smooth transition to a second Trump administration,” Pompeo responded.
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“We’re ready,” he added. “The world is watching what’s taking place. We’re gonna count all the votes. When the process is complete, there’ll be electors selected. There’s a process. The Constitution lays it out pretty clearly. The world should have every confidence that the transition necessary to make sure that the State Department is functional today … and successful with a president who’s in office on Jan. 20, a minute after noon, will also be successful.”
Pompeo, a close ally of the president who served in the House of Representatives and then as CIA director before being tapped for his current position, dismissed as “ridiculous” a second question whether he has given guidance to diplomats to refer to Biden as “president-elect” and whether Trump’s refusal to accept the results undermines the State Department’s frequent statements calling for free and fair elections in other countries.
“That’s ridiculous, and you know it’s ridiculous, and you asked it because it’s ridiculous,” Pompeo said. “This department cares deeply to make sure that elections around the world are safe and secure and free and fair, and my officers risk their lives to ensure that that happens. They work diligently on that. We often encounter situations where it’s not clear about a particular election. We work to uncover facts, we work to do discovery, to learn whether in fact the outcome, the decision that was made reflected the will of the people. That’s our responsibility.”
He continued: “The United States has an election system that is laid out deeply in our Constitution, and we’re going to make sure that we get that right,” he added. “You want every vote to be counted. You want to run the process. We want the lot to be imposed in a way that reflects the reality of what took place, and that’s what I think we’re engaged in here in the United States and that’s what we work on every place all across the world.”
At that point, Pompeo ended the news conference.
The secretary of state’s remarks come as the mainstream media has anointed former Vice President Joe Biden the winner of the 2020 presidential race and the president-elect. No states have thus far certified their election results and recounts and litigation are in the works that could affect the final count in several swing states. The Electoral College will not convene to elect the president until December 14.
In keeping with this reality, the General Services Administration has held off on formally beginning any transition, preventing Biden’s teams from gaining access to federal agencies. A spokesperson for the agency said an “ascertainment” on the winner had not been made. Citing the controversial 2000 Bush-Gore race, the agency signaled that it may not do so until Trump concedes or the Electoral College meets next month.
Meanwhile, Attorney General Bill Barr on Monday ordered his deputies and FBI Director Chris Wray to investigate credible allegations of vote-tampering on behalf of Democrat candidate Joe Biden.
“It is imperative that the American people can trust that our elections were conducted in such a way that the outcomes accurately reflect the will of the voters,” Barr wrote in his memo to the DOJ and FBI. “Although the States have the primary responsibility to conduct and supervise elections under our Constitution and the laws enacted by Congress, the United States Department of Justice has an obligation to ensure that federal elections are conducted in such a way that the American people can have full confidence in their electoral process and their government.”
But can President Trump — and the American people — trust investigators in the DOJ and FBI to honestly investigate voter fraud when Deep State elements in both of these bodies tried to take Trump down before?
