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Democrats file ethics criticism towards Cruz, Hawley

Democrats file ethics complaint against Cruz, Hawley

Sens. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, right, and Josh Hawley, R-Mo., Attend the Senate Justice Committee Markup for Judicial Officer Nominations and Modernization Act in the Dirksen Building on Thursday, December 10, 2020 Online content policy.

Tom Williams | CQ Appeal, Inc. | Getty Images

Seven Democratic Senators filed a formal complaint Thursday calling on the Senate Ethics Committee to investigate GOP Sens. Ted Cruz and Josh Hawley’s efforts to discard the presidential election results.

The complaint comes more than two weeks after the deadly January 6 riot in the U.S. Capitol, led by supporters of former President Donald Trump.

“Senators Ted Cruz and Josh Hawley legitimized President Trump’s false statements about electoral fraud by announcing that they would object to the certification of voters on January 6,” the Senators wrote in a letter to the chairmen of the Senate Ethics Committee, Chris Coons, D-Del. and James Lankford, R-Okla.

Cruz, a Republican from Texas, signed a written objection to the confirmation of Arizona’s votes at the beginning of the joint session to count the January 6th election, which sparked debate in both houses. Then pro-Trump rioters stormed the Capitol and lawmakers evacuated.

After the Capitol was secured and lawmakers resumed sitting, Cruz and Hawley, along with other Senate Republicans, voted against the Arizona Electoral College results, despite others who had objected after the fatal attack voted for certification to vote.

Hawley, of Missouri, also continued his previously announced plan to sign a written objection to the Pennsylvania election. Cruz and Hawley voted against the adoption of the Pennsylvania election results.

“By continuing to object to the voters after the violent attack, Senators Cruz and Hawley gave legitimacy to the mob’s cause and made future violence more likely,” the senators said in the letter.

The letter was signed by Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse from Rhode Island, Ron Wyden from Oregon, Tina Smith from Minnesota, Richard Blumenthal from Connecticut, Mazie Hirono from Hawaii, Tim Kaine from Virginia, and Sherrod Brown from Ohio.

In the letter, Senators called on Coons and Lankford to investigate whether Cruz and Hawley’s actions constitute “inappropriate conduct” or otherwise violate the Senate Code of Ethics.

Hawley said in a statement released Thursday in response to the complaint: “Joe Biden and the Democrats are talking about unity but brazenly trying to silence dissent. This latest effort is a blatant abuse of the Senate’s ethics process and a blatant attempt to demand it. ” Partisan revenge. “

The Cruz, Coons and Lankford offices did not immediately respond to CNBC’s requests for comment.

Following the Capitol riot, Cruz and Hawley made statements condemning the violence.

“The attack on the Capitol was a despicable act of terrorism and a shocking attack on our democratic system,” Cruz said in a January 7 press release.

“These acts of violence were criminal. They must be convicted,” Hawley said in a January 8 statement.

Hawley has been criticized after being seen saluting protesters with a raised fist outside the Capitol before the joint session began. The publisher Simon & Schuster announced on January 7th that it would no longer publish Hawley’s upcoming book, although the Senator has since found a new publisher.

Trump is facing a second impeachment trial in the Senate despite not being in office now. The democratically controlled house indicted Trump on January 13 of inciting the Capitol uprising.

The legislature has also requested other investigations into the uprising. The Democratic-run house sent a letter to FBI Director Chris Wray and other agency chiefs on Jan. 16 for information about the intelligence and security flaws that led to the breakup of the Capitol. On Thursday, House Inspectorate Carolyn Maloney, DN.Y., asked Wray to investigate the role of social media site Parler in the attack.

Five people were killed in the riot, including a Capitol police officer.

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Distinguished Attorneys Need Giuliani’s Legislation License Suspended Over Trump Work

Prominent Lawyers Want Giuliani’s Law License Suspended Over Trump Work

Dozens of prominent lawyers have signed a formal complaint requesting the suspension of Rudolph W. Giuliani’s bar license – the latest and loudest in a series of calls to reprimand him for his actions as President Donald J. Trump’s personal attorney.

The lawyers said Mr Giuliani crossed ethical boundaries in helping Mr Trump prosecute false allegations of election fraud and then delivered an incendiary speech reiterating those claims just before the January 6 uprising at the Capitol.

A draft complaint to the New York Supreme Court Appeals Committee accuses Mr. Giuliani of knowingly making false allegations about the election and calls for an investigation into “conduct involving dishonesty, fraud, deception or misrepresentation in or outside the court” .

Demands for Mr. Giuliani to be disciplined have increased in the weeks since the uprising and are only increasing now after Mr. Trump stepped down. The latest complaint, signed by a non-partisan who-is-who of legal figures from New York and beyond, is possibly the most serious condemnation of Mr Giuliani’s conduct to date.

The list included former acting US attorney general Stuart M. Gerson, former US district judges H. Lee Sarokin and Fern M. Smith, and two former attorneys general, Scott Harshbarger of Massachusetts and Grant Woods of Arizona. The complaint was also signed by prosecutors working for the same United States law firm for the Southern District of New York that Mr. Giuliani ran in the 1980s, including Christine H. Chung.

Ms. Chung, a member of the steering committee of Lawyers Defending American Democracy, the organization that made the complaint, said the group had reviewed Mr. Giuliani’s work on behalf of Mr. Trump and that it was a “targeted campaign for the going.” with a lie about a stolen election from the American people. “

“This is a man who once ran the highest law enforcement agency in this nation and he knows what is fraud and what is not,” said Ms. Chung, who did not work for the US law firm during Mr. Giuliani’s tenure. She added, “It is forbidden for a lawyer to attack the rule of law and it is dangerous.”

Ms. Chung said that by Thursday afternoon, more than 500 people had signed the complaint, which anyone could sign on the Lawyers Defending American Democracy website, and that she expected “thousands” more to add their names.

The complaint seeking the suspension of Mr Giuliani’s admission to exercise his right during an investigation into his conduct is one of several complaints that have been lodged with the Board of Appeal. It comes a week after New York Senator Brad Hoylman, chairman of the judiciary committee, urged the state judicial system to begin the formal process of revoking Mr. Giuliani’s legal license.

It could take months or even years to conduct the investigation and determine an appropriate sentence, largely due to procedural hurdles and the complexity of Mr Giuliani’s case, said Stephen Gillers, a law professor at New York University and an expert in legal ethics.

Mr Gillers said he hoped the court would conduct a thorough investigation suspending Mr Giuliani’s license as Mr Giuliani used his reputation as a lawyer to spread false accounts.

“It is a privilege and an honor to be a New York attorney, and in investigating Giuliani and possibly sanctioning him for his behavior, the courts are reiterating that fact,” Gillers said.

Mr Giuliani, who did not respond to requests for comment, discussed the complaints about his behavior on his radio show last week.

“I’ve been a prosecutor all my life – I’m not stupid,” he said. “I don’t want to get in trouble. And personally, I have a great sense of ethics. I hate it when people attack my integrity. “

In the weeks since the insurrection, Mr Giuliani also redoubled his allegations of electoral fraud, arguing on conservative talk radio and social media that the masses indicting the Capitol were left-wing radicals who were involved in a conspiracy around him and To discredit Mr. Trump.

The numerous demands for disciplinary action underscore the extent to which Mr Giuliani’s reputation has grown since his years as Federal Prosecutor for Organized Crime and his two terms as Mayor of New York City, during which he advocated law enforcement and emphasized cleaning, has changed the streets.

At Mr Trump’s rally on Jan. 6, not long before a violent mob stormed the Capitol, Mr Giuliani called for a “trial by battle” to address his discredited allegations of electoral fraud.

“I am ready to maintain my reputation, the president is ready to strengthen his reputation because we will find crime there,” said Giuliani.

In the complaint, Mr Giuliani is accused of holding on to his false allegations of widespread electoral fraud only on January 16, thereby sacrificing his reputation.

“Other lawyers have met ethical obligations by withdrawing from representing Mr Trump and his campaign,” the complaint said. “Mr. Giuliani not only gave the company his stature and attorney status, but he also shows no inclination to stop lying.”

Earlier this week, a person close to Mr Trump said Mr Giuliani would not be part of Mr Trump’s defense during his second Senate impeachment trial.

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Biden inaugural tackle used phrase ‘democracy’ greater than some other president’s

Biden inaugural address used word 'democracy' more than any other president's

President Joe Biden speaks after being sworn in as the 46th President of the United States during the 59th inauguration of the President at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on January 20, 2021.

Patrick Semansky | AFP | Getty Images

Standing on the spot where there had been a deadly riot at the US Capitol two weeks earlier, President Joe Biden delivered an inaugural address that uses the word “democracy” more than any other inaugural address in US history.

“This is America’s day. This is democracy day,” said Biden at the beginning of the speech. “The will of the people was heard and the will of the people was heeded. We have learned again that democracy is precious. Democracy is fragile. And at this hour, my friends, democracy has prevailed.”

Biden used the word 11 times in his address. This precedes the addresses of Harry Truman, who said “democracy” nine times in his 1949 address, and Franklin D. Roosevelt, who also did so at his third swearing-in ceremony in 1941, according to a CNBC analysis of speeches by the American Presidential Project . The project is an archive of public documents maintained by the University of California at Santa Barbara.

“What fascinated me about it was that it started and ended with democracy,” said Bill Antholis, director and CEO of the Miller Center, a non-partisan subsidiary of the University of Virginia that specializes in presidential scholarships.

Antholis, former executive director of the Brookings Institution and a member of the Clinton administration, traced the subject of Biden’s speech back to the Capitol uprising and the events that preceded it.

“I think this was a very different speech than the one that would have been written if Trump had admitted on the morning of November 4th,” said Antholis. “And since the insurrection attacked both the physical symbol and a key process in our democracy, Biden spoke at a very timely moment.”

Most common use of the word “democracy” in the President’s inaugural speeches

  • Joe Biden (2021): 11
  • Harry Truman (1949): 9
  • Franklin D. Roosevelt’s third address (1941): 9
  • Franklin D. Roosevelt’s second address (1937): 7
  • George HW Bush (1989): 5
  • Bill Clinton’s second address (1997): 4
  • Bill Clinton’s first address (1993): 4
  • Warren G. Harding (1921): 4
  • William Henry Harrison (1841): 4

Antholis noted that the term “democracy” was used more widely in political speech in the 20th century, during the time of Woodrow Wilson’s presidency, which began in 1913. Wilson, a former political science professor, adopted the term. Antholis said that Truman and Roosevelt saw themselves as “Wilsonians,” which may explain their use of the term.

Wednesday’s speech was also in stark contrast to President Donald Trump’s inaugural address four years ago when Trump spoke of “American slaughter”.

“One of the things that stood out was the normality of a very moving ceremony and the way he talked about democracy as permanent,” said Michael Waldman, president of the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law and former director for Speechwriting for President Bill Clinton.

“The images that the word carnage convey are terrible,” said Kathleen Kendall, a research professor of communications at the University of Maryland. “Biden did the opposite. I would say his main point is that America has been tested and has risen to the challenge.”

Words like “America,” “democracy,” and “unity,” all used by Biden are words that most Americans see and respond positively to, Kendall added.

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Charlottesville Impressed Biden to Run. Now It Has a Message for Him.

Charlottesville Inspired Biden to Run. Now It Has a Message for Him.

“We can band together and stop the screaming and lower the temperature,” Biden said. “Because without unity there is no peace – only bitterness and anger.”

In interviews this week, Charlottesville activists, religious leaders and civil rights groups who survived the events of 2017 urged Mr. Biden and the Democratic Party to go beyond unity as the ultimate political goal and prioritize a sense of justice that the historically excluded. When Mr Biden called Mrs Bro on the day he entered the 2019 presidential race, she urged him on his political commitments to correct racial inequalities. She declined to support him and focused more on supporting the anti-racism movement than on any individual candidate.

Local leaders say this is the legacy of the Summer of Hate as the white supremacist actions and violence of 2017 in Charlottesville are well known. When the election of Mr. Trump and the violence that followed pierced the myth of a racial America, especially among white liberals, these leaders committed themselves to the long arc of protecting democracy from white supremacy and misinformation.

“We were the canary in the coal mine,” said Jalane Schmidt, an activist and professor who teaches at the University of Virginia and who participated in activism in 2017. Comparing the current political moment with the aftermath of the civil war, she formulated the decision to join Mr Biden’s government either as a commitment to profound changes similar to reconstruction or as part of the compromise that brought it to an end.

“We have a big political party that is too big and supports undemocratic practices, the suppression of voters and the indulgence of these conspiracy theories,” said Dr. Schmidt, referring to Republicans. “So healing? Unit? You can’t do that with people who don’t adhere to basic democratic principles. “

Rev. Phil Woodson, the associate pastor of the First Methodist United Church, who was among the counter-protesters who stood up to the mob in 2017, said: “As much as Charlottesville may have been the impetus for his presidential campaign, Joe Biden did not do it in Charlottesville. “

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Senate confirms Avril Haines, first Biden Cupboard member

Senate confirms Avril Haines, first Biden Cabinet member

Avril Haines speaks during her confirmation hearing before the Senate Intelligence Committee that she will be President-elect Joe Biden’s National Intelligence Directorate on January 19, 2021 in Washington, DC.

Joe Raedle | Pool | Reuters

WASHINGTON – The Senate confirmed Avril Haines as director of national intelligence on Wednesday evening, making her the first official member of President Joe Biden’s cabinet.

Before the evening was adjourned, the Senate voted 84-10 on Haines’ confirmation.

Haines, Biden’s election to head the nation’s 18 intelligence agencies, is the first woman to hold the position.

“Our opponents will not stand by and wait for the new government to fill critical positions, and I am pleased that my Senate colleagues, together with me, have quickly confirmed Director Haines for this important post,” said Senator Marco Rubio, R-Fla., Vice chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, wrote in a statement.

“Avril Haines was the right choice for the director of the National Intelligence Service,” wrote Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, DN.Y., in a statement Wednesday evening. “We appreciate the bipartisan collaboration to be confirmed tonight and we hope there will be much more of it as the nation is in crisis and we need to deploy President Biden’s team as soon as possible,” he added.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki said in her first briefing Wednesday night that the gathering was of paramount importance to Biden’s cabinet and his national security team.

On Tuesday, Haines told the Senate Intelligence Committee, which had voted on her nomination, that one of her main initiatives would be to build trust in the country’s intelligence services.

“The DNI must never shrink from telling the truth to power – even if it can be impractical or difficult,” said Haines. “The DNI must insist that when it comes to intelligence, there is simply no place for politics – never.”

Susan Rice (left), Avril Haines and Lisa Monaco with President Barack Obama in December 2015.

Pete Souza | The White House | Wikipedia

Prior to joining the Biden administration, Haines was deputy national security adviser to former President Barack Obama.

Previously, she was also the CIA deputy director. She is the first woman to hold both positions.

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An Outdated Position With a New Gender: Emhoff Turns into the First Second Gentleman

An Old Role With a New Gender: Emhoff Becomes the First Second Gentleman

WASHINGTON – Douglas Emhoff, husband of Vice President Kamala Harris and the first second gentleman, visited the Library of Congress this month to do some “homework” on his new role. He heard the story a century ago from Lois Marshall, then the second lady in a Democratic government, and Grace Coolidge, the incoming second lady in a Republican government.

Mrs. Coolidge was nervous and unfamiliar with the city and its culture on the way to Washington. But Mrs. Marshall was there to greet her at the station when she arrived, said Meg McAleer, a history specialist in the manuscript department of the Library of Congress.

“It’s just the most empathetic contact a woman in this role makes with the woman who will take on the role,” Ms. McAleer said in an interview. “And it is not important to anyone that you switch from a Democratic to a Republican government.”

The atmosphere in the capital 100 years later is completely different after President Donald J. Trump’s efforts to undermine the 2020 election result. Mr. Emhoff had no direct contact with Karen Pence, his predecessor as Vice President, until they met on Wednesday during Inauguration Day ceremonies at the Capitol.

But she and her partners appeared at least outwardly friendly in a belated interaction on the Capitol steps before Mrs. Harris and Mr. Emhoff waved goodbye to the Pences. If nothing else, it was the kind of high profile, eagerly scrutinized moment where political spouses must learn to be graceful, and one that was unusual only because Mr. Emhoff was the first of his gender to fill that role.

With the inauguration of Mrs. Harris as the first female, black and Asian-American Vice President, the 56-year-old Emhoff registered two firsts of his own: the first male and the first Jewish wife of a President or Vice President. Although the details of what Mr Emhoff could do with the platform are unclear – he has discussed the focus on “access to justice” – his presence suggests a slow shift in gender roles in politics and beyond.

However, because of this shift, Mr. Emhoff is responsible for defining the roles of the men who come after him and for changing traditional perceptions of the role of a high profile spouse.

“I doubt people will look so carefully at what he’s wearing or whether he’s decided to get new carpeting in the living quarters of the vice president’s residence,” said Katherine Jellison, a history professor at Ohio University who studies history and women First ladies.

Ms. Harris and Mr. Emhoff were married in 2014 while Ms. Harris was the California Attorney General. Mr. Emhoff, a consumer electronics lawyer, became an avid replacement for his wife on the campaign. After the general election, Mr. Emhoff quit his job at the DLA Piper law firm, wondering if his work could lead to conflict for the Biden-Harris ticket. A transition officer declined to make him available for an interview.

The role of the vice president’s spouse is different for each person who holds it, former chiefs of staff told the vice president’s wives, with many using the platform to pursue different projects. Ms. Pence highlighted art therapy. Jill Biden, a full-time writing teacher at Northern Virginia Community College, helped launch an initiative for military families.

Like Mr. Emhoff, Marilyn Quayle, the wife of former Vice President Dan Quayle, gave up legal prosecution when her spouse entered the administration. She was looking for a law firm before Mr Quayle got on the presidential ticket with George Bush in 1988, but was later advised that the conflicts would be too big for her to practice as a lawyer and that her new position would provide a better platform to she Former Chief of Staff Marguerite Sullivan said after speaking with Ms. Quayle.

Lynne Cheney, the wife of former Vice President Dick Cheney, continued to work at the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank, while her husband served in the George W. Bush administration, said Debra Dunn, her former chief of staff.

Mr. Emhoff joined the faculty at Georgetown University Law Center and this semester is teaching a course called Entertainment Law Disputes. Ms. Pence taught art at an elementary school in Northern Virginia. Dr. Biden, who wishes to continue teaching at Northern Virginia Community College, will be the first first lady to continue her work outside the White House.

John Bessler, the husband of Senator Amy Klobuchar, Democrat of Minnesota, spent time with Mr. Emhoff on the campaign, calling him a “great ambassador” for Mrs. Harris. During the Democratic primary, a protester went on stage with little security for the candidates and took the microphone off Ms. Harris. You could see Mr. Emhoff climbing onto the stage and trying to take the microphone from the man’s hands.

Subsequently, Mr Bessler, whose wife was also a presidential candidate, sent an email to Mr Emhoff welcoming his efforts. “He was now officially the security chief for Kamala’s campaign,” Bessler recalled.

Chasten Buttigieg, a former theater teacher and husband of Pete Buttigieg, a 2020 Democratic presidential candidate and Biden’s election as Transportation Secretary, recalled a moment on the campaign with Mr. Emhoff. “I’m not a theater type,” said Chasten Buttigieg, Mr. Emhoff told him. “I’m just a husband and I’m here to tell people why I love Kamala.”

With Mr. Emhoff’s new role, men in the United States could see that they could step back and “let women lead,” Chasten Buttigieg said in an interview. “And women can be the ones who have power and like what it means to be a loving and supportive spouse, and sometimes that means taking a back seat or encouraging your spouse to fly.”

Speaking of his visit to the Library of Congress in an interview posted on his Twitter account Tuesday, Mr Emhoff reflected on the legacy he might leave to future spouses of the Vice President.

“I’m really going to take what I’ve learned when I move into this role, but I’ll make it my own too,” he said. “I understand that I’m the first gentleman to take this role, and I definitely don’t want to be the last.”

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This is all the pieces being signed on Day 1

Here's everything being signed on Day 1

In his first few hours in the Oval Office, President-elect Joe Biden plans to sign more than a dozen executive orders to address challenges like the Covid pandemic and the student debt crisis.

Biden’s orders will also help overturn many of the orders issued by President Donald Trump, including the so-called Muslim travel ban and the construction of a wall along the US-Mexico border.

Senior members of the Biden Policy Team said during a press conference Tuesday evening that Biden would sign the Executive Orders immediately after his inauguration at noon.

The list of assignments and policies reported by CNBC included a “100 Day Masking Challenge,” requiring masks and physical distancing in all federal buildings, in all states, and by federal employees and contractors.

Also included in Biden’s health-oriented orders is a reversal of Trump’s decision to withdraw the US from the World Health Organization.

Here is the full list of Biden’s Day One Executive Orders as detailed by the transition team:

  • Start a “100 Days Masking Challenge” and set a good example in the federal government
  • Re-engage with the World Health Organization to make Americans and the world safer
  • Structure of our federal government to coordinate a unified national response [to Covid-19]
  • Extension of the eviction and enforcement moratoria
  • Extension of the student loan
  • Accession to the Paris Agreement on Climate Change
  • Rollbacks President Trump’s environmental actions to protect public health and the environment, and restore science
  • Start a nationwide initiative to promote racial justice
  • Reverse President Trumps Executive Order to exclude undocumented immigrants from reallocation
  • Preserve and strengthen protections for dreamers
  • Lift the Muslim ban
  • Repeal of the Trump Interior Enforcement Executive Order
  • Stop building the border wall
  • Postponed forced departure for the presidential memorandum of the Liberians
  • Preventing and combating discrimination based on gender identity or sexual orientation
  • Personal Ethics of the Executive Executive Order
  • Regulatory Process Executive Order and Presidential Memorandum

The pandemic will continue to get worse before it gets better, said Jeff Zients, head of the Biden government’s Covid Response. ” This is clearly a national emergency and we will treat it as such. “

“We will mobilize an entire government response and work with states and municipalities and officials from both parties,” he added. “To get the vaccine out fairly as quickly as possible, we need all hands on deck to get shots in the arms and we will get everyone to work.”

Brian Deese, Biden’s decision to head the National Economic Council, followed Zients in the meeting and outlined several arrangements that will ease the financial burden on households struggling to pay rent and those working to repay student loans should.

Deese said Biden would urge the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as well as the Veterans Affairs, Agriculture and Housing and Urban Development departments, to consider extending the eviction and foreclosure moratoriums immediately.

Biden will also urge the Department of Education to extend the hiatus on interest and principal payments on direct federal loans until at least September 30th.

“These immediate measures are important,” said Deese. “There are more than 11 million mortgages guaranteed by the VA, the Department of Agriculture and the HUD that would be affected by the extension of the foreclosure moratorium.”

Regarding climate change, on day one, Biden will lead the US back to the Paris Agreement, the landmark deal that sets ambitious goals for countries to reduce their carbon footprint over the next few decades. Trump withdrew the US from the deal in 2017.

According to new climate advisor Gina McCarthy, the future president will also instruct all federal agencies to consider revising vehicle fuel emissions standards.

He will ask the Home Office to review the boundaries and conditions of the Grand Staircase-Escalante, Bears Ears, Northeast Canyons, and Seamounts Marine National Monuments. This order also imposes a temporary moratorium on all oil and natural gas leasing activities in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

Susan Rice, Biden’s decision to chair the Home Affairs Council, will lead the government’s efforts to advance racial justice and advocate other underserved communities such as LGBTQ people and people with disabilities.

Biden also plans to revoke the Trump administration’s order to exclude non-citizens from the census and division of congressional officials.

He will sign another ordinance to consolidate the program of delayed action on the arrival of children and urge Congress to “pass laws that people who came to this country as children and lived, worked and contributed to ours have permanent status and provide a route to citizenship. ” Country for many years. “

“For the first time, we will have a team of experts dedicated to justice, definition and racial justice,” said Rice. “The order is also direct [the Office of Management and Budget] Begin the work of fairer federal funding to empower underserved communities. “

Jake Sullivan, Biden’s new national security advisor, highlighted orders designed to facilitate the Trump administration’s crackdown on immigrant policing and the construction of the southern border wall.

First, Biden will lift Trump’s so-called Muslim ban, a series of two presidential proclamations restricting entry to the United States from mainly Muslim and African countries. Sullivan said these proclamations are “rooted in xenophobia” and incompatible with America’s rich history of diversity and immigration.

Biden will order an immediate halt to the construction of the southern boundary wall, which will “allow for a thorough review of the legality of the financing and contracting methods used and the best path for diverting funds diverted from the previous administration to funding wall construction.”

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Trump’s Pardons: The Checklist – The New York Instances

Trump's Pardons: The List - The New York Times

In the final hours before President Trump left office, the White House released a list early Wednesday of 73 pardons and 70 commutations that he had issued.

They came nearly a month after Mr. Trump pardoned, among others, Charles Kushner, the father of his son-in-law, Jared Kushner; Paul Manafort, his 2016 campaign chairman; and Roger J. Stone Jr., his longtime informal adviser and friend whose sentence the president had commuted in July.

The Supreme Court has ruled that the Constitution gives presidents unlimited authority to grant pardons, which excuse or forgive a federal crime. A commutation, by contrast, makes a punishment milder without wiping out the underlying conviction.

Here are some of the pardons and commutations that Mr. Trump issued during his term:

Pardon: Jan. 19, 2021

Mr. Bannon, who was Mr. Trump’s former chief strategist and an architect of his 2016 presidential campaign, was charged in August of last year with defrauding contributors to a privately funded effort to build Mr. Trump’s wall along the Mexican border.

Mr. Bannon, working with a wounded Air Force veteran and a Florida venture capitalist, conspired to cheat hundreds of thousands of donors by falsely promising that their money had been set aside for new sections of wall, according to court documents.

The pardon of Mr. Bannon was notable because he had been charged with a crime but had yet to stand trial. An overwhelming majority of pardons and commutations granted by presidents have been for those convicted and sentenced.

Pardon: Jan. 19, 2021

Mr. Elliot, a California businessman, was a leading fund-raiser for Mr. Trump’s 2016 campaign and inauguration before being tapped as deputy finance chairman for the Republican National Committee. He pleaded guilty in October to conspiring to violate foreign lobbying laws as part of a covert campaign to influence the Trump administration on behalf of Chinese and Malaysian interests.

Mr. Broidy admitted that he had accepted $9 million from Malaysian financier Jho Low, some of which was then paid to an associate, to push the Trump administration for the extradition of a Chinese dissident and to drop a case related to an embezzlement scheme from a Malaysian sovereign wealth fund that the United States has accused Mr. Low of engineering.

Mr. Levandowski, a Silicon Valley star and pioneer of self-driving car technology, was sentenced in August to 18 months in prison for stealing self-driving car trade secrets from Google. At the time of the sentencing, a federal judge ordered that Mr. Levandowski would not be required to serve his sentence until the coronavirus pandemic subsided.

He also agreed to pay more than $756,000 to Waymo, a self-driving business spun out of Google, as restitution.

Pardons and Commutation: Jan. 13 and Jan. 19, 2021

Several former political figures were among those granted clemency by Mr. Trump.

Mr. Kilpatrick, a former mayor of Detroit, had his sentence commuted. In 2013, he was sentenced to 28 years in prison after being convicted of two dozen counts, including racketeering and extortion.

Mr. Hayes, the former chairman of the North Carolina Republican Party, received a full pardon after being accused in 2019 of bribery and conspiracy to commit honest services wire fraud, along with several counts of making false statements. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to one year of probation.

Mr. Renzi, a former representative for Arizona, was pardoned by Mr. Trump. In 2013, he was sentenced to 36 months in prison in association with a bribery scheme involving an Arizona land swap deal.

Mr. Cunningham, a former representative for California, received a conditional pardon from Mr. Trump. In 2006, he was sentenced to eight years and four months in prison for taking $2.4 million in bribes from military contractors in return for smoothing the way for government contracts.

Pardon: Jan. 19, 2021

In December, the rapper Lil Wayne, born Dwayne Michael Carter Jr., pleaded guilty to having illegally carried a gold-plated .45-caliber Glock handgun and ammunition as a felon while traveling on a private jet in 2019.

Because of a prior gun conviction, he faced up to 10 years in prison. He received a full pardon.

In October of last year, Lil Wayne became the latest in a line of rappers to align themselves, however briefly, with the Mr. Trump’s re-election campaign, only to face criticism from fans and fellow artists.

Commutation: Jan. 19, 2021

The rapper Kodak Black, whose legal name is Bill Kapri (though he was born Dieuson Octave), was granted a commutation. In 2019, he was sentenced to nearly four years in prison for lying on background paperwork while attempting to buy guns. He had served nearly half of that time.

In addition to Lil Wayne and Kodak Black, another figure related to the world of hip-hop was also granted clemency by Mr. Trump. Desiree Perez, the chief executive officer of Roc Nation, the media company started by the rapper Jay-Z, was given a full pardon after being convicted in a drug conspiracy case in the 1990s.

Mr. Manafort, 71, had been sentenced in 2019 to seven and a half years in prison for his role in a decade-long, multimillion-dollar financial fraud scheme for his work in the former Soviet Union. He was released early from prison in May as a result of the coronavirus pandemic and given home confinement. Mr. Trump had repeatedly expressed sympathy for Mr. Manafort, describing him as a brave man who had been mistreated by the special counsel’s office.

Pardon: Dec. 23, 2020, Commutation: July 10, 2020

Mr. Stone, a longtime friend and adviser of Mr. Trump, was sentenced in February 2020 to more than three years in prison in a politically fraught case that put the president at odds with his attorney general. Mr. Stone was convicted of seven felony charges, including lying under oath to a congressional committee and threatening a witness whose testimony would have exposed those lies.

Mr. Trump commuted Mr. Stone’s sentence in July and then pardoned him in December. A White House statement said that Mr. Stone had been “treated very unfairly” and added that “pardoning him will help to right the injustices he faced at the hands of the Mueller investigation.”

Pardon: Dec. 23, 2020

Mr. Kushner, 66, the father-in-law of the president’s older daughter, Ivanka Trump, pleaded guilty in 2004 to 16 counts of tax evasion, a single count of retaliating against a federal witness and one of lying to the Federal Election Commission. He served two years in prison before being released in 2006.

Mr. Kushner’s prison sentence was a searing event in his family’s life.

The witness he was accused of retaliating against was his brother-in-law, whose wife, Mr. Kushner’s sister, was cooperating with federal officials in a campaign finance investigation into Mr. Kushner. Mr. Kushner was accused of videotaping his brother-in-law with a prostitute and then sending it to his sister.

The case was prosecuted by then-U.S. Attorney Chris Christie, a longtime Trump friend who went on to become governor of New Jersey.

PARDON: DEC. 22, 2020

George Papadopoulos, a foreign policy adviser to Mr. Trump’s 2016 campaign, pleaded guilty in 2017 to making false statements to federal officials as part of the investigation by the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III.

Mr. Papadopoulos served 12 days in jail for lying to the F.B.I. about his contacts with Russian intermediaries during the 2016 presidential race. He later published a book portraying himself as a victim of a “deep state” plot to “bring down President Trump.”

Also pardoned was Alex van der Zwaan, a lawyer who was sentenced in April 2018 to 30 days in prison for lying to investigators for the special counsel’s office who were investigating Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.

Three former Republican members of Congress were pardoned by Mr. Trump: Duncan Hunter of California, Chris Collins of New York and Steve Stockman of Texas.

Mr. Hunter was set to begin serving an 11-month sentence in January. He pleaded guilty in 2019 to one charge of misusing campaign funds. Prosecutors said he had funneled more than $150,000 from his campaign coffers to pay for a lavish lifestyle.

On Dec. 23, Mr. Trump pardoned Margaret Hunter, Mr. Hunter’s estranged wife, who had also pleaded guilty to charges of misusing campaign funds for personal expenses.

Mr. Collins, an early endorser of Mr. Trump, is serving a 26-month sentence after pleading guilty in 2019 to charges of making false statements to the F.B.I. and to conspiring to commit securities fraud. He admitted passing private information about an Australian drug company to his son to help him avoid financial losses.

Updated 

Jan. 20, 2021, 8:57 a.m. ET

Mr. Stockman was convicted in 2018 on charges of fraud and money laundering and was serving a 10-year sentence. He was charged with stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars meant for charity and using it to pay for personal expenses and his political campaigns.

Pardon: Nov. 25, 2020

Michael T. Flynn, a former national security adviser who twice pleaded guilty to lying to the F.B.I. about his conversations with a Russian diplomat, and whose prosecution Attorney General William P. Barr tried to shut down, was the only White House official to be convicted as part of the Trump-Russia investigation.

In a statement about Mr. Flynn’s pardon, White House officials said he never should have been prosecuted and that the president’s action had finally brought “to an end the relentless, partisan pursuit of an innocent man.”

PARDON: DEC. 22, 2020

Mr. Trump issued full pardons to Nicholas Slatton and three other former U.S. service members who were convicted on charges related to the killing of Iraqi civilians while they were working as security contractors for Blackwater, a private company, in 2007.

Mr. Slatten and the others — Paul Slough, Evan Liberty and Dustin Heard — were sentenced for their role in the killing of 17 Iraqi civilians in Nisour Square in Baghdad. The massacre that left one of the most lasting stains of the war on the United States. Among the dead were two boys, 8 and 11.

Mr. Slatten had been sentenced to life in prison after the Justice Department had gone to great lengths to prosecute him.

Pardon: Aug. 25, 2017

Joe Arpaio, an anti-immigration crusader who enjoyed calling himself “America’s toughest sheriff,” was the first pardon of Mr. Trump’s presidency.

Once one of the most popular — and divisive — figures in Arizona, Mr. Arpaio was elected sheriff of Maricopa County five times before he was ultimately charged with criminal contempt for defying a court order to stop detaining people solely on the suspicion that they were undocumented immigrants. Mr. Arpaio was pardoned less than a month after he was found guilty.

Conrad M. Black, a former press baron and friend of Mr. Trump’s, was granted a full pardon 12 years after his sentencing for fraud and obstruction of justice.

Mr. Black, who once owned The Chicago Sun-Times, The Jerusalem Post and The Daily Telegraph of London, among other newspapers, was convicted of fraud in 2007 with three other former executives of Hollinger International.

Mr. Black, who was released from prison in 2012, is the author of several pro-Trump opinion articles as well as a flattering book, “Donald J. Trump: A President Like No Other.”

COMMUTATION: Feb. 18, 2020

Dinesh D’Souza received a presidential pardon after pleading guilty to making illegal campaign contributions in 2014. Mr. D’Souza, a filmmaker and author whose subjects often dabble in conspiracy theories, had long blamed his conviction on his political opposition to Mr. Obama.

In issuing his pardon, Mr. Trump said that Mr. D’Souza had been “treated very unfairly by our government,” echoing a claim the commentator has often made himself.

Edward J. DeBartolo Jr., a former owner of the San Francisco 49ers, pleaded guilty in 1998 to concealing an extortion plot. Mr. DeBartolo was prosecuted after he gave Edwin W. Edwards, the influential former governor of Louisiana, $400,000 to secure a riverboat gambling license for his gambling consortium.

Although Mr. DeBartolo avoided prison, he was fined $1 million and was suspended for a year by the N.F.L.

commutation: June 6, 2018; Pardon: Aug. 28, 2019

Alice Marie Johnson was serving life in a federal prison for a nonviolent drug conviction before her case was brought to Mr. Trump’s attention by the reality television star Kim Kardashian West.

The president’s decision to commute her sentence freed Ms. Johnson, who had been locked up in Alabama since 1996 on charges related to cocaine distribution and money laundering. Mr. Trump later pardoned Ms. Johnson on Aug. 28, 2019.

Pardons: 2018-20

Mr. Trump has issued posthumous pardons to three historical figures.

Jack Johnson, the first Black heavyweight boxing champion, was tarnished by a racially tainted criminal conviction in 1913 — for transporting a white woman across state lines — that haunted him well after his death in 1946. Mr. Trump pardoned him on May 24, 2018.

Susan B. Anthony, the women’s suffragist, was arrested in Rochester, N.Y., in 1872 for voting illegally and was fined $100. Mr. Trump pardoned her on Aug. 18, the 100th anniversary of the ratification of 19th Amendment, which extended voting rights to women.

Zay Jeffries, a metal scientist whose contributions to the Manhattan Project and whose development of armor-piercing artillery shells helped the Allies win World War II, was granted a posthumous pardon on Oct. 10, 2019. Jeffries was found guilty in 1948 of an antitrust violation related to his work and was fined $2,500.

Ten years ago, Bernard B. Kerik, a former New York City police commissioner, was sentenced to four years in prison after pleading guilty to eight felony charges, including tax fraud and lying to White House officials.

Mr. Trump said he heard from more than a dozen people about pardoning Mr. Kerik, including Rudolph W. Giuliani, the former New York mayor and Mr. Trump’s personal lawyer. Mr. Kerik’s rise to prominence dates to the 1993 campaign for mayor in New York City, when he served as Mr. Giuliani’s bodyguard and chauffeur. After the pardon was announced, Mr. Kerik expressed his gratitude to Mr. Trump on Twitter. “With the exception of the birth of my children,” he wrote, “today is one of the greatest days in my life.”

Pardon: April 13, 2018

I. Lewis Libby Jr., known as Scooter, was Vice President Dick Cheney’s top adviser before Mr. Libby was convicted in 2007 of four felony counts, including perjury and obstruction of justice, in connection with the disclosure of the identity of a C.I.A. officer, Valerie Plame.

Mr. Libby had maintained his innocence for years, and his portrayal as a victim of an unfair prosecution ultimately found favor with Mr. Trump.

Pardon: Nov. 15, 2019

Mr. Trump’s decision to clear three members of the armed services who had been accused or convicted of war crimes signaled that the president intended to use his power as the ultimate arbiter of military justice.

He ordered full pardons of Clint Lorance, a former Army lieutenant who was serving a 19-year sentence for the murder of two civilians, and Maj. Mathew L. Golsteyn, an Army Special Forces officer who was facing murder charges for killing an unarmed Afghan he believed was a Taliban bomb maker.

The president also reversed the demotion of Chief Petty Officer Edward Gallagher, a Navy SEAL who had been acquitted of murder charges but convicted of a lesser offense in a high-profile war crimes case.

All three had been championed by prominent conservatives who had portrayed them as war heroes unfairly prosecuted for actions taken in the heat and confusion of battle.

Michael R. Milken was the billionaire “junk bond king” and a well-known financier on Wall Street in the 1980s. In 1990, he pleaded guilty to securities fraud and conspiracy charges and was sentenced to 10 years in prison, though his sentence was later reduced to two. He also agreed to pay $600 million in fines and penalties.

Mr. Milken did not have a pardon or commutation application pending at the Justice Department’s pardons office, meaning that the president made that decision entirely without official department input. Among those arguing for Mr. Milken to be pardoned was Mr. Giuliani, who as the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York prosecuted Mr. Milken.

Pardon: July 10, 2018

Dwight Hammond and his son, Steven Hammond, were Oregon cattle ranchers who had been serving five-year sentences for arson on federal land. Their cases inspired an antigovernment group’s weekslong standoff at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Oregon in 2016 and brought widespread attention to anger over federal land management in the Western United States.

The occupation, led by the Bundy family, drew militia members who commandeered government buildings and vehicles in tactical gear and long guns, promising to defend the family. During his campaign, Mr. Trump played to that sense of Western grievance, and the pardon of the Hammonds was a signal to conservatives that he was sympathetic.

David H. Safavian, the top federal procurement official under President George W. Bush, was sentenced in 2009 to a year in prison for covering up his ties to Jack Abramoff, the disgraced lobbyist whose corruption became a symbol of the excesses of Washington influence peddling. Mr. Safavian was convicted of obstruction of justice and making false statements.

Pardon: Feb. 18, 2020

Angela Stanton — an author, television personality and motivational speaker — served six months of home confinement in 2007 for her role in a stolen-vehicle ring. Her book “Life of a Real Housewife” explores her difficult upbringing and her encounters with reality TV stars.

Before her pardon, she gave interviews in which she declared her support for Mr. Trump. In announcing her pardon, the White House credited her with working “tirelessly to improve re-entry outcomes for people returning to their communities upon release from prison.”

Mr. Trump has pardoned a number of other people, including a construction executive whose family donated heavily to the president’s re-election effort and a man convicted of bank robbery who started a nonprofit that helps former prisoners.

  • Paul Pogue, a former owner of a Texas construction company, was pardoned on Feb. 18, 2020, for tax charges after his family contributed more than $200,000 to Mr. Trump’s re-election effort.

  • Ariel Friedler, a former executive of a software development company who pleaded guilty to conspiring to hack a competitor, secured a pardon on Feb. 18, 2020, with the help of Chris Christie, the former governor of New Jersey and a close ally of Mr. Trump’s.

  • Michael Chase Behenna, a former Army lieutenant, served five years in prison for fatally shooting an Iraqi man in American custody in 2008. Mr. Trump pardoned him on May 6, 2019. His case had “attracted broad support from the military, Oklahoma elected officials, and the public,” according to the White House.

  • Patrick James Nolan, a Republican former leader of the California State Assembly, pleaded guilty in 1994 to corruption charges and accepted a 33-month sentence. After his release, he became a supporter of criminal justice reform, according to the White House. Mr. Trump pardoned him on May 15, 2019.

  • Michael Anthony Tedesco, who was convicted of drug trafficking and fraud in 1990, was pardoned on July 29, 2019. President Obama had already pardoned Mr. Tedesco in 2017, but Mr. Trump’s action fixed a clerical error related to the pardoning of Mr. Tedesco’s fraud conviction.

  • Roy Wayne McKeever was arrested on charges of transporting marijuana from Mexico to Oklahoma in 1989, when he was 19, and was sentenced to one year in prison. Mr. Trump pardoned him on July 29, 2019. A White House statement called him “an active member of the Sheriffs’ Association of Texas.”

  • John Richard Bubala pleaded guilty to the improper use of federal property in 1990 and was pardoned on July 29, 2019. A White House statement said Mr. Bubala had been transferring automotive equipment to an Indiana town for maintenance and his “primary aim was to help the town.”

  • Chalmer Lee Williams was an airport baggage handler who was convicted on charges related to the theft and sale of weapons and was sentenced to four months in prison in 1995. The White House said in a statement that Mr. Williams had accepted responsibility for his actions. Mr. Trump pardoned him on July 29, 2019.

  • Rodney M. Takumi, who was arrested while working at an illegal gambling parlor in 1987, pleaded no contest and was sentenced to two years of probation and fined $250. Mr. Trump pardoned him on July 29, 2019. The White House said Mr. Takumi was the owner of a tax preparation franchise in the Navajo Nation.

  • Jon Donyae Ponder, who pleaded guilty to bank robbery in 2005, started a nonprofit that helps former prisoners after he was released from prison in 2009. Mr. Trump pardoned him on Aug. 25, 2020, shortly before the Republican National Convention entered its second night. The pardon was announced in a seven-minute video in which the president called Mr. Ponder’s life “a beautiful testament to the power of redemption.”

  • Two former Border Patrol agents, whose sentences for their roles in the shooting of an alleged drug trafficker had previously been commuted by President George W. Bush, were granted full pardons on Dec. 22.

Marie Fazio and Christina Morales contributed reporting.

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Politics

Trump pardons Steve Bannon, Elliott Broidy, others on final night time in White Home

Trump pardons Steve Bannon, Elliott Broidy, others on last night in White House

President Donald Trump speaks at a Make America Great Again rally at the Civic Center in Charleston, West Virginia.

Leah Millis | Reuters

President Donald Trump issued dozens of pardons on his last night at the White House, including one to his former campaign manager and ex-White House adviser Steve Bannon, who was accused of cheating on donors to allegedly close a border wall build Mexico.

Others who received some of Trump’s 73 pardons were great Republican fundraiser Elliott Broidy, who pleaded guilty to acting as an unregistered foreign agent last fall, and rapper Lil Wayne, who pleaded guilty to a gun charge last month

Former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, who has served a 28-year prison sentence for fraud, has been commuted by Trump, as has Eliyahu Weinstein, who had 16 years left, in a case where he cheated hundreds serving a sentence of millions of dollars from victims in a New Jersey-based Ponzi program.

Another rapper, Kodak Black, who served a three-year prison sentence on gun charges, was also sentenced to prison. A total of 67 other people were convicted by Trump.

Trump did not apologize to himself or any of his adult children despite speculating he would, despite no pending federal criminal charges against either of them.

Bannon, former head of the conservative news site Breitbart, was arrested with several co-defendants in New York on federal charges last year but was still on trial in this case, where he was free on a $ 5 million bond.

He and the other defendants are accused of defrauding donors to a nonprofit group that allegedly intended to use the money to build a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border, a political obsession with Trump and many of his supporters.

Another pardon was Anthony Levandowski, a former engineer at Google’s self-driving car unit, who was sentenced to 18 months in prison last August for stealing more than 14,000 Google files before leaving the company to join Uber’s robocar efforts.

The judge in Levandowski’s case called it “the greatest trade secret crime I have ever seen”.

Former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon leaves Manhattan federal court after his wire fraud and money laundering conspiracy hearing on August 20, 2020 in New York.

Andrew Kelly | Reuters

Kenneth Kurson, a confidante of Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, also received a pardon. Kurson, who was once the editor of a Kushner-owned newspaper in New York, was charged in Brooklyn federal court last year with cyberstalking and harassment of three people, including a former friend whom he blamed for breaking up his marriage.

Another recipient of a pardon was the conservative politician Paul Erickson, a former friend of the secret Kremlin agent Maria Butina. Erickson was sentenced to 7 years in prison last July for wire fraud and money laundering.

The pardons were the third major group of pardons Trump has issued to Joe Biden, who is due to be inaugurated as president on Wednesday, since losing his election in November.

In December, Trump pardoned the gallery of an associated criminal, including his former campaign manager Paul Manafort, Republican political agent and long-time Trump friend Roger Stone, his daughter Ivanka’s father-in-law Charles Kushner, and former campaign advisor George Papadopoulos.

Others Trump pardoned last month included four former Blackwater USA guards convicted of the murder of 14 unarmed Iraqi civilians in 2007, disgraced ex-GOP Congressmen Duncan Hunter and Chris Collins, and Philips Esformes, a Florida health facility owner convicted of prosecution said it was the largest healthcare fraud ever charged by the Justice Department.

Presidential pardons only apply to federal criminal convictions. Presidents do not have the power to excuse people for state crimes.

Trump’s company, the Trump Organization, is currently under criminal investigation by Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr.

The investigation, which originally focused on how the company recorded hush money payments to two women who claimed to have sex with Trump – which denies their allegations – has since been expanded to include questions about how the Trump organization values ​​real estate wealth.

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Politics

Biden Staff Delays Naming Some Interim Officers Till Trump Is Out

Biden Team Delays Naming Some Interim Officials Until Trump Is Out

Although the Biden team did not publicly disclose the names of some officials, the identities appear to be known within the agencies. A person briefed on the process said the Biden team had selected Lora Shiao to serve as director of national intelligence until the Senate upheld the election of Mr Biden, Avril D. Haines. She has been the agency’s Chief Operating Officer since September. Similarly, one person briefed on the decision said that Monty Wilkinson, a low profile hiring manager at the Justice Department, would step up as acting attorney general.

In some cases it was not easy to find an interim officer. At the Department of Defense, the Biden team struggled to appoint a Trump agent, David L. Norquist, to the department, if only for a few days until Mr Biden’s candidate, Lloyd J. Austin III, is confirmed. By law, a Senate-approved member of the department, in this case Mr. Norquist, automatically takes over the duties of secretary when the secretary is absent. Mr. Biden ultimately chose to stick with the tradition, and Mr. Norquist will do so until Mr. Austin is sworn in.

The Biden transition team has reason not to trust Trump loyalists in at least one instance. In the past few months, transition officials have clashed with senior Pentagon officials. First, the Pentagon blocked the transition team’s access to some intelligence agencies. Then the Pentagon announced in briefings in mid-December a “mutually agreed vacation break”, only to tell Biden transition numbers that there was no such agreement. The Pentagon hired a Trump loyalist, Kashyap Patel, to oversee the transition, which frustrated some members of the president-elect’s transition team.

In a sign of persistent tension, the Biden transition team refused to vacate office space at the Pentagon after the inauguration, Christopher C. Miller, the acting Secretary of Defense. An official on the Biden transition team cited Mr Miller’s status and the coronavirus pandemic for the decision previously reported by Bloomberg.

At the Justice Department, the Biden team was looking for an interim attorney general who, at any point during the Trump administration, was not involved in the myriad political scandals that have defined the agency.

In the election of Mr. Wilkinson, who oversaw the Department of Justice’s human resources, security planning and library and is unknown even to most Washington insiders, the Biden transition team hoped for a stable and drama-free hand to lead the department through to the judge Merrick B. Garland, Mr. Biden’s candidate for attorney general, could be confirmed in the coming weeks, according to a person briefed on the decision.

For the most part, the publicly appointed interim agency directors across government are impartial career officials.