Georgia counties prepare for hand tally of presidential race
ATLANTA — As Georgia counties prepare for a hand tally of the presidential race, the state’s top elections official plans to quarantine after his wife tested positive for the coronavirus, his office said Thursday.
The count stems from an audit required by a new state law, not because there are any questions about the integrity of the election in Georgia or the results. Democrat Joe Biden leads Republican President Donald Trump by 14,000 votes. There are no examples of similar recounts that have overturned leads of that magnitude.
“The point of the audit is to show the machines counted the ballots fairly,” said Gabriel Sterling, who oversaw the implementation of the state’s new voting system for the secretary of state’s office.
County election officials must begin the hand tally by 9 a.m. Friday and complete it by 11:59 p.m. Wednesday, state officials said. The state certification deadline is Nov. 20.
Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger’s wife, Tricia, tested positive on Thursday, the deputy secretary of state, Jordan Fuchs, told The Associated Press. Brad Raffensperger was going to get tested and plans to self-quarantine as a precaution even if his test is negative, Fuchs said, adding that the secretary’s quarantine will not affect the audit.
Prosecutor reads racist messages by Ahmaud Arbery’s killer
BRUNSWICK, Ga. — The man who fatally shot Ahmaud Arbery had previously used racial slurs in a text message and on social media, a prosecutor said Thursday as a judge weighed whether to grant bond for the defendant and his father.
Travis McMichael and his father, Gregory McMichael, have been jailed since their arrests in May, more than two months after Arbery was slain. The McMichaels, who are white, chased and fatally shot the 25-year-old Black man after they spotted him running in their neighborhood just outside the port city of Brunswick.
Questions about whether racism played a role in the killing sharpened during a previous hearing when an investigator testified that a third defendant, who took cellphone video of the shooting, told authorities he heard Travis McMichael, 34, utter a racial slur after he blasted Arbery three times with a shotgun.
In the courtroom Thursday, Zachary Langford — a friend of Travis McMichael’s since boyhood — testified his friend was a jokester who got along with everyone and had at least one Black friend.
Then prosecutor Jesse Evans asked Langford about a text message Travis McMichael had sent him last year that used a slur for Black people when referring to a “crackhead … with gold teeth.”
Justice Dept.: ‘Poor judgment’ used in Epstein plea deal
WASHINGTON — A Justice Department report has found former Labor Secretary Alex Acosta exercised “poor judgment” in handling an investigation into wealthy financier Jeffrey Epstein when he was a top federal prosecutor in Florida. But it also says that he did not engage in professional misconduct.
The report, obtained by The Associated Press, is a culmination of an investigation by the Justice Department’s Office of Professional Responsibility into Acosta’s handling of a secret plea deal with Epstein, who had been accused of sexually abusing dozens of underage girls.
Though the report faulted Acosta for his judgment, it concluded that his actions in arranging the deal did not constitute misconduct, and that none of the prosecutors involved committed misconduct in their interactions with the victims. The conclusions are likely to disappoint the victims, who have long hoped the internal investigation would hold Justice Department officials accountable for actions they say allowed Epstein to escape justice.
In a statement, Acosta expressed vindication at the report’s conclusion that he had not committed misconduct, saying it “fully debunks” allegations that he had cut a sweetheart deal for Epstein. He said the report confirmed that his decision to open an investigation into Epstein had resulted in a jail sentence and a sex offender registration for the financier.
“OPR’s report and public records document that without federal involvement, Epstein would have walked free,” Acosta said in the statement.
Vatican calling: Pope congratulates Joe Biden on election
It’s not exactly divine intervention, but even the pope considers the U.S. presidential race over.
President-elect Joe Biden, a lifelong Roman Catholic, spoke to Pope Francis on Thursday, despite President Donald Trump refusing to concede. Trump claims — without evidence — that the election was stolen from him through massive but unspecified acts of fraud.
Biden’s transition team said in a statement that the president-elect thanked Francis for “extending blessings and congratulations and noted his appreciation.” He also saluted the pontiff’s “leadership in promoting peace, reconciliation, and the common bonds of humanity around the world.”
Biden said he hopes to work with Francis on issues such as climate change, poverty and immigration.
News of the call came even as some Catholic bishops in the U.S. decline to acknowledge Biden’s victory and argue that the faithful should not back him because of his support for abortion rights.
75-foot spruce to be NYC’s Rockefeller Center Christmas tree
ONEONTA, N.Y. — The 75-foot Norway spruce that will anchor New York City’s holiday festivities as the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree was cut down in upstate New York on Thursday and will soon be headed to Manhattan.
The tree was donated by Al Dick of Daddy Al’s General Store in Oneonta, developer Tishman Speyer said in a release. It will be trucked to New York City and erected at Rockefeller Center on Saturday.
Details about the tree-lighting ceremony will be released in the coming days, the developers said.
“This year, we just feel the tree is vital,” Tishman Speyer CEO Rob Speyer said, alluding to the coronavirus pandemic that has forced the cancellation of other holiday traditions like the Radio City Christmas Spectacular.
Speyer said the company is “particularly proud to continue the joyous tradition this year.”