2020 US Election Disputes

Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger's office is investigating allegations that Pro-Trump attorney Lin Wood has allegedly voted illegally in the November general election. The investigation comes after a reporter with WSB-TV in Atlanta published an email from Wood in which he stated he had been living in South Carolina for several months.

"I have been a resident of the State of Georgia since 1955. I have changed my residency to South Carolina yesterday," Wood told CNN. "This is pure harassment by the Georgia Secretary of State."

The Federal Bureau of Investigation has published a statement, asking for "information related to violent activity at the U.S. Capitol Building" that happened on Wednesday while the US Senate was to certify the Electoral College results.

"The FBI is seeking information that will assist in identifying individuals who are actively instigating violence in Washington, DC. The FBI is accepting tips and digital media depicting rioting and violence in the U.S. Capitol Building and surrounding area in Washington, DC, on January 6, 2021," the statement reads. "If you have witnessed unlawful violent actions, we urge you to submit any information, photos, or videos that could be relevant at fbi.gov/USCapitol. [...] You may also call ‪1-800-CALL-FBI (1-‪800-225-5324) to verbally report tips and/or information related to this investigation."

President-elect Joe Biden on Thursday addressed the aftermath of the U.S. Capitol riots on Twitter, condemning the violence and calling it "one of the darkest days in the history of our nation, an unprecedented assault on our nation."

"What we witnessed yesterday was not dissent. It was not a disorder. It was not a protest. It was chaos. They weren't protesters. Don't dare call them protesters. They were a riotous mob. Insurrectionists. Domestic terrorists. It's that basic. It's that simple," so Biden, adding that Trump "unleashed an all-out assault on our institutions of our democracy from the outset. And yesterday was the culmination of that unrelenting attack" and was "trying to use a mob to silence the voices of nearly 160 million Americans."

"No one can tell me that if it had been a group of Black Lives Matter protesting yesterday, they would have been treated very, very differently than the mob of thugs that stormed the Capitol. We all know that's true. And it's unacceptable. Totally unacceptable," Biden continued.

Addressing his Justice Department nominees, Biden says: "You won't work for me. You are not the president or the vice president's lawyer. Your loyalty is not to me. It's to the law. The Constitution. The people of this nation."

Various Trump administration staffers resigned following the violent protests of Pro-Trump supporters at the US Capitol Wednesday.

Among those who resigned are President Donald Trump's former acting chief of staff and U.S. special envoy to Northern Ireland Mick Mulvaney, deputy national security adviser Matthew Pottinger, White House social secretary Anna Cristina "Rickie" Niceta, White House Council of Economic Advisers Tyler Goodspeed and First Lady Melania Trump's chief of staff and a former press secretary to the president Stephanie Grisham.

After lawmakers in the Senate and the House affirmed President-elect Joe Biden's victory, President Trump released a statement promising "an orderly transition on January 20th," while still disagreeing with the outcome of the election.

"Even though I totally disagree with the outcome of the election, and the facts bear me out, nevertheless there will be an orderly transition on January 20th. I have always said we would continue our fight to ensure that only legal votes were counted. While this represents the end of the greatest first term in presidential history, it's only the beginning of our fight to Make America Great Again," so Trump.

After the US parliamentary seat was forcibly stormed, Congress officially confirmed the victory of Democrat Joe Biden in the presidential election.

Political leaders across the globe, have expressed their concern and shock as Pro-Trump supporters stormed the US Capitol and condemned the violence happening on the day the US Senate was to certify the Electoral College results.

"The right of people to exercise a vote, have their voice heard and then have that decision upheld peacefully should never be undone by a mob," so Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern of New Zealand and said she and her countrymen were "devastated" by the events.

Leader of the nationalist League party in Italy, Matteo Salvini, who has been a vocal supporter of Trump, said on Twitter that "violence is never the solution" and Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India called for an "orderly and peaceful transfer of power."

During the violent protests of Pro-Trump supporters at the US Capitol, four people died, according to the Metropolitan Police Department. One woman was shot inside the Capitol by a Capitol Police officer and three died after suffering "medical emergencies".

Twitter has stated that three tweets of the United States President Donald Trump have been removed because they were in "severe" violation of Twitters "Civic Integrity policy".

This means that Trump needs to remove the tweets and his account will be locked for 12 hours following the removal of the tweets.

After breaching multiple layers of security, pro-Trump supports were able to gain access to the Capitol building. According to reports, protestors are now outside the Senate chamber.

Capitol security has asked people to lock all doors if able, seek shelter immediately, remain quiet, and wait for further direction. Matt Laslo, the managing editor of The News Station, reported on Twitter.

Senators were ushered to the Senate floor, and the chamber was locked, Mike Pence was seen being escorted out of chambers by Secret Service agents.

Brad Raffensperger, the Secretary of State in Georgia, has stated that it would be unlikely for his office to open an investigation into the weekend phone call he had with the US President Donald Trump.

According to him a criminal probe by the Atlanta-area district attorney could still be launched. In addition, he stated "the Fulton County District Attorney wants to look at it. Maybe that’s the appropriate venue for it to go".

According to an hourlong audio recording of a phone call, President Donald Trump demanded that Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger "find 11,780 votes" to overturn the 2020 presidential election.

"I just want to find 11,780 votes, which is one more than we have, because we won the state," the President said in the recording that was obtained by the Washington Post.

When told by Raffensperger that he believed the state had " an accurate election", Trump replied by: "No, no, no, you don’t, you don’t have, you don’t have, not even close. You guys, you’re off by hundreds of thousands of votes."

"You know what they did and you’re not reporting it. You know, that’s a criminal — that’s a criminal offense. And you know, you can’t let that happen. That’s a big risk to you and to Ryan, your lawyer. That’s a big risk," Trump added.

At least 140 House Republicans plan to vote against the certification of President-elect Joe Biden, two Republican members of the House of Representatives told CNN, even though there is virtually no chance of overturning the 2020 presidential election. House Republicans would need the support of both one senator and a House member to mount an objection when Congress counts the votes.

Senator Josh Hawley, a Missouri Republican, has stated he would object to the Electoral College results next week when Congress meets to officially certify President-elect Joe Biden's victory, forcing lawmakers in both the House and Senate to vote on whether to accept the results of the 2020 election. Even though Hawley's objection won't change the election's outcome, it can delay the affirmation of Biden's win.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has congratulated President-elect Joe Biden on winning the election, making him the highest-ranking Republican to do so, weeks after Biden was declared winner.

"Many of us hoped that the presidential election would yield a different result, but our system of government has processes to determine who will be sworn in on Jan. 20. The Electoral College has spoken. So today, I want to congratulate President-elect Joe Biden," so McConnell in a speech on the Senate floor.

Representative Paul Mitchell of Michigan has quit the Republican Party over its refusal to accept a defeat in the US election, he said in a statement posted to Twitter on Monday.

"It is unacceptable for political candidates to treat our election system as though we are a third- world nation and incite distrust of something so basic as the sanctity of our vote. Further, it is unacceptable for the president to attack the Supreme Court of the United States because its judges, both liberal and conservative, did not rule with his side or that "the Court failed him." It was our Founding Fathers' objective to insulate the Supreme Court from such blatant political motivations," so Mitchell.

Attorney General William Barr will resign next week, President Donald Trump announced on Twitter shortly after the Electoral College confirmed Joe Biden as the next president of the United States. Barr has been one of Trump's closet allies, advancing the president's political agenda and carried the administration's "law and order" message, but later lost his standing with Trump after declaring that the claims that the election was littered with fraud were unfounded.

"Just had a very nice meeting with Attorney General Bill Barr at the White House. Our relationship has been a very good one, he has done an outstanding job! As per letter, Bill will be leaving just before Christmas to spend the holidays with his family," so Trump on Twitter, adding that Deputy Attorney General Jeff Rosen will become Acting Attorney General.

The Electoral College has elected Joe Biden as the next president of the United State on Monday, putting an end to the Trump campaigns effort to change the election results. In his speech, Biden said that "faith in our institutions held" and that "the integrity of our elections remains intact" while promising to turn the page "to unite" and "to heal."

The results reaffirmed that President-elect Joe Biden as the winner following three counts of ballots.

Monday's certification locks in the state's results for Biden before the Dec. 14 Electoral College vote.

Gabriel Sterling, Georgia’s voting system implementation manager and a Republican, has asked President Donald Trump to tone down his rhetoric disputing the election results to "stop inspiring people to commit potential acts of violence."

"Mr President, it looks like you likely lost the state of Georgia. We’re investigating, there’s always a possibility, I get it. You have the rights to go to the courts. What you don’t have the ability to do – and you need to step up and say this – is stop inspiring people to commit potential acts of violence. Someone is going to get hurt, someone is going to get shot, someone is going to get killed, and it’s not right. It’s not right," so Sterling at a press conference on Tuesday.

Sterling had received threats after election results were announced and had police protection around his home last week.