The White House’s prep work for a potential transition should Democratic candidate Joe Biden emerge victorious in the November elections is reportedly underway, despite President Donald Trump refusing to commit to a peaceful transition of power.
Politico reported on Thursday that Trump aide Chris Liddell has been quietly working on a blueprint with a career official over the past several months and filed two transition reports by their deadlines in May and August. White House attorney Pat Cipollone is also reportedly assisting Liddell.
Additionally, the Department of Justice has reportedly agreed to pre-process security clearances for Biden officials.
White House spokesperson Judd Deere confirmed to TPM that Trump is aware of Liddell’s operations.
In the meantime, Trump has been signaling that he will not accept the results of the elections on November 3 if he loses, citing the false claim that mail-in voting will cause election fraud that would rig the election against him.
“Well, we’re going to have to see what happens,” Trump said on Wednesday when asked if he’d accept a potential defeat. “Get rid of the ballots and you’ll have a very peaceful — there won’t be a transfer, frankly. There will be a continuation. The ballots are out of control.”
The President dug his heel in on Thursday, saying the election needs to be “honest” and that he’s “not sure” it can be.
“We have to be very careful with the ballots…the ballots, that’s a whole big scam,” Trump falsely claimed.
This post has been updated to include Deere’s confirmation to TPM.
