2020 Presidential Campaign Blog

President-elect Joe Biden Appoints Brian Deese as Director of the National Economic Council

President-elect Biden Appoints Brian Deese as Director of the National Economic Council

WASHINGTON – Today, President-elect Joe Biden announced that veteran economic and climate expert Brian Deese will be appointed to serve as Director of the National Economic Council, a top White House advisory position created in 1993 to help inform, design, and coordinate the economic components of the president’s policy agenda.

A former Deputy Director of the National Economic Council, Deputy Director of the Office of Management and Budget, and senior advisor to President Obama, Deese played a leading role both in rescuing the U.S. auto industry and in negotiating the landmark Paris Agreement on climate during the Obama-Biden administration. In his new role, Deese will help President-elect Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris lift America out of the current economic downturn and build back better — creating an economy that gives every single person across America a fair shot and an equal chance to get ahead.

President-elect Joe Biden said, “Brian is among the most tested and accomplished public servants in the country — a trusted voice I can count on to help us end the ongoing economic crisis, build a better economy that deals everybody in, and take on the existential threat of climate change in a way that creates good-paying American jobs.”

The following White House announcement was made today:

Brian Deese, Director of the National Economic Council

Brian Deese will serve as Director of the National Economic Council, advising President-elect Biden on domestic and international economic policy and coordinating the economic agenda of the Biden-Harris Administration. A former Senior Advisor to President Barack Obama who was instrumental both in engineering the rescue of the U.S. auto industry and in negotiating the landmark Paris Climate Agreement, Deese is a crisis-tested advisor with broad experience in accelerating economic prosperity, empowering working Americans, and harnessing the economic opportunities that come from building a clean energy economy and combating the climate crisis.

Deese has held a variety of key roles helping national leaders navigate some of the biggest challenges of this generation. During the Obama-Biden Administration, he served as Special Assistant to the President for Economic Policy after the 2008 financial crisis, as Deputy Director of the National Economic Council, and as Deputy Director and Acting Director of the Office of Management and Budget. In his role as Global Head of Sustainable Investing at BlackRock, Deese has worked to drive greater focus on climate and sustainability risk in investment portfolios and create investment strategies to help accelerate the low-carbon transition. Deese received his bachelor of arts from Middlebury College, and his JD from Yale Law School.

Vice President-elect Kamala Harris Announces Members of White House Senior Staff

Vice President-elect Kamala Harris Announces Members of White House Senior Staff

WASHINGTON – Today, Vice President-elect Kamala Harris announced new members of her White House senior staff. These public servants reflect the very best of our nation, embody the president and vice-president-elect’s commitment to building a team that looks like America, and have the experience to hit the ground running on day one.

“Leading my office as Chief of Staff will be Tina Flournoy, whose deep experience, public policy expertise, and accomplished career in public service make her uniquely qualified for this important position. Tina brings a strong commitment to serving the American people, and her leadership will be critical as we work to overcome the unprecedented challenges facing our nation. Serving as my National Security Advisor will be Ambassador Nancy McEldowney, whose distinguished Foreign Service career and leadership abroad will be invaluable as we keep the American people safe and advance our country's interests around the world. And serving as my Domestic Policy Advisor will be Rohini Kosoglu, who is not only an expert on some of the most important issues facing the American people, but also one of my closest and most trusted aides from the Senate and presidential campaign,” said Vice President-elect Kamala Harris.

She continued, “Together with the rest of my team, today’s appointees will work to get this virus under control, open our economy responsibly and make sure it lifts up all Americans, and restore and advance our country's leadership around the world.” 

Biographies of the appointees are listed below in alphabetical order: 

Hartina Flournoy, Chief of Staff to the Vice President

Tina Flournoy currently serves as Chief of Staff to former President Bill Clinton. Prior to joining President Clinton’s team, Flournoy was Assistant to the President for Public Policy at the American Federation of Teachers, an international union representing over 1.6 million members, where she directed the work of the legislative, political, field and mobilization, and human rights and community outreach departments. Flournoy has held a number of positions in the Democratic Party over the past three decades, including serving as the head of Governor Howard Dean’s Democratic National Committee transition team; traveling chief of staff to 2000 Democratic vice presidential nominee, Senator Joseph Lieberman; Finance Director for the Gore 2000 Presidential Campaign; Deputy to the Campaign Manager in the 1992 Clinton-Gore Presidential Transition Office; and, in the White House Office of Presidential Personnel during the Clinton-Gore Administration.  She also served as General Counsel for the 1992 Democratic National Convention and Counsel for the Democratic National Committee under Chairmen Paul Kirk and Ron Brown. After law school, Flournoy served as law clerk to the Honorable Julia Cooper Mack of the District of Columbia Court of Appeals. Originally from Georgia, Flournoy is a graduate of Georgetown University and Georgetown University Law Center.  

Rohini Kosoglu, Domestic Policy Advisor to the Vice President

Rohini Kosoglu currently serves as Senior Advisor to Vice President-elect Kamala Harris on the Biden-Harris Transition Team and previously served as Senior Advisor on the Biden-Harris Campaign. Before that, she was a Spring 2020 resident fellow at the Institute of Politics at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. Kosoglu has a dedicated career in public service and was the first South Asian American woman to serve as Chief of Staff in the United States Senate. She served as Vice-President Elect Harris’ Chief of Staff for her Senate office and later for her presidential campaign. Before that, she was Policy Director for U.S. Senator Michael Bennet of Colorado, where she oversaw economic, health care and budget issues. She has negotiated several bipartisan bills into law and served as a senior health care advisor during the drafting and passage of the Affordable Care Act. She also previously served as a legislative aide to U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow of Michigan. Originally from New Jersey, Kosoglu is a graduate of the University of Michigan and George Washington University and is a mother to three young children.

Nancy McEldowney, National Security Advisor to the Vice President 

Ambassador Nancy McEldowney served for over 30 years in the U.S. Foreign Service, including as U.S. Ambassador to Bulgaria and as Chargé d’Affaires and Deputy Chief of Mission in Turkey and Azerbaijan. During her time at the Department of State, she served as Director of the Foreign Service Institute, where she led the foreign affairs training facility for the U.S. government, and also served as Interim President and Senior Vice President of the National Defense University. Earlier in her career, she was a leading policy advisor on Europe, including working for President Clinton as Director of European Affairs on the National Security Council staff, and as Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State in the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs, where she led the U.S. government’s engagement with NATO, the European Union, and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe. Ambassador McEldowney is a member of the American Academy of Diplomacy and is on advisory boards for Soldier Strong, Foreign Policy for America, National Security Action, and the US Diplomatic Studies Foundation. Most recently, Ambassador McEldowney served as a Distinguished Professor and Director of the Master of Science in Foreign Service program at Georgetown University’s Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service. Originally from Florida, Ambassador McEldowney is a graduate of New College of Florida, Columbia University and the National Defense University.

Trump Campaign Statement on Wisconsin Lawsuit

Trump Campaign Statement on Wisconsin Lawsuit

Today President Donald J. Trump filed a lawsuit against the Wisconsin Elections Commission, et. al. in his personal capacity as a candidate for re-election to the office of President of the United States. The suit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, Milwaukee Division.

The complaint is based on the unlawful and unconstitutional acts by Wisconsin public officials, including the Wisconsin Elections Commission, the Mayors of Milwaukee, Madison, Kenosha, Green Bay, and Racine, and other election officials.

The suit seeks relief under the Electors Clause of the U.S. Constitution, which requires that public officials follow State Election Law when conducting a presidential election in their state. The lawsuits asks the U.S. District Court to find constitutional violations by defendants and send the matter to the Wisconsin Legislature for appropriate relief under Article II, Section 1.2. The U.S. Constitution makes the state legislature the final decision-makers on how to address constitutional violations involving a presidential election, and textually grants them the authority to select delegates to the Electoral College.

Specifically, the lawsuit alleges the following key unlawful acts:

Directives by the Wisconsin Elections Commission undercutting Wisconsin’s Photo Identification Law.

A Plan by the Mayors of Wisconsin’s five largest cities (Milwaukee, Madison, Kenosha, Green Bay and Racine) and funded by an out-of-state organization known as the Center for Tech & Civic Life to implement a new form of balloting in Wisconsin using un-manned, absentee ballot drop boxes without adequate or uniform chain of custody standards and security protocols contrary to the Wisconsin Election Code.

Directives by the Wisconsin Elections Commission that facilitated the unlawful, un-manned absentee ballot drop box Plan by endorsing illegal drop boxes (which were then ultimately used throughout the State in the election), failing to adopt uniform chain of custody and security protocols for the ballots in the drop boxes and failing to ensure public access to the process.

Directives by the Wisconsin Elections Commission to election officials to tamper with witness certifications on absentee ballot envelopes which facilitated the counting of unlawful ballots in the election in violation of the Wisconsin Election Code.

“The United States Constitution prevents the rules in a Presidential Election from being changed at the last minute by un-elected bureaucrats and local politicians who may have a more narrow interest in the outcome of the election. We have alleged in our Complaint on behalf of the President that the Wisconsin Elections Commission and other state and local officials in Wisconsin broke the Wisconsin Election Code and ran an unconstitutional and unlawful election. Nothing is more important to our national fabric and future than integrity in our electoral process. This lawsuit is one-step in the direction of fairer, more transparent, more professional and ultimately more reliable elections in America.” Bill Bock, lead counsel in the Wisconsin federal suit for Donald J. Trump.

“Today’s federal lawsuit in Wisconsin reveals an apparently coordinated effort to push a new form of balloting upon Wisconsin voters that was not protected by uniform chain of custody and security standards and protocols. Regrettably, this is the same sort of conduct we have seen across many battleground states that Democrats knew they had to win to defeat the President where the rules of the election were changed at the last minute and guardrails against fraud were simultaneously lowered.

We hope that the State Legislatures in every affected State will take up this battle to protect the voters in their State. This is a solemn responsibility the Constitution entrusts directly to State Legislatures. The time for full scale investigations and resolve to uphold the Constitution is now, and President Trump is committed to fighting corruption and ensuring free and fair elections today and into the future for every American.” Jenna Ellis, Senior Legal Adviser for Trump 2020 Campaign and Attorney to President Trump.

The Republican National Committee Hosts a Victory Rally Featuring President Donald J. Trump, Senator David Perdue, Senator Kelly Loeffler, and Other Republicans in Valdosta, Georgia

The Republican National Committee Hosts a Victory Rally Featuring President Donald J. Trump, Senator David Perdue, Senator Kelly Loeffler, and Other Republicans in Valdosta, GA

Donald J. Trump for President, Inc. announced that the Republican National Committee will host a Victory Rally in Valdosta, Georgia on Saturday, December 5th, 2020 at 7:00 PM EST. This rally will feature remarks from President Donald J. Trump, Senator David Perdue, Senator Kelly Loeffler, candidate for Public Service Commissioner Lauren “Bubba” McDonald, and other Republicans.

Saturday, December 5, 2020 at 7:00 PM EST

The Republican National Committee hosts a Victory Rally featuring President Donald J. Trump, Senator David Perdue, Senator Kelly Loeffler, candidate for Public Service Commissioner Lauren “Bubba” McDonald, and other Republicans in Valdosta, Georgia

Valdosta Regional Airport
2626 Madison Highway
Valdosta, GA 31601

General Admission
Doors open at 3:00 PM EST

https://events.donaldjtrump.com/events/december-5-valdosta-ga-maga-rally-with-potus

All attendees will be given a temperature check, masks which they are instructed to wear, and access to hand sanitizer.

Trump Campaign Files Lawsuit in Wisconsin

Trump Campaign Files Lawsuit in Wisconsin to Restore Election Integrity

President Donald J. Trump’s re-election campaign filed a lawsuit to the Wisconsin Supreme Court following the campaign's requested recount to uncover fraud and abuse that irrefutably altered the outcome of this election. Today's suit includes four cases with clear evidence of unlawfulness, such as illegally altering absentee ballot envelopes, counting ballots that had no required application, overlooking unlawful claims of indefinite confinement, and holding illegal voting events called Democracy in the Park. These unlawful actions affected no less than approximately 221,000 ballots out of over the three million ballots cast in Wisconsin.

The Wisconsin Elections Commission directed municipal clerks to illegally alter incomplete absentee ballot envelopes contrary to Wisconsin law. Clerks were instructed that they could rely on their own “personal knowledge,” or unspecified “lists or databases at his or her disposal” to add in missing information on returned absentee ballots. Under Wisconsin law, incomplete absentee ballots must be corrected by the voter, and only the voter or they may not be counted.

In another example, municipal clerks issued absentee ballots to voters without requiring the mandatory application, in direct conflict with Wisconsin’s absentee voting safeguards. Wisconsin law expressly requires that absentee ballots may not be issued without receiving a written application requesting the ballot. Despite clear statute, clerks in Madison and Milwaukee issued thousands of absentee ballots without collecting a written application during the two-week in-person absentee voting period that ran from October 20, 2020, through November 1, 2020.

Voter identification is an essential requirement in Wisconsin to ensure only eligible voters cast ballots. In Madison and Milwaukee, voters were fraudulently permitted by election officials to circumvent voter ID laws and claim an absentee voting status that is only to be used for voters who are indefinitely confined under the circumstances that they are physically ill, infirm, elderly, or disabled. More than 20,000 voters claimed that status and received and returned ballots without providing proper identification and without meeting the requirements for that status, and those ballots should not be counted in accordance with Wisconsin statute.

Finally, the city of Madison created unlawful polling locations at over 200 parks and city locations through their Democracy in the Park voting events. These voting events were held outside of the county’s approved polling locations and did not follow the state’s strict absentee voting requirements. Not only did they not follow the law, but Joe Biden’s campaign encouraged this unlawful voting, advertising these events as opportunities to vote and telling voters to bring their completed ballot to turn in or their incomplete ballot to have a so-called “poll worker” serve as a witness. Voters are not allowed to turn in their absentee ballots anywhere other than the designated polling locations, and any ballots illegally cast there should not be counted.

“The people of Wisconsin deserve election processes with uniform enforcement of the law, plain and simple. During the recount in Dane and Milwaukee counties, we know with absolute certainty illegal ballots have unduly influenced the state's election results. Wisconsin cannot allow the over three million legal ballots to be eroded by even a single illegal ballot,” said Jim Troupis, counsel to the campaign. “We will continue fighting on behalf of the American people to defend their right to a free and fair election by helping to restore integrity and transparency in our elections.”

"As we have said from the very beginning of this process, we want all legal votes and only legal votes to be counted," said Rudy Giuliani, former New York City Mayor and Personal Attorney to President Trump. "Americans must be able to trust in our election results, and we not stop until we can ensure voters once again have faith in our electoral process."