Adversaries Amplify Vote Fraud Claims

WASHINGTON: The Latest on President-elect Joe Biden (all times local):

8:15 a.m.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nations chief infectious disease expert, says there was never a question that he would accept President-elect Joe Bidens offer to serve as his chief medical officer and adviser on the coronavirus pandemic.

Fauci told NBCs Today show on Friday, I said yes right on the spot after Biden asked him to serve during a conversation on Thursday.

As the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Fauci has served several presidents, Republican and Democratic. But during President Donald Trumps administration, he has been largely sidelined as Trump gave rosy assessments of the virus and insisted it would fade away.

Fauci has urged rigorous mask-wearing and social distancing, practices that have not often been followed at the White House.

On Thursday, Biden said he will ask Americans to commit to 100 days of wearing masks as one of his first acts as president.

I told him I thought that was a good idea, Fauci told NBC.

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HERE’S WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT PRESIDENT-ELECT JOE BIDEN’S TRANSITION TO THE WHITE HOUSE:

President-elect Joe Biden is adjusting the scope of his agenda to meet the challenges of governing with a narrowly divided Congress and the complications of legislating during a raging pandemic.

Read more:

EXPLAINER: Trumps failing, monthlong fight against election

Trump loves to win but keeps losing election lawsuits

Dangerously viral: How Trump, supporters spread false claims

Optimism growing for coronavirus relief bill as pressure builds

HERES WHAT ELSE IS GOING ON:

8 a.m.

National Intelligence Director John Ratcliffe says foreign adversaries are using social media and other platforms to amplify allegations of voter fraud. But he wont say which countries are using the issue to try to undermine public confidence in the U.S. democratic process.

President Donald Trump and his allies continue to mount new legal cases alleging voter fraud in battleground states since he lost the November presidential election to Joe Biden. But they have been losing in court. And Trumps own attorney general has declared the Justice Department uncovered no widespread fraud.

Ratcliffe is a Trump loyalist. He says on CBS that U.S. intelligence agencies have no indication that any foreign adversary or criminal group had the ability to change vote results but that they are still analyzing all the information collected.

Ratcliffe told CBS This Morning on Friday that he plans to issue a report on foreign election interference in January.

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