UPDATE: After this story was published, CNN reported that President Trump will not travel to Pennsylvania. “President Donald Trump’s planned trip to join his attorney Rudy Giuliani in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, on Wednesday has been canceled, two sources familiar with the matter tell CNN.” Matthew Choi, a reporter at Politico, said in a pool report. “The cancellation came after Giuliani was exposed to a second person who tested positive for coronavirus in just the last week,” CNN explained.
One of Trump’s campaign advisers, Boris Epshteyn, said Wednesday morning that he has tested positive for the coronavirus and was experiencing mild symptoms. Epshteyn appeared with Giuliani at a campaign legal team news conference in Washington, DC, six days ago. A day after the news conference, Giuliani’s son, Andrew, announced that he had tested positive for coronavirus. And that same day, the former New York City mayor said he would be quarantining at a Washington-area hotel.
Original story below.
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President Donald Trump is reportedly set to attend a Wednesday hearing in Pennsylvania, where Republican state lawmakers are investigating alleged fraud in the Nov. 3 presidential election.
CNN reported that Trump is expected to join his attorney Rudy Giuliani in a trip to Gettysburg, which would mark the president’s first event outside Washington, D.C., since Election Day.
“Trump expressed strong interest in joining Giuliani for the trip and directed aides to make plans for him to travel to Pennsylvania, multiple sources said,” CNN reported. “The trip, which would be his first outside of the Washington area since Election Day, was not listed on the public schedule released by the White House on Tuesday night, but is being handled internally as an unannounced movement.”
Fox News later wrote that Trump will “travel to Gettysburg, Pa., on Wednesday, Fox News has confirmed, where his personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani will appear before the Pennsylvania Senate Majority Policy Committee for a ‘hearing’ on election issues in the state.”
The hearing is not an official state event as it is being held by a group of Republican lawmakers.
“The Trump campaign and Pennsylvania Senate Republicans announced plans for the Gettysburg event, a meeting of the Pennsylvania Senate Majority Policy Committee, on Tuesday — casting it as an effort to expose ‘irregularities’ in the 2020 election,” CNN reported. “The meeting is being organized by the Pennsylvania state Senate GOP, which is holding it at a hotel — not at the state Capitol.”
Asked for comment about the president’s plan to attend the event, White House deputy press secretary Judd Deere told CNN, “I’d refer you to tomorrow’s public schedule. I have no additional updates at this time.”
The Pennsylvania State Department on Tuesday certified the results of the presidential election in favor of Biden and his running mate, Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA), as Trump’s team of lawyers continued to call for recounts in states.
“Today @PAStateDept certified the results of the November 3 election in Pennsylvania for president and vice president of the United States,” Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf wrote on Twitter. “As required by federal law, I’ve signed the Certificate of Ascertainment for the slate of electors for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.”
Today @PAStateDept certified the results of the November 3 election in Pennsylvania for president and vice president of the United States.
As required by federal law, I’ve signed the Certificate of Ascertainment for the slate of electors for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.
— Governor Tom Wolf (@GovernorTomWolf) November 24, 2020
Pennsylvania’s move followed the Michigan Board of State Canvassers vote on Monday to certify that state’s election results, even though the Trump campaign is pursuing legal challenges there as well.
“Certification by state officials is simply a procedural step,” Trump campaign senior legal adviser Jenna Ellis said in a statement. “We are going to continue combatting election fraud around the country as we fight to count all the legal votes. Americans must be assured that the final results are fair and legitimate.”
Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson said the certification showed “democracy has prevailed.”
“Today’s vote of the State Board of Canvassers to certify Michigan’s November election confirms the truth: the election was fair and secure, and the results accurately reflect the will of the voters,” Benson said. “A record breaking 5.5 million Michigan citizens cast ballots in this election, more than ever before in our state’s history. Their will is clear and unequivocal.”
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