Reporters grow frustrated after Biden's team refuses to answer questions
Members of the press are becoming frustrated with the severely limited access to President-elect Joe Biden. Reporters are miffed that the Biden transition team appears to take questions from only a handful of select media outlets.
The Biden transition team holds a weekly briefing on Zoom, where reporters can request to ask a question. In the latest press briefing on Friday, Biden's team fielded questions from the New York Times, CNN, Washington Post, PBS, and Politico, according to Fox News.
Of the five questions that the media were permitted to ask, none of the inquiries were related to the situation related to Hunter Biden, who admitted earlier this month that he is under a federal investigation regarding his taxes and there is a report that alleges that one of his business partners informed him that he failed to disclose $400,000 in income from the Burisma gas company on his 2014 tax returns.
When certain reporters were not called upon in the most recent briefing, some press members used the Zoom chat to request more access.
Sam Stein from The Daily Beast asked, "Hey guys, there tons of folks looking to ask questions and since this is being done once a week, could we PLEASE go longer or at least hold more frequent briefings?"
"Any chance you can take a few more questions? There are a lot of folks here with questions," Zeke Miller from the Associated Press said in the chat.
White House reporter Andrew Feinberg asked, "Is there a point in saying we want to ask questions if you only call on the same small group every week?"
Fox News correspondent Peter Doocy said that he requested to ask a question but wasn't called on. "We've never been called on in one of these," Doocy lamented.
Biden was also scrutinized this week for appointing several top employees from technology and social media companies to his transition team.
At the same time, Fox News published previously unseen text messages reportedly from former associates of Hunter Biden asking him to include his father in a business venture with a Chinese company.
Earlier this week, a Rasmussen poll found that a majority of Americans believe that the media purposely buried the Hunter Biden laptop story to influence the 2020 election, and give Biden an advantage.
Biden transition team 'quietly' taps Silicon Valley employees, who will concurrently work for Facebook, Google
President-elect Joe Biden has tapped several top employees from technology and social media companies to assist with his transition, a potential sign that Silicon Valley and the White House will have a cozy relationship during Biden's presidential tenure.
What are the details?
Politico reported Saturday that Biden's transition team has "quietly" recruited employees from Google and Facebook, who will, shockingly, concurrently work for the transition team and their respective companies.
"When the Biden transition team released the names of hundreds of personnel on Nov. 10, there were zero current Facebook or Google employees among them. That's changed — the transition website quietly added four Facebook and Google employees to its agency review teams on or close to Thanksgiving," Politico reported.
The officials are, according to Politico:
- Zaid Zaid, a public policy official for Facebook, who has joined the State Department and International Development teams;
- Christopher Upperman, a Facebook manager, who has joined the Small Business Administration team;
- Rachel Lieber, a Facebook director and associate general counsel, who has joined the Intelligence Community team; and
- Deon Scott, a Google program manager, who has joined the Department of Homeland Security team.
According to Politico reporter Steven Overly, all four Big Tech employees are Obama administration alumni.
Politico added, "Silicon Valley critics have pressured the incoming administration not to hire people with ties to the tech industry to senior posts, particularly individuals associated with Facebook and Google, which are fending off massive antitrust lawsuits. There are a number of former Facebook leaders already in top positions on the transition."
The move is sure to raise eyebrows given criticism that Big Tech received during the election, especially over allegations that right-leaning content was suppressed.
Such criticism reached its climax in October, just weeks before Election Day, when the New York Post broke news about a laptop that allegedly belonged to Joe Biden's son, Hunter Biden. Among other bombshells contained on the laptop was the allegation that Biden knew more about Hunter Biden's overseas business dealings, which have been the subject of multiple federal investigations, than he previously admitted.
Facebook suppressed the story, and Twitter outright censored it, despite the fact that Biden's campaign never challenged material facts contained within the story.
Anything else?
Biden's transition team has already announced selections for more than half of Biden's Cabinet.
Among top posts, nominations include Antony Blinken for secretary of state, Janet Yellen for treasury secretary, and Lloyd Austin for defense secretary.
Biden has not yet announced his nominee for attorney general. However, TheBlaze reported over the weekend that Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) is in the running, along with outgoing Sen. Doug Jones (D-Ala.), former Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates, and federal appellate Judge Merrick Garland.
Tom Cotton blasts Biden's DHS nominee, says he's 'disqualified'
Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) on Wednesday slammed former Vice President Joe Biden's Cabinet nominees, singling out Biden's nominee to lead the Department of Homeland Security as "disqualified."
Earlier this week, Biden's transition team announced several appointments and nominations for key positions, including Alejandro Mayorkas to serve as the secretary of Homeland Security, Antony Blinken to be secretary of state, and former Secretary of State John Kerry to be the administration's climate czar.
Cotton blasted Mayorkas' appointment in an interview on Fox News, saying he is "disqualified" from serving because of a 2015 controversy in which Mayorkas, then serving as deputy DHS secretary, helped Democrats get visas for their favored foreign companies.
"Alejandro Mayorkas was found by Barack Obama's Inspector General to be guilty of selling Green Cards to Chinese nationals on behalf of rich, democratic donors," Cotton said in a tweet sharing video from his interview. "He is disqualified from leading the Department of Homeland Security."
Alejandro Mayorkas was found by Barack Obama’s Inspector General to be guilty of selling Green Cards to Chinese nat… https://t.co/EHX8TRm6EU— Tom Cotton (@Tom Cotton)1606310617.0
Mayorkas, who would be the first Latino and immigrant to serve as DHS secretary, was the deputy secretary of homeland security in the Obama administration from 2013 to 2016. Prior to that, he was the director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.
In 2015, the DHS inspector general testified to Congress that Mayorkas intervened on three separate decisions on whether to grant visas for certain foreign investors on behalf of Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.), Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D), and Anthony Rodham, Hillary Clinton's brother, respectively. The inspector general's report said Mayorkas created the appearance of "favoritism and special access," but then-DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson did not pursue disciplinary action against Mayorkas.
Cotton did not spare Biden's other appointees from criticism, saying the incoming Biden administration appears to be a "return of the Obama administration foreign policy" that "had disastrous consequences for our nation."
Biden on Tuesday dismissed such accusations, telling NBC News, "This is not a third Obama term because we face a totally different world than we faced in the Obama-Biden administration."
"President Trump has changed the landscape," he added before criticizing President Donald Trump's foreign policy. "It's become 'America First,' which meant America alone."
"We find ourselves in a position where our alliances are being frayed," he also said. "It's a totally different — that's why I found people who joined the administration and key points that represent the spectrum of the American people as well as the spectrum of the Democratic Party."
Biden names John Kerry to be 'climate envoy' for National Security Council. Environmental groups cheer.
Former Vice President Joe Biden on Monday designated former Secretary of State John Kerry to be the "climate envoy" in a Biden-Harris administration. Biden's transition team pledged to elevate the position to the National Security Council, a move that pleased climate activists and progressive groups.
Kerry will be Biden's Special Presidential Envoy for Climate, guiding the federal government's climate policies. The Biden campaign introduced a $2 trillion climate plan that called for reaching net zero carbon emissions by 2050. Presumably, Kerry will be responsible for coordinating multiple federal agencies to implement policies to achieve that goal. His role will not require confirmation by the U.S. Senate.
"This marks the first time that the NSC will include an official dedicated to climate change, reflecting the president-elect's commitment to addressing climate change as an urgent national security issue," the Biden transition team said in a statement.
"America will soon have a government that treats the climate crisis as the urgent national security threat it is," Kerry tweeted after the announcement. "I'm proud to partner with the President-elect, our allies, and the young leaders of the climate movement to take on this crisis as the President's Climate Envoy."
Biden's transition team touted Kerry's foreign policy experience in a news release, noting his influential role in crafting the Paris climate accord.
"Secretary Kerry elevated environmental challenges as diplomatic priorities, from oceans to hydrofluorocarbons. He was a key architect of the Paris Climate Accord, and signed the historic agreement to reduce carbon emissions with his granddaughter on his lap," Biden's team said.
Biden has pledged to rejoin the Paris climate agreement on his first day as president, reversing one of President Donald Trump's most significant policy accomplishments.
Progressive activists praised the announcement as evidence of Biden's seriousness when it comes to climate issues.
"This is that signal we have been looking for," Nat Keohane, senior vice president at the Environmental Defense Fund, told the Washington Examiner. "It'd be hard to think of a better person for this role or a clearer signal that the U.S. will reengage on climate globally and make it a central aspect of all parts of foreign policy and national security policy. Kerry brings weight, gravitas, and experience."
"Excellent news," tweeted Fred Krupp, the president of the Environmental Defense Fund. "[John Kerry] is one of the world's most effective climate champions, both in the U.S. and abroad. He is the ideal person to restore U.S. global climate leadership."
Environmental activist group Greenpeace praised Kerry's appointment as a "good first step" and a "positive sign for Biden's intention to integrate climate leadership into every facet of the administration."
The Sunrise Movement, another activist group, called Kerry's appointment an "encouraging sign."
In statements, Greenpeace calls John Kerry’s appointment as special Presidential Envoy on Climate a “good first ste… https://t.co/BQHjmviaLN— Gary Grumbach (@Gary Grumbach)1606158396.0
Kerry's appointment was announced alongside several other nominees and appointees for key national security roles in a Biden-Harris administration, including former Deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinken as the nominee to be the next secretary of state.
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