Carlos Barria/Reuters
- Officials can be heard in leaked audio from a USAID meeting further denying the results of the 2020 US election.
- Acting administrator John Barsa reportedly threatened staffers who want to find another job, Axios reported.
- Trump loyalist Catharine O’Neill also falsely claimed that the election is “still happening.”
- President-elect Joe Biden has secured more than 270 electoral votes to win the election.
- Trump has refused to concede.
- Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.
In leaked audio of a conference call with the United States Agency for International Development staff on Monday. Acting administrator John Barsa can be heard essentially threatening staff who seek new jobs ahead of President-elect Joe Biden’s transition to the White House, Axios reported.
Barsa told staff to “play until the whistle blows” and that “DC, at the end of the day, is a really small town.”
CNBC also reported that in the same call Barsa said there still isn’t a transition of power. The outlet reported that officials in the agency were continuing work on Trump administration policies as if Trump was re-elected.
The threat and leaked audio come as Trump and officials in his administration continue to deny the election results and refuse to concede to President-elect Joe Biden.
“The only official announcement about an election result that matters is from the head of GSA. So until the head of GSA makes a determination as to who won an election, nothing changes,” Barsa said, according to a recording of the meeting reviewed by CNBC. “There is no transition in place.”
On Friday, Decision Desk HQ and Insider first called Biden the winner of the 2020 election after he surpassed the necessary 270 electoral votes needed to win, flipping key battleground states like Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, and Michigan.
Trump has repeatedly made false claims that the election was being “stolen” and demanded recounts in some states. A recount is not expected to surface enough additional votes to change the results of the election.
On the same USAID call, Catharine O’Neill, a Trump loyalist, said: “The election is still happening. The Electoral College has not voted yet.”
The US Supreme Court upheld the “faithless elector” rule in July, which makes it illegal for Electoral College delegates to cast their vote for anyone other than the presidential candidate whom their state voted for.
Justice Elena Kagan wrote the court’s decision on that matter, saying it “accords with the Constitution — as well as with the trust of the Nation that here, We the People rule.”
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