GOP Sen. Rob Portman, a member of Senate Homeland Security, defends the work of Chris Krebs after Trump fired the DHS official for asserting that the elections were secure and fair
"I know Chris, I've worked well with him. I think he's a real professional," Portman told me.
Portman suggested "there's a little disconnect" about what Krebs' main points were: That there was a lack of successful cyberattacks on election systems. "He was not talking about fraud.” (Krebs did though push back on some of Trump's unsubstantiated claims about voter fraud.)
“I was on two calls with Chris 10 days before the election with a bipartisan group of senators," Portman recalled. "He was always responsible, and helpful."
Asked if he wished Trump didn't fire Krebs, Portman said: "Yeah I think he was very good. I think what he was trying to do in an unprecedented way was to connect with every state in the country, and give them what they needed to protect and have a firewall ..against cyberattacks
Portman added: “And it worked very well, and the President should be proud of it... As Chris said, it was the best election yet in keeping the Russians, Iranians and whoever else from trying to hack into the system."
More GOP support for Krebs - this from Richard Burr, member of Senate Intel and former chairman of committee, saying he did a “remarkable job”
Ben Sasse says of Krebs: “Chris Krebs did a really good job — as state election officials all across the nation will tell you — and he obviously should not be fired.”
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An interesting scene on the Senate floor when several GOP senators congratulated Kamala Harris (most Rs still siding with Trump in his fight over election.)
Sens. Tim Scott, Mike Rounds, James Lankford all congratulated her, as did Ben Sasse. Lindsey Graham gave her a fist bump
“How is the food fight behind you in California?” Lankford said to Harris, an apparent reference to the effort to fill her Senate seat.
Asked about his fist bump to Kamala Harris, Sen. Lindsey Graham told me this: “Just saying hello - I haven’t a seen in her in a while. If it works out and they make it, I told her I wish her well and try to work where we can. We will know here in a month or so or less.”
Asked if he was trying to pressure the Georgia secretary of state to toss legal ballots, Lindsey Graham told us: “That’s ridiculous.”
GOP Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger responds on @CNNSitRoom: “The implication is look hard and see how many ballots you can throw.”
Graham on his conversation: “What I'm trying to find out was, how do you verify signatures on mail-in ballots in these states..So when you mail in a ballot, you got to have some way to verify that the signature on the envelope actually matches the person who requested the ballot”
Asked why as the senator from South Carolina, he's calling Georgia's secretary of state, Graham told me: "Because it affects the whole nation," adding he's "very interested" in the results.
Graham said he didn’t talk to Trump about his conversation.
On a caucus call, Pelosi is giving a positive assessment of the outcome of Tuesday's election, despite House Democratic losses that likely mean she will hold a smaller majority in the new Congress.
"We did not win every battle but we won the war," she said, per source
Pelosi told her caucus that Tuesday was a “big win” for the party. But she’s explaining the D losses by noting that 2020 was a more difficult cycle for some House Dems with Trump on ballot, particularly ones in deep red districts who in 2018 when Trump wasn't running, per sources
Rep. Cheri Bustos, who chairs DCCC and has faced criticism from Dems, blamed bad polling for the outcome and for the bullish predictions headed into election day, per two sources.
"Voters looked more like 2016 than projected," Bustos told Democrats.
CNN POLLS CONDUCTED BY SSRS
October 23-30
LIKELY VOTERS WOMEN
Choice for President
Biden Trump
Arizona 56% 41%
Wisconsin 55% 40%
N. Carolina 59% 37%
Michigan 59% 37%
CNN POLLS CONDUCTED BY SSRS
October 23-30
LIKELY VOTERS MEN
Choice for President
Biden Trump
N. Carolina 42% 53%
Arizona 44% 50%
Wisconsin 47% 48%
Michigan 47% 46%
LIKELY VOTERS WHITE NO DEGREE
Choice for President
Biden Trump
N. Carolina 33% 64%
Arizona 39% 57%
Michigan 40% 55%
Wisconsin 46% 51%
Perdue wouldn't disclose his campaign events. But we found him in central Ga., where his supporters tried to stop us from asking him questions. He declined to explain why he wouldn't reveal his events, took a whack at Ossoff and wouldn't say if he regretted mocking Harris' name
In other race, Warnock has been largely unscathed though that will change when there’s a runoff. Rs showing no daylight with Trump. “I don't quibble,” Collins said when asked if he had any issues with Trump’s pandemic response. “I don't go back and forth with him on his response”
With one poll showing him at 49%, Ossoff’s goal is to win it outright Tuesday, though many believe it will also end up in a runoff. That means the Senate majority could potentially be hanging in the balance for weeks if one or both races go into January. Story w/ @alizaslav