President Trump asserted Thursday that voter fraud was cheating him out of a win while supporter and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie asked for proof. Speaking in the White House briefing room Thursday night, Trump said widespread voter fraud caused his election lead to "miraculously" vanish. (Axios) But Christie told ABC News that Trump needs to reveal his evidence for the claim. "We heard nothing today about any evidence," he said. "This kind of thing, all it does is inflame without informing. And we cannot permit inflammation without information." (Axios) Also Thursday, the U.S. Postal Service told a U.S. District Judge that approximately 4,250 mail-in ballots in Pennsylvania and North Carolina are missing. (Bloomberg) The USPS said a court-ordered rush prompted workers to skip a final envelope-scan procedure. The USPS also estimates that 150,000 mail-in ballots were delivered a day after the election but doesn't know if the ballots were mailed in time to meet deadlines, which varied by state, for accepting votes postmarked by Nov. 3.
Twitter permanently suspended Steve Bannon's account Thursday after the former Trump campaign official hyperbolically suggested, in a video posted to social media, that Dr. Anthony Fauci's and FBI Director Christopher Wray's heads should be placed on pikes "at the two corners of the White House as a warning to federal bureaucrats. You either get with the program or you are gone." (CNN) Separately, Facebook banned a group called "Stop the Steal" that was organizing against the presidential vote count. In a statement, Facebook said "In line with the exceptional measures that we are taking during this period of heightened tension, we have removed the Group 'Stop the Steal,' which was creating real-world events. The group was organized around the delegitimization of the election process, and we saw worrying calls for violence from some members of the group." (Associated Press)
Ruder Finn has signed a $1.4 million, year-long deal with Huawei to handle U.S. comms. The agency will provide strategic counsel, media relations, an influencer and key opinion leader program, industry analyst relations, thought leadership services and other services.
A judge has ordered the Small Business Administration to release detailed information on Paycheck Protection loans, including the names of the recipients and the loan amounts. PR shops were among the thousands of businesses awarded loans under the program but so far the SBA has only released full information for loans of more than $150,000 while most were for smaller amounts. The ruling was in response to a lawsuit filed by the Center for Public Integrity. (Center for Public Integrity)
Japan has deployed monster robot wolves to keep bears out of villages and deer and wild boars away from farms. Japanese media outlet The Mainichi reports that a total of 62 monster wolf robots are in use from Hokkaido to the southern islands of Okinawa. Bear sightings have historically been rare in the area, but there have been 10 this year. Japan has deployed robots to protect towns and villages in the past, with limited success.
