Trump undercuts official who delayed transition as she gets slammed for ‘unprofessional’ letter

AlterNet logo

GSA head Emily Murphy’s lengthy letter telling President-elect Joe Biden she is releasing transition funds to him comes with a strange set of personal remarks, including the claim she was not told how or when to authorize release the more than $7 million in those funds.

The only problem is that President Donald Trump says he is the one who told her to release the money.

“Please now (sic) that I came to my decision independently, based on the law and available facts,” Murphy writes. “I was never directed or indirectly pressured by any Executive branch official–including those who work at the White House or GSA–with regard to the substance or timing of my decision.”

Continue reading.

Murphy’s choice: Fed official has say on transition launch

The head of an obscure federal agency that is holding up the presidential transition knew well before Election Day that she might soon have a messy situation on her hands.

Before Nov. 3, Emily Murphy, the head of the General Services Administration, held a Zoom call with Dave Barram, the man who was in her shoes 20 years earlier. 

The conversation, set up by mutual friends, was a chance for Barram, 77, to tell Murphy a little about his torturous experience with “ascertainment” — the task of determining the expected winner of the presidential election, which launches the official transition process. Continue reading.