Trump campaign distances itself from attorney Sidney Powell: Transition updates

Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger appeared at the Georgia State Capitol in Atlanta for the first time since he announced the state would conduct a full by hand recount of votes in the presidential race, to affirm that with the audit's completion, he's confident Biden has won the state of Georgia.

In brief remarks, Raffensperger said that he's "disappointed" Trump, whom he said he was a "proud supporter of," didn't win in Georgia, but as an engineer, he has to follow the numbers, and he believes the results of this election are correct. 

Raffensperger's deputy, Jordan Fuchs, said that the secretary would certify the results after the press conference and the completion of that would be announced in a press release. The Trump campaign still has until Tuesday to request a recount. 

At the top of his remarks, Raffensperger also addressed the anger over the outcome and audit's process -- seen from the president and his Republican allies -- who have attacked Raffensperger throughout the process and called him to resign.

"Close margins of voters leads to fights that are as fierce after Election Day as the campaigns before," he said. "Close elections sow distrust. People feel their side was cheated. We saw this from the Democrats in 2018. And we see this from Republicans today."

-ABC News' Quinn Scanlan

In response to the results of Georgia's audit of the presidential election, a Trump campaign legal adviser said the media is falsely reporting that Biden is the winner before the state has certified the results.

Jenna Ellis, a campaign senior legal adviser, went on to say in the statement that Georgia should not certify its results. The state is set to do just that on Friday.

"Headlines are already falsely reporting that Joe Biden is declared the winner in Georgia. Sorry, media, that's not how it works," Ellis said in the statement. "The State of Georgia has not certified its results, and it should not. This so-called hand recount went exactly as we expected because Georgia simply recounted all of the illegal ballots that had been included in the total."

Ellis said that they demand an honest recount and plan to explore all legal options in the state.

Since the margin of victory is still within 0.5% of total votes cast in the contest, the Trump campaign can request a recount. The deadline to request a recount is 5 p.m. Tuesday.

-ABC News' Terrance Smith and Quinn Scanlan

The Biden campaign responded to the Georgia audit results Thursday, saying in a statement that the process reaffirmed the results of November's election.

"The recount process simply reaffirmed what we already knew: Georgia voters selected Joe Biden to be their next president," said Jaclyn Rothenberg, Biden campaign Georgia communications director in the statement. "We are grateful to the election officials, volunteers and workers for working overtime and under unprecedented circumstances to complete this recount, as the utmost form of public service."

The Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger's office released the results of the statewide risk limiting audit, which was a hand recount of every ballot cast in the presidential race Thursday. The statewide variation between the audit results and original election results was 0.1053%.

After the audit, Biden's margin of victory in Georgia was 12,284 votes.

-ABC News' John Verhovek and Quinn Scanlan

Senior House Democrats want Emily Murphy, the embattled administrator of the General Services Administration, to explain why she's held up Biden's transition by refusing to formally acknowledge his victory over Trump. They are also demanding a briefing from her by Monday, according to a letter obtained by ABC News. 

"At this stage, there is no conceivable argument that Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are not the 'apparent successful candidates for the office of President and Vice President,'" Reps. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., Nita Lowey, D-N.Y., Gerry Connolly, D-Va., and Mike Quigley, D-Ill., wrote in a letter to Murphy on Thursday, citing the statute that empowers her to sign off on the transition process. 

Murphy's refusal to recognize Biden's victory has backed up the transition process -- preventing his team from formally communicating with any counterparts in the federal government. Biden and his top aides have warned that the delay could imperil national security, and slow down preparations for the distribution of a COVID-19 vaccine across the country. 

White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany, questioned about the delay in a Fox News interview Wednesday, deferred to the GSA, saying the agency was "independent of us, and they haven't declared that just yet."

"We have been extremely patient, but we can wait no longer," they wrote. "As GSA Administrator, it is your responsibility to follow the law and assure the safety and well-being of the United States and its people -- not to submit to political pressure to violate the law and risk the consequences."

In their letter, the Democrats also raised questions about Trump's move to tap Trent Benishek, a White House lawyer, to serve as the agency's general counsel a week before the election -- and a September executive order that put the GSA's top lawyer fourth-in-line to lead the agency, after Murphy, her deputy and chief of staff. 

Democrats have requested a briefing "no later" than Monday, to help them determine whether to hold a hearing with Murphy, her deputies and the agency's top lawyer.

-ABC News' Benjamin Siegel