Trump-Biden transition updates: Trump continues to tout he won election at Ga. rally

Gov. Gina Raimondo of Rhode Island, who emerged as a potential selection to lead the Department of Health and Human Services in the incoming Biden administration, said Thursday she will not be the nominee.

“I am not going to be president elect Biden's nominee for HHS Secretary. My focus is right here in Rhode Island as I have said, I'm working 24 seven keeping islanders safe and keeping our economy moving. And I have nothing else to add on that,” Raimondo said at her weekly press conference on COVID-19.

The Harvard, Oxford and Yale-educated official was long been rumored as someone who could enter a Biden administration, after she was vetted as a possible pick for vice president.

Elected as Rhode Island's first female governor in 2014, she was seen ahead of the election as a possible nominee for Treasury or Commerce secretary, given her Wall Street background -- which had also made her a target for progressives hoping to influence Biden's incoming administration.

-ABC News' Luke Barr and Benjamin Siegel

In the aftermath of Attorney General William Barr telling the Associated Press the Justice Department has not found evidence of voter fraud on a scale that could overturn the election, Trump was asked in the Oval Office Thursday whether he still had confidence in Barr -- but didn't directly answer.

"Ask me that in a number of weeks from now," Trump said.

Trump said the Justice Department "should be looking at all of this fraud" -- not just limited to civil issues -- and that Barr "hasn’t looked."

His comments come after Barr met with Trump at the White House following the Tuesday interview, with one source briefed on the meeting describing their interaction as "intense," but not elaborating with any additional details about the content of their discussion.

In the days after Biden was officially projected the winner of the election, Barr issued a memo to federal prosecutors authorizing them "to pursue substantial allegations of voting and vote tabulation irregularities" in the event there are "clear and apparently-credible allegations of irregularities that, if true, could potentially impact the outcome of a federal election in an individual State."

At the same time, Barr urged investigators to be vigilant against "specious, speculative, fanciful or far-fetched claims" that he said "should not be a basis for initiating federal inquiries."

But more than three weeks later, the DOJ and FBI have announced no such investigations relevant to the parameters of Barr's memo as an increasing number of states have moved forward with certifying their vote tabulations.

"Most claims of fraud are very particularized to a particular set of circumstances or actors or conduct," Barr said Tuesday. "They are not systemic allegations. And those have been run down; they are being run down."

The president on Thursday concluded that the election was “fixed” and “rigged” before refusing to answer follow-up questions. He made the comments during a jam-packed, largely maskless Oval Office ceremony in which he awarded the Medal of Freedom to football coach and Trump supporter Lou Holtz.

-ABC News' Ben Gittleson and Alexander Mallin

The Biden transition formally announced Brian Deese as director of the National Economic Council on Thursday.

Deese previously served as a deputy director of the National Economic Council, deputy director of the Office of Management and Budget and senior adviser to former President Barack Obama. He played a role in the auto industry bailout in 2009, working alongside then-Vice President Biden.

“Brian is among the most tested and accomplished public servants in the country -- a trusted voice I can count on to help us end the ongoing economic crisis, build a better economy that deals everybody in, and take on the existential threat of climate change in a way that creates good-paying American jobs,” Biden said in a release announcing the pick.

Larry Kudlow currently serves in the position for the Trump adminstration.

-ABC News' Molly Nagle

The Republican-dominated Georgia State Senate is holding two hearings Thursday on the state's election following persistent and unsubstantiated claims from Trump and his supporters that Georgia’s electoral process was manipulated. 

Election officials in the state, including Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, have repeatedly rejected these claims, saying there is no evidence of widespread fraud that would overturn the election results nor evidence of a concerted effort to change Georgia's vote. They have also warned the conspiracy theories have prompted death threats to election workers. 

The first of the two hearings kicked off at 9:30 a.m. and is being held by the Senate Government Oversight Committee to "evaluate the election process to ensure the integrity of Georgia's voting process," according to a release.

The second hearing, being held by a Senate Judiciary subcommittee, is scheduled for 1 p.m. and will include "testimony of elections improprieties" and will "evaluate the election process to ensure the integrity of Georgia's voting process."

Trump’s personal attorney Rudy Giuliani was spotted by reporters arriving at the Georgia State Capitol Thursday morning.

-ABC News' Quinn Scanlan