President Trump asked for options to attack Iran, just days after the 2020 race was called for Biden. On the 12th of November, United States President Donald J. Trump had assembled senior advisors in the Oval Office to ask whether he could take action against Iran’s most important nuclear weapons site. According to the New York Times, “A range of senior advisers dissuaded the president from moving ahead with a military strike. The advisers — including Vice President Mike Pence; Secretary of State Mike Pompeo; Christopher C. Miller, the acting defense secretary; and Gen. Mark A. Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff — warned that a strike against Iran’s facilities could easily escalate into a broader conflict in the last weeks of Mr. Trump’s presidency,” This conveniently had been discussed within 24 hours after the International Atomic Energy Agency had reported that Iran’s uranium stockpile was 12 times bigger than permitted. However, the word permitted is considered questionable due to the United States withdrawing from the Iran deal on May 8th, 2018. It should also be noted that Iran’s behavior beforehand remained compliant with the rules set in place since the finalization of the deal.

Trump’s curiosity has met controversy as many individuals have speculated an ulterior motive in play to leave President-Elect Biden in difficult circumstances when enacted as President. Former Vice President Biden has previously stated that one of his Day 1 executive orders would be to re-enter the Iran Nuclear Deal, yet if an attack had been done by Trump weeks before his departure, it would have been nearly impossible for Biden to do so. This reported behavior by Trump also conflicts with one of his front-running policies of not participating in any more wars while withdrawing troops from the Middle East. However, these promises have not been met with fulfillment as 2,500 troops remain in Iraq, 2,500 troops remain in Afghanistan, and thousands more spread throughout the Middle East. The transition between both administrations in the coming weeks is an exciting spectacle that will be unprecedented on nearly every front. Never has there been an unwillingness to this extent to pass along power towards the next presidential era, especially in a time when the United States has posed itself as fragile and divided than ever before.

The Moderna vaccine is proving to be 94.5% effective against Coronavirus. If the vaccine continues to prove to be effective, vaccinations could begin distribution in the last half of December.

“It was one of the greatest moments in my life and my career. It is absolutely amazing to be able to develop this vaccine and see the ability to prevent symptomatic disease with such high efficacy,” said Dr. Tal Zacks, Moderna’s chief medical officer.

The vaccine is the second one to have a high success rate in the U.S. An initial trial was conducted with 30,000 participants that concluded in a 94.5% success rate.

Moderna says it expects to have 20 million doses for the U.S. right away. They announced today that they have met the primary endpoint of the first interim analysis.

We just announced that mRNA-1273, our COVID-19 vaccine candidate, has met its primary efficacy endpoint in the first interim analysis of the Phase 3 COVE study.
Read more: https://t.co/vYWEy8CKCv pic.twitter.com/YuLubU1tlx

— Moderna (@moderna_tx) November 16, 2020

For more information on COVID-19 and current events, visit CIMA Law Group and CIMA Blog.

Direct ballot initiatives had a significant night on election day. Marijuana won on every ballot it had appeared on. The legalization of all drugs has won in Oregon. Decriminalizing hallucinogenic mushrooms had passed in Washington D.C., and Florida voted to increase the minimum wage with over 60% favorability. However, there have been other direct ballot initiatives which have raised the attention of many individuals, such as Colorado voters having approved a new paid family and medical leave law. Proposition 118, a measure that had the support of 57 percent and a sizable lead of nearly 400,000 votes, would require that employers provide 12 weeks of paid time off for childbirth and family emergencies. Within the past two decades only eight other states have created programs which bear resemblance. Colorado State Senator Faith Winter stated “The new law will ensure that mothers don’t have to return to work mere days after giving birth, and that cancer patients can take time to heal.”

Arizona passed a substantial law of its own, raising rates for the state’s wealthiest households. Known as Proposition 208, the measure aims to essentially set up a fifth income tax bracket for wealthy residents that would raise the top rate to 8% from 4.5%. This additional 3.5% tax will only apply on incomes above $250,000, and $500,000 for joint filers. The state’s joint legislative budget committee estimates to save $940 million per year, and revenue would be used for education-related expenses. The controversial measure was intended to allow Arizona to make important investments in education. Whereas opposition of the proposition argued that it would hurt small businesses that are taxed through the individual code on their owners’ returns.

Saturday morning, Democratic nominee Joe Biden and his running mate, Kamala Harris, secured the ticket for the 2020 presidential election, becoming President-elect and Vice President-elect of the United States. The election, painted with tension, anticipation, and ardent feelings across the country, was further met with discontent and unacceptance as President Trump and his campaign sued several battleground states, laying the groundwork for contesting the results of the election.

The states sued by the Trump campaign include Georgia, Michigan, and Pennsylvania, all states won by President-elect Biden. Despite the absence of evidence of voter and election fraud, President Trump made and continues to make a multitude of tweets falsely claiming the election, accusing states of making votes disappear, making distinctions between “legal” and “illegal” votes, and demanding that votes (particularly mail-in ballots) stop being counted. President Trump also released a statement rejecting that Biden won the election and declaring that his campaign will “start prosecuting our case in court to ensure election laws are fully upheld and the rightful winner is seated.”

Due to unprecedented numbers in voters this year, the results of the election took longer to announce, particularly due to the vast number of mail-in ballots, which accounted for a vast number of votes in the election. In every election, however, “results reported on election night are unofficial and the counting of ballots extends past Election Day. Mail ballots normally take more time to verify and count. This year, because of the large numbers of mail ballots and a close race, results were expected to take longer.” Record numbers of ballots cast prior to Election Day resembled a trend that particularly favored Democrats, as President Trump denounced and discouraged the method of mail-in ballots for the election. Republican strategist Scott Jennings shared with NPR:

At some juncture, he’s going to have to accept that the election didn’t go his way. The weight of American democracy and the weight of our institutions and the weight of the momentum of how all this works will, frankly, make whatever he says less important.

– Scott Jennings, Republican strategist

Worth noting are the Republican officials who have openly denounced President Trump and his campaign amid the 2020 presidential election, especially regarding his statements about the validity of the election and its results. Over 70 former senior Republican officials signed a statement asserting that “We are profoundly concerned about our nation’s security and standing in the world under the leadership of Donald Trump. The President has demonstrated that he is dangerously unfit to serve another term.”

Also worth noting, if now more than ever, is the democratic process of elections. Delayed election results are neither unusual or indicative of election and/or voter fraud. They simply mean that democracy is indeed working and that every vote is and should be voted.

On November 7th, 2020, Joseph R. Biden was elected the 46th President of the United States. His victory speech exuded hope and attempt to make peace with all supporters of Trump. “I understand the disappointment tonight. I’ve lost a couple of times myself. But now, let’s give each other a chance,” Biden said. “This is the time to heal in America.”

Biden pledged that he does not see red and blue states, but only the United States. Biden’s first plans of action is to tackle COVID-19 head on with a 12 person Coronavirus task force on Monday, November 9th.

Biden’s first goals on his agenda are to undue some of Trump’s policies such as withdrawing form the World Health Organization as well as repealing Trump’s ban on travel from some Muslim-majority countries.

Biden seems to have a plan to unite the United States again and heal what has been hurt for the past couple of years.

For more information on the election and current events, visit CIMA Law Group and CIMA Law Blog.

Prominent Hip-Hop Rapper, Kanye West, had entered the 2020 election cycle in July, a fashionably late stage of the race. Advocating for the implementation of policies which denounce abortion and prioritize faith. Drawing up a 10 point plan which had included items calling for support for the environment and arts, an anti-interventionist foreign policy, and reforms to the legal system and policing. Due to West’s lack of timelines to be considered a serious candidate for many voters and state officials, he had struggled to make it to the ballots of many states, forcing submitted vote casting to be conducted through “Write-Ins”. Across the 12 states West had appeared in he won fewer than 60,000 votes, most success in Tennessee, winning more than 10,000 votes, 0.3% of the state’s total.

As he cast his own vote, West said he had never previously voted in a presidential election. He tweeted: “God is so good. Today I am voting for the first time in my life for the President of the United States, and it’s for someone I truly trust … me.” West seemingly conceded from the race early Wednesday in a now-deleted tweet stating “WELP KANYE 2024”. West reiterated this motivation to run in the next presidential election by posting an identical tweet that reads, “KANYE 2024”. West’s tweet includes a pic of his silhouette in front of a large screen with an electoral map. If it had been possible to vote in a reality TV star as our 45th President of the United States, no one would underestimate the possibility of electing a musical artist as our 47th.