AP White House reporter Aamer Madhani wanted to know more about Emily Murphy, the little-known federal official who stalled the formal presidential transition by waiting more than two weeks to āascertainā that Joe Biden was the apparent winner of the presidential race.
Madhani reached out to every recent administrator of Muphyās agency ā the General Services Administration ā as well as some lawmakers Murphy had worked for, but he wasnāt having any luck. His 10th call, a fortuitous cold call to Dave Barram, who ran the GSA during the Bush-Gore standoff in 2000, proved to be the jackpot. Madhani found Barramās number in an online database.
Barram revealed that heād spoken with Murphy before the election to talk through how to handle the ascertainment process. He laid out his advice to her: āIām looking at you and I can tell you want to do the right thing,ā he said, adding: āIāll tell you what my mother told me: āIf you do the right thing, then all you have to do is live with the consequences of it.āā
The call with Barram didnāt occur until late in the day, but Madhani instantly knew he had a story and worked late to turn it around for APās most reader-engaged story of the day.