Trump Discussed Naming Campaign Lawyer as Special Counsel on Election Fraud  —  In a meeting at the White House on Friday, the president weighed appointing Sidney Powell, who promoted conspiracy theories about rigged voting machines, to probe voter fraud.  —  President Trump on Friday …

Russia is behind the broad, ongoing cyber spy campaign against the U.S. government and private sector, Pompeo says  —  Russia is behind the massive, ongoing cyber spy campaign against the federal government and private sector, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Friday …

Even as Trump vows to keep fighting, his aides are quietly starting to move on  —  Vice President Pence has begun looking for a new home in the Washington suburbs, and he's planning a valedictory foreign trip to begin the day Congress counts the electoral college votes.

U.K. Imposes Harsher Lockdown on London, Citing New Version of Virus  —  Scientists in Britain say the new variant is spreading faster than previous ones, but does not appear to make people sicker.  —  LONDON — Alarmed by a what he called a faster-spreading variant of the coronavirus …

Scoop: Lance Bottoms rejected Biden's SBA offer  —  Joe Biden implored Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms to accept a job heading the Small Business Administration earlier this week, a lesser position she rejected after he characterized it as “only the first step” for her during his presidency …

The inside story of how Trump's denial, mismanagement and magical thinking led to the pandemic's dark winter  —  National reporter focusing on health policy  —  Reporter covering the White House White House Bureau Chief  —  As the number of coronavirus cases ticked upward in mid-November …

Minn. Sen. Jerry Relph dies of COVID-19 complications  —  Brian Bakst and Kirsti MarohnSt.  —  Jerry Relph, a first-term state senator from St. Cloud, died Friday of complications of COVID-19, his family and the Senate majority leader confirmed.  —  “Jerry dedicated his life to service …

Stephanie Izard Apologizes For a Poorly Received Representation of a Korean Dish  —  A photo posted Thursday using Izard's social media handle showed a “bibimbap” without any cultural context, igniting a conversation on cultural appropriation  —  A fellow Chicago chef is once again accusing …

Amid Vaccine Rollout and Historic Hack, Trump Remains Focused on Reversing Election  —  The president has been largely out of sight, paying little public attention to any events other than his efforts to overturn Joe Biden's victory  —  WASHINGTON—In a week that began with the Electoral …

No, This Pandemic Is Not Over.  Please Don't Act Like It Is.  —  The other night, I made my stepmother cry.  I've never done that before, but this time I felt as if I had to.  My brother had told me about my father and stepmother's holiday plan, which included staying with relatives …

They risk their lives cleaning hospitals.  Now, they are getting vaccinated.  ‘I want people to know that we exist’  —  Maria Saravia changes in and out of protective gear 24 times a day — once for each patient room she enters on the COVID-19 floor at Keck Hospital of USC.

General sorry for ‘miscommunication’ over vaccine shipments  —  The Army general in charge of getting COVID-19 vaccines across the United States apologized on Saturday for “miscommunication” with states over the number of doses to be delivered in the early stages of distribution.  —  “I failed.

No ‘Negative’ News: How China Censored the Coronavirus  —  Thousands of internal directives and reports reveal how Chinese officials stage-managed what appeared online in the early days of the outbreak.  —  阅读.体中 文.閱讀.體 中文.

From A Very Stable Genius to After Trump: 2020 in US politics books … A long time ago, in 1883, a future president (Woodrow Wilson, a subject of this year's reckonings) studied political science at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, in a classroom in which was inscribed the slogan …

Keep Texas Red  —  Here's how.  —  Texas is still a red state, but the it's not the Republican stronghold it used to be.  Whereas Republican candidates earned well over 60% of votes in states like Oklahoma and Alabama in 2020, they earned a little over 50% in Texas—a result more resembling Florida than anything else.

BUSTED?  Why the numbers behind Mitch McConnell's re-election don't add up  —  On a Thursday in August in Louisville, months before the 2020 election, a parade of cars filled with Kentucky Teamster representatives and labor groups, showed their fury at Mitch McConnell's constant blocking of critical COVID aid.

Congress in frantic race to strike stimulus deal  —  Negotiations on a nearly $1 trillion coronavirus relief bill have come down to a single major sticking point, but neither side is giving in as Congress speeds to clinch a deal before a government funding deadline on Sunday night.

EXCLUSIVE: Lawmakers ask FBI and Federal Election Commission to investigate Jared Kushner-backed Trump campaign company after Insider's reporting … - Two lawmakers demanded that the FBI and the Federal Election Commission open an investigation into whether the Trump campaign violated federal law …

US plans to shutter remaining consulates in Russia  —  (CNN)The Trump administration has informed lawmakers of its plan to shutter its two remaining consulates in Russia.  —  In a notification dated December 10, the US State Department told Congress it intends to close the consulate …

Hacked networks will need to be burned ‘down to the ground’  —  It's going to take months to kick elite hackers widely believed to be Russian out of the U.S. government networks they have been quietly rifling through since as far back as March in Washington's worst cyberespionage failure on record.

In Last Rush, Trump Grants Mining and Energy Firms Access to Public Lands  —  The outgoing administration is pushing through approval of corporate projects over the opposition of environmental groups and tribal communities.  —  WASHINGTON — The Trump administration is rushing to approve …

Either the US Leads on Crypto, or China Will  —  Even casual viewers of cable news are familiar with commercials featuring actor William Devane - usually golfing or horseback riding - exhorting them to invest in precious metals.  Lately, Devane has been joined in this pursuit …

Trump appointee names conservative allies to run Radio Free Europe and Cuba broadcast agency  —  The Trump appointee who oversees Voice of America and other federal broadcasting operations continued an ongoing purge of top leadership by naming two conservative allies to run two of the most prominent networks.