Trump Pardons Two Russia Inquiry Figures and Blackwater Guards  —  The pre-Christmas wave of 20 pardons and commutations are not likely to be the last before Mr. Trump leaves office on Jan. 20.  —  In an audacious pre-Christmas round of pardons, President Trump granted clemency on Tuesday …

Trump calls on Congress to approve $2,000 stimulus checks, hinting that he might not sign economic relief bill into law without changes  —  The president has still not signed the measure even though it passed Monday night.  He called the measure “a disgrace.”

Sources: Secret Service Has No Plan if Trump Refuses to Go  —  But they do have procedures for handling trespassers.  —  If there are any checklists or plans, procedures or guidelines for the Secret Service to follow in the event of an autogolpe—a Latin American-style crisis …

Republicans plunge into open battle over attempts to overturn Trump's loss to Biden  —  The GOP is plunging into open warfare over President-elect Joe Biden's election victory — with President Trump taunting Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell in a passive-aggressive email blast …

Warnock's wife told officer that her husband is ‘a great actor’ after domestic dispute  —  Medical officials did not find visible signs of injury on his wife's foot and Warnock was never charged with a crime.  —  Ossoff, Warnock would embrace ‘far-left liberal policies’ in Senate: Alyssa Farah

Pfizer Nears Deal With Trump Administration to Provide More Vaccine Doses  —  The company could provide at least tens of millions of additional doses of a coronavirus vaccine under an agreement that would give it better access to the supplies it needs to expand manufacturing.

As Trump meets with QAnon influencers, the conspiracy theory's adherents beg for dictatorship  —  On Friday, President Donald Trump met with current and former advisers in the Oval Office, including retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, and one person familiar with the meeting said Flynn advocated …

FBI links Iran to online hit list targeting top officials who've refuted Trump's election fraud claims  —  The FBI has concluded that Iran was behind online efforts earlier this month to incite violence against the bureau's director, a former top U.S. cyber expert and multiple state elections …

Bidenworld is worried Trump will trash tradition and force the president-elect to fire thousands of GOP holdovers on his first day in the White House … - President Donald Trump could complicate President-elect Joe Biden's job by leaving thousands of political holdovers in office when Inauguration Day comes.

Despite Trump's intense hunt for voter fraud, officials in key states have so far identified just a small number of possible cases  —  In Pittsburgh, the local police department this year received 10 complaints of possible fraudulent voting in the November election.

What happened to Maria Bartiromo?  The Trump election fraud story has the TV news biz asking  —  When a public company makes news, a chief executive can expect a text or call from Maria Bartiromo.  —  The veteran business journalist, now an anchor at Fox News, made her bones by getting sit-downs …

U.S. reports more Covid deaths than ever before  —  The United States on Tuesday saw the highest number of Covid-19 deaths in a single day, according to a count of reports by NBC News.  —  The 3,350 reported deaths break a previous single-day high that was set just last week, on Dec. 16.

Jared Kushner signed off on secret payments to top campaign officials, source says  —  Source tells Salon that dubious shell-company arrangements to pay top officials were approved by Kushner and Trump  —  Top White House adviser Jared Kushner, President Trump's son-in-law …

Trump's Longtime Banker at Deutsche Bank Resigns  —  Rosemary Vrablic, who oversaw hundreds of millions of dollars in loans to President Trump's company, will leave the bank next week.  —  President Trump's longtime banker at Deutsche Bank, who arranged for the German lender to make hundreds …

U.S. Jobless Claims Retreat From Three-Month High  —  Claims still hovering at highest levels since recent peaks in September  —  The number of workers seeking unemployment benefits fell last week, amid signs the economy is continuing to recover, but at a slowing pace.

Arizona GOP May Face Sanctions for Filing Lawsuit Contradicted by Audit, Judge Suggests  —  The Arizona Republican Party could face court sanctions for filing a lawsuit even though the state's audit debunked its allegations, a judge suggested in a ruling tossing the case.

How Cities Lost Control of Police Discipline  —  In the chaos of 1960s Detroit, a fledgling police union laid the groundwork for a system that, to this day, constrains discipline for officers accused of misconduct.  —  It took Portland, Ore., almost $1 million in legal fees …

President Trump doesn't get the vaccine credit he deserves  —  It is now an established fact that the numerous naysayers who predicted President Trump could never deliver a vaccine this year were wrong.  Thankfully, he did what they insisted couldn't be done.

Flint Has Clean Water Now.  Why Won't People Drink It?  —  In a city synonymous for half a decade with disaster, something remarkable happened in February 2019.  A team of researchers reported that Flint's homes—even the ones at the highest risk for undrinkable, lead-poisoned tap water …

How the Centers for Disease Control Went Woke  —  A look at the experts and the arguments that persuaded a government agency to prioritize ‘equity’ over saving lives  —  In 2015, Dayna Bowen Matthew, the dean of George Washington University Law School, published a paper concerning racial disparities in health care.

How to Stop the Mutant Coronavirus  —  Travel restrictions might make sense, but what America really needs is better disease surveillance.  —  The editorial board is a group of opinion journalists whose views are informed by expertise, research, debate and certain longstanding values.