Joe Biden on cusp of clinching victory  —  Joe Biden has pulled closer to President Donald Trump in Georgia and Pennsylvania, slowly expanding his pathways to victory as the campaigns brace for the release of results Thursday that could put the contest out of reach for the president.

Long at odds with Trump, Defense Secretary Esper has prepared a resignation letter, say officials  —  WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Mark Esper has prepared a letter of resignation, according to three current defense officials.  —  It's not uncommon for Cabinet secretaries to prepare undated letters …

Election 2020 Live Updates: Protests and Legal Skirmishes as Counting Continues in Final Six States … Senate tally includes 65 seats not up for election.  —  Nevada has about 190,000 ballots still to be counted, the secretary of state said.  Ninety percent of them are from Clark County …

GOP Senate wins wreak havoc on Biden transition plans  —  Republicans' likely hold on the Senate is forcing Joe Biden's transition team to consider limiting its prospective Cabinet nominees to those who Mitch McConnell can live with, according to people familiar with the matter.

Biden slightly expands lead over Trump as Nevada releases first results in 24 hours  —  Joe Biden slightly expanded his narrow lead over President Donald Trump in Nevada on Thursday, though the number of outstanding ballots in urban Clark County suggests that the race in the Silver State is still the former vice president's to lose.

LIVE UPDATES: Judge dismisses President Trump's lawsuit in Georgia  —  ATLANTA — The country is watching Georgia as it remains one of the key battleground states that has not been called in the presidential election.  —  Georgia, Pennsylvania, Nevada, North Carolina, Arizona and Alaska races have not been called by ABC News.

N.Y.P.D. Anti-Harassment Official Accused of Racist Rants  —  The official was relieved of his command after City Council investigators amassed evidence that he posted vitriolic messages online under the name “Clouseau.”  —  For more than 20 years, an online chat board called the Rant …

Dem leaders warn liberal rhetoric could blow Georgia races  —  Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her top lieutenants had a stark warning for Democrats on Thursday: Swing too far left and they're all but certain to blow their chances in the Georgia runoff that will determine which party controls the Senate.

A Massive “Stop the Count” Facebook Group Has Ties to Republican Operatives  —  For indispensable reporting on the coronavirus crisis, the election, and more, subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily newsletter.  —  A rapidly growing Facebook group falsely accusing Democrats of “scheming” …

Trump ‘turning up the heat’ with rhetoric does not help his legal case over ballots, says Andrew McCarthy  —  ‘Turning up the heat politically does not help persuade the judges,’ McCarthy argues  —  Fox News Go  —  President Trump's “provocative” comments could dissuade the Supreme Court …

Trump's Special Treatment on Twitter Would End With Biden Win  — For now, violating posts get warning label, not removal  — But ‘world leader’ newsworthiness rules wouldn't apply  —  As U.S. president, Donald Trump receives special treatment from Twitter Inc. when he violates …

In latest batch, Trump gets share of votes he would need to reclaim Arizona.  But next rounds of ballots present new challenges  —  As Maricopa County released the results from 140,000 more ballots on Wednesday night and Thursday morning, President Donald Trump received almost the exact share …

Trump's Tweeting Isn't Crazy.  It's Strategic, Typos and All.  —  A network of right-wing operatives and activists — and the president himself — spread disinformation about Joe Biden with one simple hashtag.  —  Ms. Dreyfuss is a journalist at the Harvard Shorenstein Center's Technology and Social Change project.

The Repudiation  —  The 2020 election, it appears, was a staggering repudiation of Donald Trump.  Of him.  Personally.  —  You're not hearing this right now because the right is in denial about the results as it works through the stages of Kubler-Ross grief.

The final implosion of Trump's Fox News propagandists  —  With President Trump mounting a frantic, last-ditch effort to stop the counting of votes that could doom his reelection, his Fox News propagandists are wheeling into action: One after another, they are raging that the election …

Late-night TV hosts express shock at close election: ‘I feel like I overestimated the American people’  —  Most of the late-night TV hosts had a critical caveat when they delivered their monologues Wednesday night.  —  “There's never been a more important time to mention that we tape this show …