Top Items:
New York Times:
Barr Hands Prosecutors the Authority to Investigate Voter Fraud Claims — The attorney general said that he had authorized “instances” of investigative steps but that inquiries should not be based on specious claims. — WASHINGTON — Attorney General William P. Barr …
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Michael Balsamo / Associated Press:
Barr OKs election probes despite little evidence of fraud — WASHINGTON (AP) — Attorney General William Barr has authorized federal prosecutors across the U.S. to pursue “substantial allegations” of voting irregularities before the 2020 presidential election is certified, despite little evidence of fraud.
Washington Post:
Top Republicans back Trump's efforts to challenge election results — Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and other Republicans on Monday backed President Trump's efforts to contest his loss to President-elect Joe Biden, despite the lack of evidence of significant fraud and sharp rebukes …
Discussion:
Fox News, New York Times, The Hill, CNN, Politico, Reuters, USA Today, Associated Press, Althouse, Raw Story, Political Wire and Wall Street Journal
Dartunorro Clark / NBC News:
DOJ's election crimes chief resigns after Barr directs prosecutors to probe voter fraud claims — The head of the branch of the Justice Department that prosecutes election crimes resigned Monday hours after Attorney General William Barr issued a memo to federal prosecutors to investigate …
Discussion:
Politico, Washington Post and Raw Story
New York Times:
Growing Discomfort at Law Firms Representing Trump in Election Lawsuits — Some lawyers at Jones Day and Porter Wright, which have filed suits about the 2020 vote, said they were worried about undermining the electoral system. — Like many big law firms, Jones Day, whose roots …
Discussion:
Raw Story, The Hill and electionlawblog.org
New York Times:
Helping to Shape the Words of the President-Elect: A Presidential Historian — Jon Meacham, best known for writing about past presidents like Andrew Jackson and George Bush, has helped shape some of Joseph R. Biden Jr.'s most significant speeches. — WASHINGTON — Jon Meacham …
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Joseph Wulfsohn / Fox News:
MSNBC reportedly lets Jon Meacham go as contributor after not disclosing he was a speechwriter for Biden — MSNBC did not immediately respond to Fox News' request for comment — Bill McGurn reacts to Biden's first speech as president-elect — Presidential historian Jon Meacham …
Discussion:
The Daily Caller
Washington Post:
White House, escalating tensions, orders agencies to rebuff Biden transition team — The Trump White House on Monday instructed its senior government leaders to block cooperation with President-elect Joe Biden's transition team, escalating a standoff that threatens to impede his takeover of the federal government in January.
Discussion:
CNN, Raw Story, HotAir, Bloomberg, Sputnik News and The Western Journal
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Jonathan Swan / Axios:
Leaked call audio shows Trump officials denying election results — Top Trump loyalists are trying to cling to power by firing critics, rehiring other loyalists, instructing federal government employees that the election isn't over yet, and threatening appointees that their future work prospects …
Discussion:
Associated Press, New York Times, CNBC, Washington Post, Business Insider and Alternet.org
Eliana Johnson / Washington Free Beacon:
Top USAID Official Tells Agency Leadership: ‘There Is No Transition In Place’
Top USAID Official Tells Agency Leadership: ‘There Is No Transition In Place’
Discussion:
Political Wire
Maggie Haberman / New York Times:
Trump Plans PAC in Hopes of Keeping Hold on G.O.P. — The PAC could accept donations from an unlimited number of people and spend to benefit other candidates, allowing the president to retain influence in a party remade largely in his image. — President Trump is planning to form …
Discussion:
The Hill
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Ashton Pittman / Mississippi Free Press:
Top Mississippi Republicans Fail to Acknowledge Biden Victory as Fitch Joins Trump Lawsuit — Two days after all major national networks called the 2020 presidential election for President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, none of Mississippi's top Republican leaders has acknowledged the Democrats' victory.
Discussion:
The American Spectator and CBS Dallas / Fort Worth
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David M. Drucker / Washington Examiner:
GOP fears conceding Trump loss would spark base revolt and loss of seats — Top Republicans in Washington are reluctant to call Joe Biden the president-elect publicly, fearing a rebellion by grassroots conservatives loyal to President Trump that would sink the party's Senate majority.
Discussion:
Axios, New York Times, RedState, Washington Post, Religion News Service, BuzzFeed News, ABC News, CBS News and The Week
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Alexander Bolton / The Hill:
McConnell declines in floor speech to congratulate Biden as president-elect
McConnell declines in floor speech to congratulate Biden as president-elect
Discussion:
Axios, Business Insider, Talking Points Memo, Newsbusters, Associated Press, Foreign Policy, The Daily Caller, The Dispatch, Washington Times, 6abc, Washington Examiner, NPR, Sputnik News, Fox News, Raw Story, Mother Jones, New York Post, Washington Monthly, HotAir, Vanity Fair, Alternet.org and KTLA, more at Mediagazer »
Religion News Service:
Bishop Harry Jackson Jr., Trump evangelical adviser, has died — Bishop Harry Jackson of Maryland speaks at the unveiling of the “Justice Declaration,” a statement by Christian leaders on criminal justice, in Washington, D.C., on June 20, 2017. RNS photo by Adelle M. Banks — Flip
Hunter Walker / Yahoo News:
Trump's election challenge is continuing, but the campaign is already shedding staff — WASHINGTON — Two days after Joe Biden was declared the winner in the presidential election, President Trump and his allies have vowed to keep on fighting, but his campaign team has already let go of some staff …
Discussion:
The Boston Globe, New York Times, The Hill, Raw Story, Washington Times, Washington Examiner and New York Post
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Los Angeles Times:
Trump slows Biden transition with denials, lawsuits
Trump slows Biden transition with denials, lawsuits
Discussion:
Washington Post, CNN, Fox News, Townhall, The Gateway Pundit, littlegreenfootballs.com, Politico, UPI and Louder With Crowder
Jennifer Jacobs / Bloomberg:
Trump Adviser Leading Post-Election Legal Fight Has Coronavirus
Trump Adviser Leading Post-Election Legal Fight Has Coronavirus
Discussion:
CNBC, Talking Points Memo, UPI, The Daily Beast, Axios and Washington Times
Meghann Myers / Military Times:
Exclusive: Esper, on his way out, says he was no yes man — As had long been expected, President Donald Trump fired Defense Secretary Mark Esper on Monday, cutting short what would have otherwise been his final months at the Pentagon, in anticipation of President-elect Joe Biden's transition in January.
Discussion:
Defense News, Washington Post, NPR, Business Insider, Balloon Juice, Al Jazeera, Raw Story, Fox News, Vanity Fair, Task & Purpose, KSLNewsRadio, Alternet.org, Washington Examiner, Los Angeles Times, Slate, The Hill, The Daily Caller, Washington Times, The Guardian, One America News Network, HotAir, UPI, Hackwhackers and Politico
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Jan Wolfe / Reuters:
Trump campaign sues to halt Pennsylvania from certifying Biden win — WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump's campaign on Monday filed a lawsuit in a Pennsylvania federal court, seeking an emergency injunction to stop state officials from certifying Joe Biden's victory in the state.
Discussion:
USA Today, UPI, The Hill, Talking Points Memo, Bloomberg, Townhall and The Guardian
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Adam Klasfeld / Law & Crime:
Trump Campaign Files Federal Lawsuit Seeking to Block Pennsylvania from Certifying Election Results
Trump Campaign Files Federal Lawsuit Seeking to Block Pennsylvania from Certifying Election Results
Discussion:
6abc and NBC10 Philadelphia
New York Times:
Trump Administration Removes Scientist in Charge of Assessing Climate Change — Michael Kuperberg was told he would no longer oversee the National Climate Assessment. The job is expected to go to a climate-change skeptic, according to people familiar with the changes.
Discussion:
Politico
Ellen Nakashima / Washington Post:
White House official and former GOP political operative Michael Ellis named as NSA general counsel — The Pentagon general counsel has named a White House official and former GOP political operative to be the top lawyer at the National Security Agency, the U.S. government's largest …
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo and Raw Story
Robert Barnes / Washington Post:
Trump's quest to end the Affordable Care Act arrives at Supreme Court — The latest legal challenge to the Affordable Care Act comes Tuesday before a reconstituted Supreme Court, during a pandemic, in a rapidly changing political environment. — All of those factors are likely to play …
Discussion:
Associated Press, Kaiser Health News, ABC News, New York Post and CNBC
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Dartunorro Clark / NBC News:
Biden to speak Tuesday on protecting Obamacare as Supreme Court hears case that could overturn law
Biden to speak Tuesday on protecting Obamacare as Supreme Court hears case that could overturn law
Discussion:
Washington Examiner and Politico
Isaac Chotiner / New Yorker:
Nate Cohn Explains What the Polls Got Wrong — Last week, Joe Biden was elected the forty-sixth President of the United States, defeating Donald Trump by what is likely to be several percentage points nationwide. The margins in crucial swing states, however, were closer than polling averages suggested that they would be.
Jess Bravin / Wall Street Journal:
No Evidence of Systematic Fraud in U.S. Elections, International Observer Mission Reports — A team of international observers invited by the Trump administration has issued a preliminary report giving high marks to the conduct of last week's elections—and it criticizes President …
New York Times:
No, Software Glitches Are Not Affecting Vote Counts — President Trump and many of his supporters complained over the weekend that “software glitches” undermined the vote counts in Michigan and Georgia and argued that the problems portended wider issues in other counties and states that used the same software.
Morning Consult:
Election Trust Tracker: Republican Trust in Elections Plummets as 7 in 10 Say 2020 Election Was Not Free and Fair — An ongoing survey research project to gauge how voters are responding to unprecedented electoral conditions — Three days after every major media outlet called the election …
Discussion:
Mediaite
Elizabeth Dwoskin / Washington Post:
Facebook takes down a large network of pages tied to Stephen Bannon for pushing misinformation — The pages, which pushed the ‘Stop the Steal’ effort and other misleading messages, were removed over the weekend, while the former top Trump strategist's account was frozen
Discussion:
Raw Story and Breitbart, more at Techmeme »