I'm Not Yet Ready to Abandon the Possibility of America  —  The Atlantic is pleased to offer, below, an adapted and updated excerpt from former President Barack Obama's new memoir, A Promised Land, which will be published on Tuesday by Crown.  Yesterday, The Atlantic's editor in chief …

State Department is preventing Biden from accessing messages from foreign leaders  —  Washington (CNN)A stack of messages from foreign leaders to President-elect Joe Biden are sitting at the State Department but the Trump administration is preventing him from accessing them …

Scoop: Trump eyes digital media empire to take on Fox News  —  President Trump has told friends he wants to start a digital media company to clobber Fox News and undermine the conservative-friendly network, sources tell Axios.  —  The state of play: Some Trump advisers think Fox News …

This Election Result Won't Be Overturned  —  Recounts occasionally change margins in the hundreds, never in the tens of thousands.  —  It has been an eventful, unsettling year: A deadly virus struck without warning and claimed almost a quarter-million American lives; a lockdown demolished personal routines …

POLITICO Playbook: Maggie's Trump book, and some Biden world moves  —  DRIVING THE DAY  —  NEW ... NYT'S MAGGIE HABERMAN is writing a book about President DONALD TRUMP.  —  WHAT ELSE do we need to say about this?  You know this is going to be awesome.  MAGGIE has been a singular force …

Notes on the State of the 2020 Election  —  Dear Readers: Check out our YouTube channel, UVACFP, later today for our latest Crystal Ball webinar.  It will feature the 22nd annual American Democracy Conference: We'll be hearing from New York Times columnist Jamelle Bouie; CNN commentator Tara Setmayer …

Evidence suggests several state Senate candidates were plants funded by dark money  —  MIAMI - Why would candidates for Florida Senate seats do no campaigning, no fundraising, have no issue platforms, nor make any effort to get votes?  —  Local 10 News has found evidence to suggest three …

Uline founders Liz and Dick Uihlein test positive for COVID-19.  She has criticized coronavirus restrictions.  —  Mary Spicuzza Daniel Bice Molly BeckMilwaukee Journal Sentinel  —  Liz and Dick Uihlein, founders of the shipping supply giant Uline and major donors to President Donald Trump …

Appeals court rules in favor of Harvard in affirmative action case, paving way for Supreme Court challenge  —  A federal appeals court on Thursday agreed with a lower court ruling that Harvard University does not intentionally discriminate against prospective Asian American students.

How to cover a coup — or whatever it is Trump is attempting  —  President Trump lost.  The nation knows it.  The world knows it.  And, although he won't admit it, he certainly knows it, too.  —  But because he is claiming otherwise — with his Republican enablers joining the chorus …

Snell & Wilmer withdraws from election lawsuit as Trump contests Arizona results  —  The largest law firm representing the Trump campaign or its allies in post-election litigation challenging votes in key states has withdrawn from an election lawsuit in Maricopa County, Arizona.

Louisville police, county attorney's office hide 738,000 records in Explorer sex abuse case  —  Louisville Metro Police concealed at least 738,000 records documenting the sexual abuse of Explorer Scouts by two officers — then lied to keep the files from the public, records show.

Biden Can Pass His Agenda If He Gives Republicans What They Want Most  —  The Democrats won the presidency, but they don't have what a parliamentary system would call a “government.”  Even if they win both Georgia Senate seats in the runoffs, they'll have just 50 Senate seats and will need …

What if Trump never concedes?  The Constitution will end his term, conservative lawyer John Yoo says  — Trump “has the right to mount legal challenges, but we should be clear that these are ‘Hail Mary’ passes,” said John Yoo, a former legal advisor to the George W. Bush administration.

N.Y.C. Schools May Close Again, a Grim Sign of a Global Dilemma  —  The school system, the nation's largest, has had strikingly few virus cases.  Even so, the mayor may end in-person classes because the city's overall rate is surging.  —  New York City has more students in classrooms …

Trump's Post-Election Tactics Put Him in Unsavory Company  —  Denying defeat, claiming fraud and using government machinery to reverse election results are the time-honored tools of dictators.  —  MOSCOW — When the strongman ruler of Belarus declared an implausible landslide victory …

Trump wants to make money off the fake ‘stolen election’ crisis he created.  Don't let him.  —  Republican donors beware!  Trump says he needs your money for legal challenges to the election, but the fine print says it won't be used that way.  —  For days, President Donald Trump has been blasting …

At dinner parties and game nights, casual American life is fueling the coronavirus surge  —  A record-breaking surge in U.S. coronavirus cases is being driven to a significant degree by casual occasions that may feel deceptively safe, officials and scientists warn — dinner parties, game nights, sleepovers and carpools.

Passenger Aboard First Cruise Ship to Return to Sailing in Caribbean Tests Positive for COVID-19  —  Passengers and non-essential crew are now isolating in their cabins as the ship heads back toward its departure point in Barbados  —  The first cruise ship to set sail in the Caribbean since …

Grief, anger, disbelief: Trump voters face Biden's victory  —  ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — When Joan Martin heard that Joe Biden had been declared the winner of the presidential election, the retired nurse and avowed supporter of President Donald Trump was deeply unsettled.

A Careful Voter-Fraud Review  —  On the menu today: a careful review of recent voter-fraud cases, and how this dispels the trite, inaccurate claims that “voter fraud doesn't exist”; perspective on what recent voter-fraud cases have proven and the scale of the problem; and something …

Helicopter Accident  —  During a routine mission, nine uniformed members of the Multinational Force and Observers (MFO) were involved in a helicopter crash in the MFO's area of operations.  We are deeply saddened to report that eight MFO members were killed; six U.S. citizens, one French, and one Czech.

Trump criticizes Fox: ‘They forgot the Golden Goose’  —  President Trump on Thursday unleashed on Fox News, retweeting a dozen messages attacking the network and sharing one himself lamenting that Fox “forgot the Golden Goose” that made them successful.  —  “.@FoxNews daytime ratings have completely collapsed.

AOC: I'll Be Working Hard in Georgia So That Democrats Won't Have to Negotiate With the GOP  —  In this week's leadership elections, Senate Republicans unanimously selected Mitch McConnell to continue leading their conference in the new Congress.  Whether his title — Senate Majority Leader …

Trump's election challenge looks like a scam to line his pockets  —  President Trump isn't really trying to overturn the election.  He's simply running one more scam before he leaves office that would enable him to enrich himself.  —  That's the way it appears, at least …

The Latest: Graham giving $1M to help Georgia's GOP senators  —  Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, who was just reelected in South Carolina, says he's donating $1 million of his campaign money to help two GOP senators win runoff races in neighboring Georgia  —  'I don't know if I will ever vote Republican again': Former Trump voter

Yes, dead people voted in this election and Democrats helped make it happen  —  Many Trump voters believe this election was unfair.  They're right.  —  Tucker: How Democrats guaranteed dead people voted in election  —  It's been more than a week since the final votes were cast …

NYT's Maggie Haberman has deal for Trump book  —  NEW YORK (AP) — One of the top chroniclers of the Trump administration, New York Times White House reporter Maggie Haberman, has a book deal.  —  Penguin Press announced Thursday that the Pulitzer Prize winner's book, currently untitled, would come out in 2022.

Utah Man Driving 115 MPH Said He Was on His Way to Kill Former Missouri Senator: Police  —  STOPPED IN HIS TRACKS  —  A Utah man who was arrested after police clocked him driving more than 100 mph told state troopers he was on his way to Missouri to kill former Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO), Desert News reports.

Trump endorses McDaniel to remain RNC chair, ponders 2024 run  —  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday endorsed Republican National Committee chair Ronna McDaniel to stay on in her position, in what one source said could be a prelude to Trump's announcing plans to run for president in 2024.

What Is Trump's Legal Strategy?  Try to Block Certification of Biden Victory in States.  —  Effort to get state Republicans to appoint pro-Trump Electoral College votes is a long shot, president's advisers and election-law experts say  —  President Trump's campaign is pursuing a patchwork …