This Was Always the Plan  —  President Trump telegraphed that he would try to steal the election if he didn't win.  —  Dear Reader (including those of you who are starting to layer up like Steve Bannon to deal with the cold),  —  I rather enjoy not writing about Donald Trump.

Michigan attorney general ponders criminal probes of state and local officials who bend to Trump's will on overturning election results  —  Michigan's attorney general is exploring whether officials there risk committing crimes if they bend to President Trump's wishes in seeking to block …

Scoop: Trump lawyers to avoid Michigan lawmaker meeting after COVID exposure  —  Rudy Giuliani and other key members of President Trump's outside legal team won't be attending today's meeting with two Michigan lawmakers because they've been exposed to the coronavirus, two sources familiar with the internal discussions tell Axios.

Ben Carson says he was ‘desperately ill’ from Covid but is now ‘out of the woods’  —  (CNN)Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson said Friday he became “desperately ill” from Covid-19, but now believes he is “out of the woods” after receiving an antibody treatment.

Staff of U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn says she misspoke by calling Biden ‘president-elect’  —  U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn, a stalwart supporter of President Donald Trump, on Friday referred to Joe Biden as the country's “president-elect,” a comment her staff later said was a mistake.

GSA Administrator Emily Murphy Alive, Mad We Emailed Her  —  The government bureaucrat holding up the peaceful transfer of presidential power refuses to explain herself.  —  Laura Wagner  —  Emily Murphy is the Trump appointee who heads up the General Services Administration and is therefore in charge of …

Shooting at Mayfair mall leaves 8 injured; police looking for shooter  —  Sophie Carson Ashley LuthernMilwaukee Journal Sentinel  —  A gunman opened fire at Mayfair mall in Wauwatosa Friday afternoon, wounding seven adults and one teenager, officials said.

Exclusive: Mexico agreed with U.S. Attorney General Barr to arrest drug capo in deal for general - source  —  MEXICO CITY/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Mexico has committed to the arrest of a high-level cartel leader under a deal with U.S. Attorney General William Barr to drop U.S. drug trafficking charges …

In All 50 States, Deaths Are Now Higher Than Normal  —  Brazil Canada France Germany India Italy Mexico Spain U.K.  —  Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland …

No, Trump's sister did not publicly back him.  He was duped by a fake account.  —  On Friday morning, President Trump shared a seemingly innocuous article on Twitter.  The piece said that his sister, Elizabeth Trump Grau, had publicly voiced her support for her brother amid his baseless claims that he won the 2020 election.

AJC Interview: Why Kemp formalized Georgia's election despite Trump's pushback  —  When Gov. Brian Kemp certified the state's 16 presidential electors, he not only brought Georgia one step closer to ending a tumultuous vote-counting process but he also defied calls from President Donald Trump and his allies to delay the decision.

The Desperate Final Gasps of Team Trump's Flailing ‘Mini-Coup’  —  Experts agree: Trump's legal effort is dead, and rigor mortis is setting in.  —  The past week saw Team Trump piling up losses and running out of road.  —  The campaign dropped its lawsuit to stop the certification …

Mitt Romney's inspirations for bucking his party: his dad and his Black grandson  —  Mitt Romney is once again showing himself to be a GOP maverick, this week calling the president's efforts to overturn election results “undemocratic” while most of his Republican colleagues stay aboard the Trump train.

It's time for Trump to concede and move on  —  When President Trump refused to concede the election to Joe Biden in the immediate aftermath of Nov. 3, we argued that he had the right to mount legal challenges if he believed there had been irregularities, mistakes, fraud, or all three.

Ezra Klein Joins Times Opinion as Columnist and Podcast Host  —  Ezra, in his columns and on his podcast, will be able to help our readers and listeners navigate the political future as Washington moves into a new era.  Read more in this note from Kathleen Kingsbury and Paula Szuchman.

‘People of Color’ Do Not Belong to the Democratic Party  —  It's past time to start seeing voters the way they see themselves.  —  Mr. Kang is a writer at large for The New York Times Magazine.  —  Every immigrant arrives in this country with an implied debt.

Twitter will hand @POTUS to Biden on Inauguration Day, even if Trump doesn't concede  —  The presidential @POTUS Twitter handle will automatically transfer to President-elect Joe Biden the moment he's sworn in at noon on Inauguration Day — whether or not President Donald Trump has conceded, the company confirmed to POLITICO on Friday.

Executions Scheduled for Inmates Convicted of Brutal Murders Many Years Ago  —  Attorney General William P. Barr today directed the Federal Bureau of Prisons to schedule the executions of three federal-death row inmates sentenced to death for staggeringly brutal murders, including the murder of a child and …

There Was a Second Pro-Trump Conspiracy Hearing Thursday We Didn't Even Notice  —  Yesterday, a prominent Republican who has squandered his reputation for sobriety plunged headlong into nuttery by promoting a series of wild conspiracies promoted by Donald Trump.  —  Wait.  Actually this happened twice yesterday.

Biden's margin of victory over Trump surpasses 6 million votes  —  What's at risk when the President doesn't concede  —  (CNN)President-elect Joe Biden's margin of victory over President Donald Trump surpassed 6 million votes on Friday, as ballots continue to be counted across the nation.

Voice of America's 5 Months Under Trump CEO: Lawsuits, Bias Claims, And A Sex Scandal  —  Crisis has been the defining constant at the Voice of America and its parent agency for the past five months.  —  That's how long Michael Pack, the conservative documentary maker picked by President …