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 …

The Danger (and Ineptitude) of Trump's Failed Coup  —  In his address to the Democratic National Convention in August, Barack Obama warned that the Trump administration “has shown it will tear our democracy down if that's what it takes to win.”  Kamala Harris began her first speech …

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.

Georgia Certifies: Donald Trump Lost  —  A recount changed little, as the evidence of ballot fraud fails to appear.  —  By The Editorial Board  —  The recount in Georgia is finished, after workers examined five million ballots by hand, but President Trump still lags Joe Biden by 12,000 votes.

Ben Carson Says He Was ‘Desperately Ill’ With The Coronavirus  —  Secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development Ben Carson took to Facebook Friday to report he has been “extremely sick” with the coronavirus.  But Carson, one of several individuals in the Trump administration …

1,000 U.S. Hospitals Are ‘Critically’ Short On Staff — And More Expect To Be Soon  —  More than 1,000 hospitals across the United States are “critically” short on staff, according to numbers released this week by the Department of Health and Human Services.

Giuliani cites affidavit with crucial errors in press conference  —  • Giuliani's source was an affidavit that mistook Minnesota precincts for Michigan precincts and cited 25 “Wayne County” precincts that are not actually in Wayne County.  —  • Beyond being misidentified …

Kyle Rittenhouse freed from Kenosha jail after attorneys post $2 million bail despite pleas from families of men he shot  —  Kyle Rittenhouse was released from jail in Wisconsin on Friday afternoon after his attorneys posted $2 million bail, setting the teenager free as he awaits trial …

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 …

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.

Anger builds in Black community over Trump's claims of voter fraud in big cities  —  When Wisconsin Republicans opened an office earlier this year in the historical Bronzeville neighborhood, it was meant to be a physical symbol of President Trump's commitment to urban voters.

Many College Students Head Home for Thanksgiving Lacking Covid-19 Tests  —  Hundreds of thousands of young people are seen posing a significant health risk to their hometowns  —  Hundreds of thousands of college students are poised to leave campuses next week and travel home without taking a Covid-19 test …

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 …

Mnuchin's Inglorious Endgame  —  The Trump administration's abrupt decision to curtail the Federal Reserve's emergency lending programs is a gamble with no upside.  —  The editorial board is a group of opinion journalists whose views are informed by expertise, research, debate and certain longstanding values.

Trump tries to drum out GOP election officials who won't play his games  —  Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger's family has received threats and he expects a primary challenge in 2022.  —  Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger.  President Donald Trump has driven senators …

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.

Business and World Leaders Move On as Trump Fights to Reverse Election  —  President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr. is seizing the moment, not to aggressively confront the president he defeated, but to act presidential in his stead.  —  WASHINGTON — Inside the wrought-iron fences that surround …

Why Republican voters say there's ‘no way in hell’ Trump lost  —  SUNDOWN, Texas (Reuters) - Brett Fryar is a middle-class Republican.  A 50-year-old chiropractor in this west Texas town, he owns a small business.  He has two undergraduate degrees and a master's degree, in organic chemistry.

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 …

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 …

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.

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.

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.