Scoop: Trump tells confidants he plans to pardon Michael Flynn  —  President Trump has told confidants he plans to pardon his former national security adviser Michael Flynn, who pleaded guilty in December 2017 to lying to the FBI about his Russian contacts, two sources with direct knowledge of the discussions tell Axios.

Penguin Random House Staff Confront Publisher About New Jordan Peterson Book  —  During a tense town hall, staff cried and expressed dismay with the publishing giant's decision to publish ‘Beyond Order: 12 More Rules for Life.’  —  Several Penguin Random House Canada employees confronted management …

The Inside Story of Michigan's Fake Voter Fraud Scandal  —  How a state that was never in doubt became a ‘national embarrassment’ and a symbol of the Republican Party's fealty to Donald Trump.  —  After five years spent bullying the Republican Party into submission, President Donald Trump finally met his match in Aaron Van Langevelde.

As Their D.C. Days Dwindle, Ivanka and Jared Look for a New Beginning  —  The end of President Trump's time in office leaves his daughter Ivanka Trump and his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, as well-to-do refugees — but they appear to have plans in New Jersey.  —  WASHINGTON — Town officials …

POLITICO Playbook PM: NEW: What Paul Ryan is saying about Biden and Trump  —  PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP appeared in the briefing room for a minute or so around 12:30 p.m. to congratulate the American people on the stock market breaking 30,000.  He did not take a single question.

Fox paid seven figures to settle lawsuit over bogus Seth Rich conspiracy story  —  WASHINGTON — Just as star anchor Sean Hannity and other high-profile Fox News figures were due to be deposed about their promotion of a bogus conspiracy theory about the death of former Democratic National …

‘Fantasy world’: Pompeo knocks Biden administration picks as out of touch on foreign policy  —  Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Tuesday criticized members of President-elect Joe Biden's incoming administration, saying they've lived in a “fantasy world” and “led from behind.”

Mnuchin Plans to Put $455 Billion Beyond Yellen's Easy Reach  — Biden Treasury pick Yellen left with smaller lending backstop  — Mnuchin urged Congress to use unspent money to help economy  —  Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin will put $455 billion in unspent Cares Act funding …

Trump Stress-Tested the Election System, and the Cracks Showed  —  Even in the absence of a questionable outcome or any evidence of fraud, President Trump managed to freeze the passage of power for most of a month.  —  As President Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 election have steadily disintegrated …

YouTube temporarily suspends, demonetizes OANN  —  YouTube has barred One America News Network from posting new videos for a week and stripped it of its ability to make money off existing content after the Trump-friendly channel uploaded a video promoting a phony cure for COVID-19, YouTube spokesperson Ivy Choi tells Axios.

Joe Biden's Obama retreads  —  ANALYSIS/OPINION:  —  Are furbished product is seldom as desirable as a brand-new one.  Joe Biden must be assuming Americans can't tell the difference.  Even as President Trump battles uphill to overturn the results of the recent presidential election …

BREAKING: Ballot Count Upload Error in Arizona — Over 6,000 False Biden Votes Discovered  —  Joe Biden's lead in Arizona dropped from 10,377 votes to 4,202 after a machine error was discovered on Tuesday.  —  The error was from a faulty upload from Greenlee County, which showed 22,110 votes — but should have been 3,723.

Arkansas Supreme Court invalidates Democratic candidate, GOP declares victory  —  The Arkansas Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled that Democrat Jimmie Wilson is ineligible to serve in the state Legislature due to decades-old misdemeanor convictions in federal court, wiping out Wilson's victory …

Williams prof disavows own finding of mishandled GOP ballots  —  Don't miss the big stories.  Like us on Facebook.  —  A Williams College professor has apologized for a “lack of clarity and due diligence” after his statistical analysis of Pennsylvania mail-in votes was used by conservative lawmakers …

Incoming senior Biden staffer justified suicide bombers during Second Intifada  —  In 2002, Reema Dodin, then a student at the University of California, Berkeley, spoke about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, saying that “suicide bombers were the last resort of a desperate people.”

Krabbenhoft, Sanford part ways, health organization says  —  SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — Kelby Krabbenhoft and Sanford Health have agreed to part ways, Sanford announced in a news release at about 5:45 p.m. today.  —  Bill Gassen will replace Krabbenhoft as the president and chief executive officer of Sanford effective immediately.

Defund-Police Organizers to Biden: “We're Not Going Away”  —  Let our journalists help you make sense of the noise: Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily newsletter and get a recap of news that matters.  —  On the Saturday after Election Day, not long after media outlets announced …

Computer repairman who claimed he gave Hunter Biden data to Giuliani closes shop as laptop saga gets stranger  —  Weeks before the Nov. 3 presidential election, the world's political intrigue turned to a Wilmington computer repair shop after the New York Post revealed that its owner gave …

Here's how Trump's transition blockade finally ended  —  (CNN)Two weeks after Joe Biden was projected to win the presidential election, General Services Administrator Emily Murphy was finally prepared to stop stalling the transition.  —  It was Friday, November 20.

$15,000 Fine After Secret Hasidic Wedding Draws Thousands of Guests  —  “This was amazingly irresponsible,” Mayor Bill de Blasio said of the event in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.  —  Thousands of ultra-Orthodox Jews gathered to celebrate a wedding inside a cavernous hall in Brooklyn's Williamsburg …

This unnerving election does not bode well for the next one  —  Next time could be worse.  —  This year's presidential election came dangerously close to being stolen.  The only reason it didn't happen was because, in the end, there were too many states for President Trump to try to steal …

AOC and Ilhan Omar want to block Biden's former chief of staff  —  Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Ilhan Omar are boosting a petition against Joe Biden nominating his former chief of staff to a new role in his administration, calling Bruce Reed a “deficit hawk.”

Lockdowns Not Linked With Lower COVID Death Rates, New Study Finds  —  The researchers found that the criteria most associated with a high death rate was life expectancy, though higher COVID death rates were also observed in certain geographic regions.  —  Many US states and countries around …

Conservative insiders say Republican politicians aren't scared of Trump now — they're scared of his supporters  —  'It's hard for them to put this back in the bottle — it's like they have fully opened Pandora's box'  —  Days before her unceremonious Sunday evening defenestration from Donald Trump's …

Biden Weighs Mike Morell as His CIA Chief.  A Key Dem Senator Says Don't Bother.  —  Sources say Morell is a leading candidate to be Biden's CIA director.  But his defenses of the agency's torture and drone strikes are already drawing progressive opposition.

After Setbacks, Trump Looks Beyond Legal Fight  —  Publicly, president says he will ‘never concede.’ Privately, he is focused on his political future as Biden transition moves forward.  —  WASHINGTON—President Trump has publicly vowed to keep up the fight to overturn the election.

Former Chester County sheriff and her boyfriend charged with stealing funds from K-9 unit  —  Former Chester County Sheriff Carolyn “Bunny” Welsh was charged with theft early Tuesday for allowing employees to improperly divert donated money to pay for personal expenses and collect comp …

TSA records its busiest travel weekend since March  —  Over 3 million people traveled in the past three days, despite CDC guidance to stay home for Thanksgiving.  —  The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) recorded its highest number of weekend passengers since the coronavirus pandemic began …

Republicans are flooding the Georgia runoffs with millions of dollars in digital dark ads  —  Facebook and Google are still banning political ads on their platforms, but that hasn't stopped Republican super PACs from spending millions of dollars on other platforms, including Hulu, to reelect Sens. Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue.

A 70-year-old came out of retirement to teach nursing.  She died of complications from covid-19 after a student exposed her.  —  At 70 years old, Iris Meda knew that returning to work in the middle of the pandemic was risky.  She had retired as a nurse in January, but when the coronavirus arrived …

Virginia can't have marijuana legalization without equity  —  Terry McAuliffe, a Democrat, served as Virginia governor from 2014 to 2018.  Don Scott, a Democrat, represents Portsmouth in the Virginia House of Delegates.  —  This has been a year full of reckonings that have prompted our society …