Trump commits to stepping down if electoral college votes for Biden  —  President Trump said on Thursday that he would leave the White House if the electoral college voted for President-elect Joe Biden next month, though he vowed to keep fighting to overturn the election he lost and said he may never concede.

Midnight Ruling Exposes Rifts at a Supreme Court Transformed by Trump  —  The justices issued six opinions, several of them unusually bitter, in upholding challenges from churches and synagogues to state pandemic restrictions on religious services.  —  WASHINGTON — A few minutes before midnight …

Oh, Brother!  Tears for Trump  —  No arguments — or turkey — this Thanksgiving.  Just a cocktail. … ROCKVILLE, Md. — The mercurial presidency of Donald Trump apparently is over.  Historians, 20 or 30 years hence, will be the impartial arbiters of his accomplishments …

Former director of U.S. cyber agency Chris Krebs not “necessarily surprised” by firing  —  See the interview with the man President Trump ousted after he said the election was secure, Sunday night on 60 Minutes.  —  Chris Krebs, the former director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency …

Next Step in Government Data Tracking is the Internet of Things  —  U.S. Air Force experiments with monitoring peripherals—from autos to fitness trackers  —  WASHINGTON—U. S. government agencies from the military to law enforcement have been buying up mobile-phone data from the private sector …

Exclusive: Suspected North Korean hackers targeted COVID vaccine maker AstraZeneca - sources  —  LONDON (Reuters) - Suspected North Korean hackers have tried to break into the systems of British drugmaker AstraZeneca in recent weeks, two people with knowledge of the matter told Reuters …

U.S. Border Agency Settles With 2 Americans Detained for Speaking Spanish  —  In a video of the 2018 incident in Havre, Mont., a Border Patrol agent is heard telling the two American women he detains that speaking Spanish in the small city is “very unheard-of.”

Trump's leaving Biden a Christmas gift of Middle East peace — will Joe throw it in the trash?  —  Will Joe Biden and his foreign-policy team accept the extraordinary gift Team Trump is leaving for them under the Christmas tree — or is their hatred for the president so all-consuming that they will toss it in the garbage?

Donor In Trump's Election ‘Fraud’ Fight Sues To Snatch Back His $2.5 Million Contribution  —  Venture capitalist Fred Eshelman blasts group that launched failed court cases that couldn't come up with any evidence of rigged voting.  —  A major contributor to a group backing President Donald Trump's fight …

‘Loser’: How a Lifelong Fear Bookended Trump's Presidency  —  The president's inability to concede the election is the latest reality-denying moment in a career preoccupied with an epithet.  —  In the now-distant Republican presidential primaries of 2016, Senator Ted Cruz of Texas handily won the Iowa caucuses.

Pushed by Pandemic, Amazon Goes on a Hiring Spree Without Equal  —  The company has added 427,300 employees in 10 months, bringing its global work force to more than 1.2 million.  —  SEATTLE — Amazon has embarked on an extraordinary hiring binge this year, vacuuming up an average of 1,400 …

North Carolina — still purple but up for grabs  —  Two months ago, Democrats were upbeat about North Carolina: the reelection of a popular Governor who won widespread praise for handling the COVID-19 crisis; a first-rate Senate candidate who could topple an undistinguished incumbent …

Joe Biden's national security picks are great news — for China  —  President-elect Joe Biden has been quick to shape his national security team.  Jake Sullivan will serve as national security adviser, Antony Blinken is to be nominated for Secretary of State, Avril Haines will be the director …

Who Will Trump Pardon Before He Leaves Office?  —  In this bonus members-only episode of The New Abnormal, Rick Wilson and Molly Jong-Fast do a Q&A to answer your most burning political questions.  —  BEAST INSIDE  —  The end of the Trump administration is like the end of a season finale of the most batshit Netflix show.

Why Did So Many Americans Vote for Trump?  —  To the dismay of Democrats, the president's strategy of ignoring the pandemic mostly worked for Republicans.  —  President Trump's disastrous mishandling of the coronavirus pandemic probably cost him re-election.