Justice Department investigating potential presidential pardon bribery scheme, court records reveal  —  (CNN)The Justice Department is investigating a potential crime related to funneling money to the White House or related political committee in exchange for a presidential pardon …

Trump likely to announce 2024 bid, but GOP rivals say power will fade post-White House  —  President Trump is likely to announce he'll run again in 2024, perhaps before this term even ends, sources tell Axios.  —  Why it matters: Trump has already set in motion two important strategies …

Release of PPP loan recipients data reveals troubling patterns  —  Following months of litigation between the Small Business Administration and news organizations seeking data about who benefited from pandemic relief programs, the agency on Tuesday night released a sweeping dataset …

My Call With Ron Johnson: He Knows Biden Won But Won't Admit It  —  The Wisconsin senator says it would be “political suicide.”  —  November 14, 8:37 a.m. my phone rings.  I do a double take on my caller ID and realize who is calling.  I take a deep breath and answer the phone.

Roger Stone, Who Had His Ass Saved by Barr, Turns on ‘Deep State’ Attorney General  —  SNAKE PIT  —  Remember in February when Attorney General Bill Barr trashed his department's reputation to override the recommended prison term for Roger Stone and push for a much shorter sentence?

Biden: 'We're Going to Fight Like Hell by Investing in America First'  —  My talk with Joe Biden on his first few months, and his next four years.  —  President-elect Joe Biden was in a good mood as we talked on the phone Tuesday evening for an hour — he in Delaware and me in Bethesda, Md. He apologized, though, for being late.

U.K. Approves Pfizer Coronavirus Vaccine, a First in the West  —  The emergency approval, ahead of the United States and the European Union, clears the way for Britain to begin mass inoculations.  “Help is on its way,” one official said.  —  LONDON — Britain gave emergency authorization …

The Kelly Loeffler, Raphael Warnock runoff crosses a line  —  One of Kelly Loeffler's first public appearances as a U.S. senator came last January at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, on the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday.  —  “I am so humbled to be here with you today in this sacred place …

S.F. Mayor London Breed had her own French Laundry party — the night after Gavin Newsom's  —  Gov. Gavin Newsom is in good company when it comes to politicians attending fancy birthday parties while encouraging others to avoid gathering.  —  It turns out San Francisco Mayor London Breed dined …

Confessions of a Clintonworld Exile  —  Doug Band worked alongside Bill Clinton every day for nearly two decades, first as a body man and then as one of the primary architects of his lucrative and often-fraught post-presidency.  Then came a seismic falling out with accusations of self-dealing and soap-opera-level psychodrama.

Hong Kong jails 3 prominent young pro-democracy activists  —  Beijing — A trio of young, well-known, pro-democracy leaders in Hong Kong were sentenced to prison on Wednesday.  It was the latest nail in the coffin of the city's once-very-public opposition movement that saw millions of protesters …

Trump threatens to veto major defense bill unless Congress repeals Section 230, a legal shield for tech giants  —  President Trump on Tuesday threatened to veto an annual defense bill authorizing nearly $1 trillion in military spending unless Congress opens the door for Facebook …

Anticipating Senate bottlenecks, Biden races to fill agency jobs  —  Now that he's chosen a big chunk of his Cabinet nominees, President-elect Joe Biden's transition team is focusing increasingly on selecting candidates for government positions that do not require Senate confirmation.

The GOP's electoral mischief  —  MO PROBLEMS — Scooplet: Rep. Mo Brooks (R-Ala.) has been telling colleagues and allies that he plans to challenge the Electoral College votes when Congress officially certifies Joe Biden's victory on Jan. 6, as long as a Senate Republican joins him in the long-shot effort, sources tell your Huddle host.

Army Hits Back Against False Claim that Soldiers Died in CIA Op to Nab Election Servers  —  A retired Air Force three-star general reignited baseless conspiratorial claims about U.S. troops' involvement in clandestine missions in the wake of the presidential election — claims an Army official said are 100% false.

United Nations commission votes to remove marijuana from list of most dangerous drugs  —  A United Nations panel has voted to remove medical cannabis from a list of dangerous drugs.  —  In the Wednesday vote, the Commission for Narcotic Drugs voted on several World Health Organization recommendations related to cannabis.

There Wasn't That Much Split-Ticket Voting In 2020  —  The narrative of the 2020 election is that Joe Biden did pretty well ... but down-ballot Democrats, not so much.  And while this is true if you look simply at the results — Republicans defended most of their vulnerable Senate seats …

Lawsuit by Trump allies challenging Pennsylvania election results reaches Supreme Court  —  WASHINGTON - A long-shot effort to overturn the presidential election results in Pennsylvania made its way to the Supreme Court Tuesday.  —  Conservative Rep. Mike Kelly, R-Pa. …

Obama chides Democrats for giving AOC short convention speaking slot  —  Former President Barack Obama advised Democrats to be more welcoming of new leadership if the party wants to appeal to young people.  —  “One thing I will say about the Democratic Party, promoting young people is really important.

Kwanza Hall wins special election to serve remainder of John Lewis' term in Congress  —  (CNN)The remainder of the late US Rep. John Lewis' term will be served by Democrat Kwanza Hall, who won control of the reliably blue seat in a House runoff special election in Georgia Tuesday, CNN projects.

Trump fired me for saying this, but I'll say it again: The election wasn't rigged  —  Christopher Krebs is the former director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency.  On Wednesday at 11 a.m. on Washington Post Live, Post columnist David Ignatius will interview Christopher Krebs …

Pro-Trump Attorney Lin Wood and Pardoned Michael Flynn Call for Trump to Declare Martial Law  —  Lin Wood, an Atlanta-based lawyer who says President Donald Trump asked him to join the effort to challenge Joe Biden's election victory, is promoting a right-wing group's call for Trump …