White House fires Pentagon advisory board members in latest purge  —  Several members of the Pentagon's Defense Business Board, including the chair and vice chair, were fired on Friday, marking the latest effort by the Trump administration to clean out the Defense Department in the final weeks …

Fact Check: Video From Georgia Does NOT Show Suitcases Filled With Ballots Suspiciously Pulled From Under A Table; Poll Watchers Were NOT Told To Leave  —  Fact Check  —  Does security camera video show a Fulton County, Georgia, election supervisor suspiciously pulling suitcases filled …

They're Fine With It  —  Republicans have no qualms with Trump's dangerous conspiracies—until they get tangled up in them themselves.  —  Why aren't more Republicans standing up and speaking out about Donald Trump's reprehensible acts?  It's the eternal question of the Trump era and one that's …

House votes to decriminalize marijuana as GOP resists national shift on pot  —  The House endorsed a landmark retreat in the nation's decades-long war on drugs Friday, voting to remove marijuana from the federal schedule of controlled substances and provide for the regulation and taxation of legal cannabis sales.

Judge Questions Whether Trump's Pardon of Michael Flynn Is ‘Too Broad’  —  U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton said his colleague Emmet Sullivan could find that “the wording of the pardon is too broad, in that it provides protections beyond the date of the pardon.”

The Children of Pornhub  —  Why does Canada allow this company to profit off videos of exploitation and assault?  —  Pornhub prides itself on being the cheery, winking face of naughty, the website that buys a billboard in Times Square and provides snow plows to clear Boston streets.

The MAGA Revolution Devours Its Own  —  Republicans encouraged Trumpist havoc.  Now it's coming for them.  —  Gabriel Sterling, a Georgia election official and longtime Republican, held a news conference this week in which, with barely contained rage, he excoriated Donald Trump's lies …

Fauci says he accepted Biden's offer to be chief medical adviser “on the spot”  —  The government's top infectious-disease expert Anthony Fauci said Friday that he “absolutely” will accept the offer from President-elect Joe Biden to serve as his chief medical officer, telling NBC's “Today” that he said yes “right on the spot.”

Kellyanne Conway acknowledges ‘it looks like Joe Biden and Kamala Harris will prevail’  —  The former adviser to President Donald Trump reflects on his presidency, women voters and her own historic role in the campaign.  —  Editor-at-large  —  Kellyanne Conway said President Donald Trump has …

Trump Associates Said to Have Been Scrutinized in Suspected Pardon Scheme  —  A billionaire from San Francisco sought clemency for a psychologist convicted of monetary crimes.  The Republican donor Elliott Broidy and a lawyer for Jared Kushner were enlisted.

Michael Cohen on What Trump Wants Now  —  The president's longtime lawyer, still serving out his federal sentence, explains his former boss's post-election maneuvering.  —  Donald Trump is Captain Chaos.  —  Michael Cohen, Trump's former fixer, pinned that label on him and it has stuck.

How 700 Epidemiologists Are Living Now, and What They Think Is Next  —  They are going to the grocery store again, but don't see vaccines making life normal right away.  —  Even with coronavirus vaccines on the way, many epidemiologists do not expect their lives to return to pre-pandemic normal until most Americans are vaccinated.

The RNC Shelled Out $300K for Don Jr.'s New Book  —  The huge sum that the GOP paid to give signed copies of the book to its donors appears to be its largest-ever payment for “donor mementos.”  —  The Republican National Committee paid more than $300,000 in October to a company owned …

Coronavirus live updates: CDC advises people to wear masks indoors at all times, except at home  —  The Washington Post is providing this important information about the coronavirus for free.  For more free coverage of the coronavirus pandemic, sign up for our Coronavirus Updates newsletter where all stories are free to read.

It's (Past) Time For Fox to Pull Lou Dobbs Off the Air  —  In March of 2020, Fox Business Network pulled Trish Regan off the air, following her claim that media coverage of the coronavirus pandemic was a “scam” on par with the president's impeachment.  —  It was a much-reviewed move.

Swanky NJ Restaurant Shut Down for Hosting NY Young Republicans' Maskless Gala  —  The annual gala was held at a waterfront venue in New Jersey after plans for a New York City party were scrapped.  —  The New Jersey venue where at least 150 people gathered Thursday night …

Trump campaign committees spent $1.1 million at Trump properties in the last days of his losing campaign  —  President Trump's campaign and its affiliated committees spent more than $1.1 million at Trump's own properties in the last weeks of the 2020 campaign — continuing a pattern …

Why Doesn't the U.S. Have a Version of Britain's Fast Drug Track?  —  The head of a major pharmaceutical company says Britain's fast approval of a COVID vaccine may have gotten a big push from its withdrawal from the European Union as part of Brexit.  —  Hugo Fry, the British managing director of Sanofi …

U.S. newsrooms are very white.  So are the critics and the journalists that cover them  —  From Ben Smith to Brian Stelter, there is an obvious problem with who gets to cover media full-time.  —  3 hr ago  —  Max Tani was, for a brief moment, adrift in tattersall, tartan and gingham.

Mayor of Liverpool Joe Anderson arrested along with four others in police probe  —  City leader one of five men arrested as part of an investigation into building and development contracts in Liverpool  —  The elected Mayor of Liverpool, Joe Anderson, has been arrested.

Poll shows 61 percent of Americans likely to take COVID-19 vaccine  —  Our findings come as the former presidents commit to vaccination, and amid spiking hospitalizations and deaths.  —  Former U.S. presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush, and Bill Clinton say they will take an FDA-approved …

America's hidden depression  —  President-elect Biden faces a fragile recovery that could easily fall apart, as the economy remains in worse shape than most people think.  —  Why it matters: There is a recovery happening.  But it's helping some people immensely and others not at all.

‘We cannot allow death threats’: Dems demand disbarment of Trump lawyer who said ex-election chief should be killed  —  A couple of House Democrats formally called on a Washington court to strip a Trump campaign attorney of his right to practice law Wednesday amid mounting outrage …

Joe Biden Wants a Huge New Tax on Gun Owners  —  Joe Biden's gun policy platform offers support for almost all conceivable forms of government restrictions on the Second Amendment.  This includes bans and restrictions on sales, expansion of registration and background checks …

Why the Trumpists' Calls for Dictatorship Should Worry Us  —  It may sound laughable, but it's no joke—the GOP leadership and the right-wing media machine are colluding with Trump's assault on democratic institutions.  —  We are less than seven weeks away from the inauguration …

Employment growth slows sharply in November amid coronavirus surge  — Nonfarm payrolls increased by 245,000 in November, down from 610,000 in October.  — The total was below the Wall Street estimate of 440,000.  — Unemployment decreased to 6.7%, meeting expectations.

Bipartisan defense bill includes several rebukes of Trump's record as commander in chief  —  The final draft of the bicameral, bipartisan-approved defense authorization bill contains a number of rebukes of President Trump's actions as commander in chief, in addition to defying …

It Wasn't the First Time the NYPD Killed Someone in Crisis.  For Kawaski Trawick, It Only Took 112 Seconds.  —  Trawick was alone in his apartment when an officer pushed open the door.  He was holding a bread knife and a stick.  “Why are you in my home?” he asked.  He never got an answer.

Trump's Election Denialism Could Hurt His Own Party, And Its Media Allies  —  Toggle more options  —  AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:  —  Less than two months from now, the Republican Party will lose control of one branch of government - the White House.  —  (SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

274,000 Dead, and Trump Obsesses Over Election Conspiracy Theories.  Where's the Outrage?  —  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.  —  In the late 1990s, conservatives and Republicans were fond of shouting …