Covid-19 Live Updates: U.S. Breaks Record for Most Deaths in a Week  —  Trump officials passed when Pfizer offered to sell more vaccine doses months ago.  Britain is readying a mass vaccination drive.  —  RIGHT NOW The U.S. has recorded its most Covid-19 deaths in a week.  —  Here's what you need to know:

Presidential Transition Live Updates: ‘Safe Harbor’ Day Arrives, the Deadline to Resolve State Election Challenges  —  Today is the deadline for all state-level election challenges to be completed.  President-elect Joe Biden will tap a retired four-star Army general to be the first Black secretary of defense.

Texas Sues Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin at Supreme Court over Election Rules  —  The State of Texas filed a lawsuit directly with the U.S. Supreme Court shortly before midnight on Monday challenging the election procedures in Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania …

Florida police raid home of former state Covid-19 data scientist  —  (CNN)Florida police raided the home of a former state coronavirus data scientist on Monday, escalating a feud between the state government and a data expert who has accused officials of trying to cover up the extent of the pandemic.

Exclusive: Suspected Chinese spy targeted California politicians  —  A suspected Chinese intelligence operative developed extensive ties with local and national politicians, including a U.S. congressman, in what U.S. officials believe was a political intelligence operation run …

Scoop: Trump plots mass pardons, even to people not asking  —  President Trump isn't just accepting pardon requests but blindly discussing them “like Christmas gifts” to people who haven't even asked, sources with direct knowledge of the conversations told Axios.

Lou Dobbs goes after Stephen Miller for not doing enough for Trump  —  Fox Business host Lou Dobbs went after White House adviser Stephen Miller on Monday for not doing enough to help President Trump in his re-election efforts.  —  The exchange came after Dobbs asked Miller about an offer by Sen. Ted Cruz …

Christopher Krebs sues Trump campaign, lawyer Joe diGenova for defamation  —  The former top U.S. cybersecurity official responsible for securing November's presidential election sued the Trump campaign and one of its lawyers for defamation Tuesday, asserting that they conspired to falsely claim …

Trump blows a hole in the GOP on his way out  —  Donald Trump's efforts to overturn the presidential election have met with defeat in every swing state and in nearly every court where his cases have been heard.  But Trump's campaign to pressure GOP elected officials to support his baseless claims …

Is This a Coup?  Introducing The Counter  —  I present my own essay on the dangers of the moment and a strong counterargument against it  —  One of the best ways to think through and sharpen—or abandon—an argument is to confront the best case against it.  So I'm launching a feature of this newsletter: “The Counter.”

The Marines And The Racist Porn Actor Who Tried To Start A ‘Modern Day SS’  —  Four neo-Nazis arrested on gun charges wanted to spark a race war, prosecutors said, and their potential targets included Black Lives Matter protesters.  —  In 2016, Liam Collins, then just a teenager living in New Jersey …

Huawei tested AI software that could recognize Uighur minorities and alert police, report says  —  An internal report claims the face-scanning system could trigger a ‘Uighur alarm,’ sparking concerns that the software could help fuel China's crackdown on the mostly Muslim minority group

Ivanka and Jared buy $30M lot on high-security Miami island  —  Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner have splurged on a $30 million-plus lot of land on Miami's uber-swanky and high-security Indian Creek Island — known as the “Billionaire's Bunker” — Page Six can exclusively reveal.

Howard Stern: Trump's COVID-19 handling is ‘treasonous’  —  Shock jock Howard Stern notched up his war of words on President Trump — a former regular on his show — by accusing the lame duck leader of criminal behavior against his country.  —  The charge came Monday when a man identifying himself …

Armed Mexicans Were Smuggled In to Guard Border Wall, Whistle-Blowers Say  —  In a complaint unsealed on Friday, whistle-blowers working on President Trump's wall said that contractors were illegally bringing in Mexican guards to protect construction sites.  —  WASHINGTON — Two whistle-blowers …

Senate stimulus negotiations at risk of collapsing over whether companies can be sued for outbreaks  —  Democrats want protection for workers but Republicans warn of lawsuit frenzy, and debate is weighing on negotiations  —  The economic relief package attracting bipartisan interest in Congress …

Biden's pick for healthcare boss is an unacceptable extremist  —  Joe Biden, after promising to unite the country as a centrist president, has taken a radical turn by tapping California Attorney General Xavier Becerra to oversee the vast Department of Health and Human Services.

The Silence of Pope Francis  —  Hong Kong's Jimmy Lai goes to jail—and his shepherd is missing in action.  —  Jimmy Lai has embraced his destiny.  Last Wednesday the founder of one of Hong Kong's most popular newspapers, Apple Daily, was arrested on ginned-up fraud charges.

The $124 billion Supreme Court case that could throw the housing market into turmoil, explained  —  Collins v. Mnuchin is an early test of just how much chaos the Supreme Court's new majority is willing to impose on the government.  —  SHARE All sharing options

Neal Katyal and the Depravity of Big Law … The United States has a political class that mistakes its professional norms for ethics.  Mainstream political journalists mindlessly grant anonymity to professional liars.  Elected officials put collegiality and institutional procedure over the needs and interests of their constituents.

South Dakota's Balanced Covid Response  —  They've called me ‘reckless’ and a ‘denier,’ but our numbers are much better than those of Illinois, New Jersey and New York.  —  Pierre, S.D.  —  In the coming weeks, governors across the country will give speeches outlining their budget proposals.

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp to state legislators: Picking own presidential electors ‘not an option’  —  ATHENS, Georgia — Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp issued a stern reminder to Georgia's state legislators about the limits of their powers Monday, specifically in regards to a push by six members …