EXCLUSIVE: Jared Kushner helped create a Trump campaign shell company that secretly paid the president's family members and spent $617 million in reelection cash, a source tells Insider … - Jared Kushner approved the creation of a shell company that spent almost half of the Trump campaign's $1.26B war chest …

Scoop: Pentagon halts Biden transition briefings  —  Acting Defense Secretary Chris Miller ordered a Pentagon-wide halt to cooperation with the transition of President-elect Biden, shocking officials across the Defense Department, senior administration officials tell Axios.

‘New York Times’ Retracts Core Of Hit Podcast Series ‘Caliphate’ On ISIS  —  Toggle more options  —  The New York Times has retracted the core of its hit 2018 podcast series Caliphate after an internal review found the paper failed to heed red flags indicating that the man it relied upon …

Executive For US Video Conference Company Spied On Dissidents At Direction Of Chinese Intelligence, Feds Say  — A Chinese tech executive spied on users of a U.S. company's video conferencing platform on behalf of the Chinese Communist Party's intelligence services, according to federal prosecutors.

The wealthy scramble for COVID-19 vaccines: ‘If I donate $25,000 ... would that help me?’  —  They're offering tens of thousands of dollars in cash, making their personal assistants pester doctors every day, and asking whether a five-figure donation to a hospital would help them jump the line.

William Barr: ‘One Standard of Justice’  —  The departing attorney general talks about John Durham, Robert Mueller, Hunter Biden, Mike Flynn and the flak he's taken from both parties.  —  The U.S. attorney general is meditating on one of his frustrations with the modern Justice Department …

Was It Worth It?  —  People who work for President Donald Trump typically meet one of two fates.  They fail to show the unthinking loyalty he demands and get fired.  Or, maybe worse, they don't get fired—they endure the tantrums and turmoil and survive another day, binding themselves …

Interior shuts Washington Monument after interior secretary tests positive for the coronavirus  —  Park Service staff say they may have been exposed when David Bernhardt led a private, after-hours tour  —  Officials have taken the extraordinary step of closing the Washington Monument starting Friday …

Supreme Court Punts Census Case, Giving Trump An Iffy Chance To Alter Numbers  —  Toggle more options  —  The U.S. Supreme Court ducked a direct ruling Friday on whether President Trump can exclude undocumented immigrants from a key census count.  —  At issue in the case …

Biden to receive coronavirus vaccine in public on Monday  —  Vice President-elect Kamala Harris and second gentleman Doug Emhoff will receive the shot the following week.  —  WASHINGTON — President-elect Joe Biden will receive the Covid-19 vaccine in public on Monday, the transition confirmed.

If Trump pardons himself, Biden should un-pardon him  —  Ken Gormley is an expert on the Constitution, the presidency and the pardon power.  He is president of Duquesne University.  —  If President Trump makes the ill-advised decision to try to pardon himself before he leaves the White House in January …

MAGA leaders call for the troops to keep Trump in office  —  An 1807 law invoked only in the most violent circumstances is now a rallying cry for the MAGA-ites most committed to the fantasy that Donald Trump will never leave office.  —  The law, the Insurrection Act, allows the president …

GOP senator blocks bill to provide $1,200 stimulus checks  —  GOP Sen. Ron Johnson (Wis.) on Friday blocked an effort to pass a second round of stimulus checks, arguing coronavirus relief needs to be targeted and raising concerns about the country's debt.  —  Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) …

US senator blocks bill giving Hongkongers special refugee status  —  Cruz says China would exploit relaxed immigration standards to send spies to the US Under the bill, Hongkongers would be granted temporary protected status, joining citizens from 10 other countries including Syria …

Inside the Ivanka-Melania War  —  Melania Trump's one-time confidant takes us deep into one of the White House's nastiest battles.  —  They're the two most important women in Donald Trump's life.  And they absolutely loathe one another.  —  Stephanie Winston Wolkoff, the former Melania Trump confidant …

From BuzzFeed to Axios, Digital Media Players Prepare for Deal Frenzy  —  Big players explore acquiring rivals and going public through blank-check companies  —  Momentum is building toward consolidation in the digital media sector as big and small players alike look for potential combinations.

Disarray consumes Capitol ahead of critical deadline  —  Congress is abandoning hopes of passing a major funding and relief package by the end of the day, instead rushing to temporarily keep the government open while leaders continue to haggle over the details of a $900 billion coronavirus aid deal.

Trump expected to issue wave of pre-Christmas pardons today  —  President Trump plans to issue a wave of pardons today, moving to expedite acts of clemency before Christmas, according to a source with direct knowledge and advocates who have been briefed on the plans.

AGENCY:  —  Food and Drug Administration, HHS.  —  ACTION:  —  Proposed rule.  —  SUMMARY:  —  The Food and Drug Administration (FDA or we) proposes to revoke the standard of identity and the standard of quality for frozen cherry pie.  This action, in part, responds to a citizen petition submitted …

The Couple Accused Of Trying To Kidnap A Mom Influencer's Kids Have Been Completely Cleared By Police  —  Police in the Northern California city of Petaluma said Thursday night that they found no evidence of a crime after investigating allegations by a mom influencer that a couple tried to kidnap her kids in a local craft store.

The Next Tea Party Is Lurking Inside Trump's Election Results Denial  —  People actually believe Trump when he says he won the election.  What happens next isn't clear — but the president's increasingly radicalized supporters are already shaping the future of Republican politics.  —  Reporting From

Democrats in Georgia: ‘Trump is helping our case.’  —  President Donald Trump has been waging war on Georgia Republicans the past month, spreading disinformation and conspiracy theories about the Senate runoffs — and Democrats are praying he keeps on talking.

Myon Burrell enjoys 1st days of freedom after prison release  —  MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — For nearly two decades, Myon Burrell had nothing but time.  —  Locked up for life at 16 for a high-profile murder he swore he had nothing to do with, he was stuck in a tiny cell without even a window to watch the seasons change.

The Establishment Strikes Back  —  Henry Cuellar and centrist Democrats mutiny against progressives in a key committee fight.  —  AOC in August during a House Oversight and Reform Committee hearing  —  Committee assignments are one of the least eye-catching parts of politics …

White House Advisor Peter Navarro Releases Dubious Voter Fraud Report  —  White House trade advisor Peter Navarro is the latest Trump administration staffer to publicly back up the president's baseless voter fraud claims, publishing a report Thursday that claims widespread irregularities …

“Anti-Racist” Education Is Neither  —  Well-meaning Americans are being suckered into an illiberal political cabal.  —  Days before the Fourth of July, the famed KIPP charter schools announced they'd be abandoning their longtime slogan: “Work Hard, Be Nice.”