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 …

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.

Disarray consumes Capitol ahead of critical deadline  —  Frustrations are boiling over as Congress moves closer to a midnight shutdown deadline with a number of disagreements still hindering a bipartisan deal on a $900 billion coronavirus aid package.  —  Democrats are blaming GOP …

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 tosses challenge to Trump's immigrant census plan  —  The Supreme Court ruled 6-3 on Friday to dismiss a challenge to the Trump administration's exclusion of undocumented immigrants from the U.S. census, the once-per-decade population count used to allocate House seats among the states.

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 …

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 …

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.

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 …

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.

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 …

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.) …

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 …

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 Top 10 Worst Trump-Enabling Takes of 2020  —  As we bid a not-so-fond farewell to 2020, here's a look back at some of the political lowlights.  —  As we close out the year, it's tempting but futile to compile a list of President Trump's worst lies.  But reprinting all of his tweets …

Yellen Sets Out to Build Treasury Team With Obama Alumni  — Carpenter, Barr considered to head Treasury's domestic finance  — Top Treasury Department jobs require Senate confirmation  —  Janet Yellen is focusing on several Obama-administration alumni for key posts in the U.S. Treasury …

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

Scoop: Democrats try to tuck Pentagon waiver into spending bill  —  Democrats are trying to tuck a waiver allowing retired Gen. Lloyd Austin to serve as President-elect Joe Biden's defense secretary into a year-end government funding bill that must pass by tonight to avoid a shutdown, three sources familiar with the push tell Axios.

Trump appoints 1776 Commission members in last-minute bid to advance ‘patriotic education’  —  President Donald Trump is still trying to advance “patriotic education,” announcing 33 days before his departure from office his intent to appoint members of a 1776 Commission.

The Morning Briefing: If Lockdowns Work Why Is California a Global COVID-19 Hotspot?  —  The Mother of All Lockdown Failures  —  Happy week before Christmas Friday, dear Kruiser Morning Briefing friends.  My favorite vegetarian food is beef brisket.  —  Whilst wrapping up my evening walk …

Rupert Murdoch receives dose of Covid vaccine in UK  —  Exclusive: 89-year-old News Corp boss gives thanks to key workers, NHS staff and scientists  —  Rupert Murdoch has become the latest public figure to have the coronavirus vaccine, visiting his local GP's surgery late on Wednesday to receive his first dose.

The Washington Post asked readers to describe 2020 in one word or phrase.  Here's what they said.  —  See their responses  —  Shefali S. Kulkarni and By Shefali S. Kulkarni  —  Operations editor for the financial and tech section  —  Community editor, with a focus on comments, live chats and reader submissions.

Tommy Tuberville Suggests He Will Join Mo Brooks in Challenging Joe Biden's Electoral Win  —  Republican Alabama Senator-elect Tommy Tuberville suggested he would back Representative Mo Brooks's attempt to challenge the 2020 presidential election results in a video that surfaced Thursday.

D.C. to End Indoor Dining at 10 p.m. on Dec. 23  —  D.C. will end indoor dining on Wednesday, Dec. 23 at 10 p.m., two sources with knowledge of the situation tell City Paper.  The move comes as COVID-19 cases continue to trend in the wrong direction in the region.

Mark Shields and the Best of American Liberalism  —  The man who loves politics.  —  Every Friday evening for the last 19 years, Mark Shields and I have gathered to talk politics on the “PBS NewsHour.”  When people come up to me to discuss our segment, sometimes they mention the things …