Russia is behind the broad, ongoing cyber spy campaign against the U.S. government and private sector, Pompeo says  —  Russia is behind the massive, ongoing cyber spy campaign against the federal government and private sector, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Friday …

EXCLUSIVE: Lawmakers ask FBI and Federal Election Commission to investigate Jared Kushner-backed Trump campaign company after Insider's reporting … - Two lawmakers demanded that the FBI and the Federal Election Commission open an investigation into whether the Trump campaign violated federal law …

BUSTED?  Why the numbers behind Mitch McConnell's re-election don't add up  —  On a Thursday in August in Louisville, months before the 2020 election, a parade of cars filled with Kentucky Teamster representatives and labor groups, showed their fury at Mitch McConnell's constant blocking of critical COVID aid.

Lou Dobbs Airs Stunning Fact-Check of His Own Election Conspiracies After Company Threatens Legal Action  —  Fox Business host Lou Dobbs has recently taken to raising questions about voting machine companies, which have been cast as complicit in the supposed grand conspiracy to steal the 2020 election from President Donald Trump.

US plans to shutter remaining consulates in Russia  —  (CNN)The Trump administration has informed lawmakers of its plan to shutter its two remaining consulates in Russia.  —  In a notification dated December 10, the US State Department told Congress it intends to close the consulate …

Analysis: For Republicans, profanity is suddenly scandalous  —  WASHINGTON (AP) — The definition of a scandal changes quickly in Washington.  —  Over the course of four years, the nation's capital has careened from crisis to crisis.  There was the travel ban, the investigation …

Row explodes between Pentagon, Biden transition team  —  WASHINGTON — The U.S. acting defense secretary has canceled planned meetings between Defense Department officials and the Biden transition team.  —  It's a move the department is categorizing as a temporary delay rather than a wholesale blockade of the incoming administration.

From A Very Stable Genius to After Trump: 2020 in US politics books … A long time ago, in 1883, a future president (Woodrow Wilson, a subject of this year's reckonings) studied political science at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, in a classroom in which was inscribed the slogan …

FDA Takes Additional Action in Fight Against COVID-19 By Issuing Emergency Use Authorization for Second COVID-19 Vaccine  —  Action Follows Thorough Evaluation of Available Safety, Effectiveness, and Manufacturing Quality Information by FDA Career Scientists, Input from Independent Experts

‘He called me kiddo’: Jill Biden says Wall Street Journal essay was ‘such a surprise’  —  Surprised the Wall Street Journal ran an op-ed attacking Jill Biden's preference to use the title “Dr.”?  So was Jill Biden.  —  On Thursday's episode of “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert,” …

8 Catholic Sisters Die of Covid-19 Within a Week at a Wisconsin Home  —  They were educators, music teachers and liturgists, living out their remaining years in a retirement residence after lifetimes of service.  —  They were educators, music teachers and community activists who served tirelessly for those living in poverty.

Chinese dissidents say they're being harassed by a businessman with links to Steve Bannon  —  Human-rights scholar in New Jersey says he's the latest victim of intimidating protests staged by Guo Wengui  —  WEST WINDSOR TOWNSHIP, N.J. — The Mandarin-speaking protesters arrived in a convoy …

Even as Trump vows to keep fighting, his aides are quietly starting to move on  —  Vice President Pence has begun looking for a new home in the Washington suburbs, and he's planning a valedictory foreign trip to begin the day Congress counts the electoral college votes.

New York City Will Change Many Selective Schools to Address Segregation  —  The pandemic prompted the mayor's most significant action yet on integration: a major shift in how hundreds of schools admit students.  —  Mayor Bill de Blasio announced on Friday major changes to the way hundreds …

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 …

Space Force troops to be called ‘guardians’  —  Service members in the year-old Space Force will be called “guardians,” Vice President Pence announced Friday.  —  “It is my honor, on behalf of the president of the United States, to announce that henceforth the men and women …

Judge skewers GOP over suit targeting newly registered voters in Georgia  —  The judge questioned the basis for the suit on several grounds, including legal standing, but she also expressed concern that segregating ballots could prompt some potential voters not to cast them.

MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell Is Throwing Down Big Money to Fuel Pro-Trump Election Challenges  —  He says he's “not just some pillow guy” to be mocked.  He knows Trump is the chosen one because he's familiar with “numbers and charts” and soon even “Trump-haters” will see.  —  BEAST INSIDE

COVID-19 Relief Talks Hit An 11th-Hour Snag  —  Coronavirus relief negotiations remain fragile and uncertain.  —  WASHINGTON ― Congress passed another short-term funding extension on Friday to give lawmakers more time to finish a coronavirus deal.  —  Days of disagreements …

Pence Said Pfizer Vaccine Distribution Was Going ‘Strong.’ States Are Calling Bullshit.  —  First states heard they were getting less vaccine than expected.  Then the finger-pointing started.  —  As Vice President Mike Pence sat for his COVID-19 vaccine shot Friday morning …

United Helps to Contact Passengers After Possible Covid-19-Related Death on Flight  —  The flight, United 591 from Orlando to Los Angeles, was diverted to New Orleans on Monday after a passenger had a medical emergency on board.  —  United Airlines said on Friday that it was working …