“If it Hadn't Been for the Prompt Work of the Medics”: FSB Officer Inadvertently Confesses Murder Plot to Navalny  — Bellingcat and its partners reported that Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) was implicated in the near-fatal nerve-agent poisoning of Alexey Navalny on 20 August 2020.

The ‘Red Slime’ Lawsuit That Could Sink Right-Wing Media  —  Voting machine companies threaten “highly dangerous” cases against Fox, Newsmax and OAN, says Floyd Abrams.  —  Antonio Mugica was in Boca Raton when an American presidential election really melted down in 2000 …

The Journalist and the Pharma Bro  —  Why did Christie Smythe upend her life and stability for Martin Shkreli, one of the least-liked men in the world?  —  Almost every weekday for six years, Christie Smythe took the F train from Park Slope downtown to her desk at Brooklyn's federal court …

White House secures ‘three martini lunch’ tax deduction in draft of coronavirus relief package  —  President Trump has long seized on the tax break as a way to revive the restaurant industry.  But economists have panned it as ineffective and largely benefitting the wealthy.

'I'm Haunted by What I Did' as a Lawyer in the Trump Justice Department  —  No matter our intentions, lawyers like me were complicit.  We owe the country our honesty about what we saw — and should do in the future.  —  Ms. Newland worked in the Office of Legal Counsel at the Justice Department from 2016-18.

Virginia Removes Confederate Statue from U.S. Capitol  —  Commission recently selected civil rights icon Barbara Johns to represent the Commonwealth with new statue  —  WASHINGTON, D.C.—Governor Ralph Northam today announced that Virginia's statue of Confederate general Robert E. Lee …

Trump campaign takes fight over Penn. election, ballot laws to Supreme Court  —  President Trump still refuses to concede the outcome and continues to promote allegations that there was massive voter fraud.  —  Trump still rips ‘stolen’ election  —  President Trump's campaign team …

‘A real mess’: Trump is leaving behind crises and undermining Biden before he takes office  —  When President-elect Joe Biden is sworn into office on Jan. 20, the list of crises he will face includes a massive cyber intrusion, a still-raging global pandemic, a slowing economic recovery …

Congress Strikes Long-Sought Stimulus Deal to Provide $900 Billion in Aid  —  Democrats and Republicans said they had an agreement on another round of pandemic aid, including direct payments to Americans, jobless benefits and funds for businesses and vaccine distribution.

Pollsters disappear in Georgia with Senate on the line  —  Something's missing from Georgia's high-stakes Senate runoffs: the polls.  —  After a disastrous November election for the polling industry, when the polls again underestimated President Donald Trump (who lost regardless) …

Canada halts passenger flights from UK for 72 hours due to new virus strain  —  TORONTO (Reuters) -Canada is halting passenger flights from the United Kingdom for 72 hours, the health ministry said on Sunday, joining a growing list of countries barring British travelers to prevent the spread of a new coronavirus strain from the country.

Engaging With Trump's Die-Hard Supporters Isn't Productive  —  The loyalists who still cling to conspiracy theories should be deprived of the attention they seek.  —  Author of The Death of Expertise  —  President-elect Joe Biden made national unity a centerpiece of his campaign …

Ex-cop hits truck thinking it held 750,000 fraudulent ballots, police say.  It held air conditioning parts.  —  David Lopez-Zuniga, an air-conditioner installer, had just left his mobile home for his typical predawn commute when he noticed an SUV's headlights closely trailing his small cargo truck.

Trump plots martial law from White House — the press shrugs  —  The Normalizing Olympics … In a West Wing meeting that would seem more fitting for a nation with a long history of authoritarian rule, Trump recently met with deranged, conspiracy-peddling advisers and discussed the possibility …

Amid a crisis like 'we've never seen,' Biden drives to fill Cabinet  —  It was April of 2009 when then-Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius received a phone call from the Obama White House.  A plane was on its way to bring her to Washington to be sworn in as the Health and Human Services secretary.

Live updates: Biden to get coronavirus vaccine; Harris, Ivanka Trump to campaign in Georgia for Senate candidates  —  President-elect Joe Biden and future first lady Jill Biden will receive the coronavirus vaccine in public Monday in an effort to show the nation the safety of the vaccine.

Big Tech's stealth push to influence the Biden administration  —  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Silicon Valley is working behind the scenes to secure senior roles for tech allies in lesser-known but still vital parts of president-elect Joe Biden's administration, even as the pushback against Big Tech …

Personality, Not Policy, Will Determine Top House Armed Services Republican  —  The pick may telegraph whether the GOP intends a cooperative or combative approach to the Biden administration.  —  The race to replace retiring Rep. Mac Thornberry, Texas, as the top Republican on the House Armed Services Committee, is heating up.

Trump's legacy: He changed the presidency, but will it last?  —  WASHINGTON (AP) — The most improbable of presidents, Donald Trump reshaped the office and shattered its centuries-old norms and traditions while dominating the national discourse like no one before.

Journalists Hacked with Suspected NSO Group iMessage ‘Zero-Click’ Exploit  —  Summary & Key Findings  — In July and August 2020, government operatives used NSO Group's Pegasus spyware to hack 36 personal phones belonging to journalists, producers, anchors, and executives at Al Jazeera.

Birx travels, family visits highlight pandemic safety perils  —  WASHINGTON (AP) — As COVID-19 cases skyrocketed before the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, Dr. Deborah Birx, coordinator of the White House coronavirus response, warned Americans to “be vigilant” and limit celebrations to “your immediate household.”

More than 1.3 million Georgians have already voted in the Senate runoffs, rivaling general election turnout  —  ATLANTA — More than 1.3 million Georgians have already voted in two Senate runoffs taking place next month — a number that rivals the turnout at this point in the November election …

How voters rank Trump a historically bad president  —  (CNN)Poll of the week: A new Fox News poll finds that 42% of voters say history will remember President Donald Trump as one of the worst presidents ever.  —  An additional 8% say he will be remembered as below average …