Trump Gives Clemency to More Allies, Including Manafort, Stone and Charles Kushner  —  It was the second wave of pardons and commutations by the president in two days, showing his willingness to use his power aggressively on behalf of loyalists.  —  President Trump doled out clemency …

‘Complete clusterf—’: Trump leaves Washington in limbo  —  President Donald Trump has once again thrown Washington into chaos, making uneven demands that have left lawmakers baffled and Americans coping with a global pandemic uncertain when they'll be getting long-promised financial help.

Giuliani told to preserve all records as lawyers for Dominion warn legal action is ‘imminent’  —  (CNN)A defamation law firm representing Dominion Voting Systems has sent letters to White House counsel Pat Cipollone and President Donald Trump's personal attorney Rudy Giuliani instructing …

What happened to Maria Bartiromo?  The Trump election fraud story has the TV news biz asking  —  When a public company makes news, a chief executive can expect a text or call from Maria Bartiromo.  —  The veteran business journalist, now an anchor at Fox News, made her bones by getting sit-downs …

Inside Trump and Barr's Last-Minute Killing Spree  —  Private executioners paid in cash.  Middle-of-the-night killings.  False or incomplete justifications.  ProPublica obtained court records showing how the outgoing administration is using its final days to execute the most federal prisoners since World War II.

EXCLUSIVE: A deputy to Eric Trump helped build a campaign shell company to protect the president from grift.  But the secretive operation morphed into a mystery — even for top Trump campaign staffers. … - One of Eric Trump's top deputies played an important role overseeing …

POLITICO Playbook PM: No one knows how this ends  —  SO HOW DOES THIS END?  That's a damn good question.  —  NO ONE KNOWS.  Some say President DONALD TRUMP is in burn-it-down mode and is more than willing to veto the Covid relief/funding package, ending his presidency in a lengthy shutdown, with bluster and crisis.

Andrew Yang Files Paperwork to Run for New York City Mayor  —  Businessman and former presidential candidate Andrew Yang has filed paperwork to run for mayor of New York City, the city's Campaign Finance Board confirmed on Wednesday.  —  Yang's filing has the potential to immediately upend …

Twitter Will Reset @POTUS Account To 0 Followers After Biden Transition  —  How many followers does the U.S. president's official Twitter account have?  —  Right now it's over 33.2 million, but that number will drop to zero after President-elect Joe Biden takes over the official @POTUS account on Inauguration Day.

Pence Should Remove Trump From Office on Sunday  —  In what are supposed to be the final days of his presidency, Donald Trump has been discussing invoking martial law to overturn the results of the 2020 election and seizing supposedly fraudulent voting machines that — according …

Trump vetoes defense bill, teeing up holiday override votes in Congress  —  President Trump made good Wednesday on his repeated threats to veto a $741 billion defense spending bill, setting up what is expected to be the first successful veto override of his presidency during his last weeks in office.

Why I'm Losing Trust in the Institutions  —  The CDC came scarily close to adopting a plan that would, according to its own models, have killed thousands of Americans.  —  1 hr ago  —  Who should be first in line to get the vaccine against Covid-19?  —  These kinds of decisions are never easy …

Fort Worth pastor who urged ‘faith over fear’ in the pandemic mourns parents who died of COVID complications  —  The pastor of 2nd Mile Church in north Fort Worth, where his parents were members, said he was surprised by the sudden surge in COVID cases in recent weeks in Tarrant County.

Where in the World Is Kamala Harris?  —  Vice president-elect Kamala Harris made headlines earlier this year pushing $2,000 checks for all American.  But suddenly, despite being desperately needed right now, she's nowhere to be found on the issue.  —  Our new issue, “Failure Is an Option,” is out now.

Black Doctor Dies of Covid-19 After Complaining of Racist Treatment  —  “He made me feel like a drug addict,” Dr. Susan Moore said, accusing a white doctor of downplaying her complaints of pain and suggesting she should be discharged.  —  Lying in a hospital bed with an oxygen tube hugging her nostrils …

The U.S. has vaccinated just 1 million people out of a goal of 20 million for December  — The CDC said just 1,008,025 shots had been administered as of Wednesday at 9 a.m. ET.  — That's roughly 19 million doses shy of earlier projections for December.

New cracks emerge among Democrats over Biden's Pentagon pick  —  President-elect Joe Biden's historic choice for secretary of defense is running into hurdles on Capitol Hill, as key Democrats express concerns publicly and privately about whether installing a retired four-star general at the helm …

GOP Voters Say They'd Back Trump Over Congressional Republicans  —  Republican Trump voters are more likely to identify with the president than their political party, a new survey finds.  —  GOP voters remain far likelier to align themselves with President Donald Trump than they are to side …

Trump's Very Swampy Pardon of a Ben Carson Crony  —  Let our journalists help you make sense of the noise: Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily newsletter and get a recap of news that matters.  —  President Donald Trump's recent spate of pardons has justifiably provoked outrage.

Octopuses are ocean thugs that punch fish  —  Despite its extraordinary intelligence, the life of an octopus is a solitary one.  So perhaps it is no wonder that the mighty brained cephalopod engages in a little thuggery to relieve the boredom.  —  Scientists have discovered that, on occasions …