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 …

Republicans just voted to defund the police  —  President Trump and Republicans campaigned in 2020 by scaring Americans into thinking Democrats would “defund the police” and unleash a crime spree.  —  This helped Republicans keep control of the Senate (for now) and grow their numbers in the House.

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 …

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 …

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.

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 …

‘This Is Just What Jared Does’: Kushner Bails on Trump's Mission to Destroy the 2020 Election  —  The president's son-in-law has developed a reputation in Trumpland for being conspicuously absent when things turn rocky.  —  As President Donald Trump tries to nullify the 2020 election …

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 …

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 …

Tensions intensify between Biden and Pentagon over stalled transition briefings  —  (CNN)President-elect Joe Biden's transition team on Wednesday disputed suggestions from Pentagon officials who questioned the accuracy of Biden's assertion a day earlier that the Department of Defense has refused …

What happened to Maria Bartiromo?  —  Maria Bartiromo is the solo host of more than 16 hours of television every week on sister networks Fox News and Fox Business.  It's a number unmatched by nearly everyone in her profession, and in the hours she isn't broadcasting, she is almost always preparing for the next time she'll be on air.

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 …

Biden's Cabinet: The Scorecard So Far  —  The Biden administration's nominee for secretary of the interior, Rep. Deb Haaland (D-NM), speaks at the Queen Theater in Wilmington, Delaware, December 19, 2020.  —  As Prospect readers know, we've worked since March to shed light on appointments …

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.

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 …

DOJ officials in ‘ongoing discussions’ about Hunter Biden special counsel, some say it's ‘warranted’: sources  —  Former Attorney General Bill Barr, who left the DOJ on Wednesday, said this week that he had “not seen a reason” to appoint a special counsel to probe Hunter Biden.

How the U.S. Misread China's Xi: Hoping for a Globalist, It Got an Autocrat  —  Early hopes that Xi Jinping would want closer integration with the U.S.-led global order have become one of the biggest strategic miscalculations of the post-Cold War era  —  BEIJING—In the two years …

White House coronavirus task force no longer proactively sending reports to states  —  (CNN)The White House coronavirus task force has informed states that it will no longer proactively send its weekly state reports with tailored data and recommendations, according to multiple state officials.

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.

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.

Meet The Black ‘Trumpsters’ Who Helped Fire Up Minority Voters In 2020  —  For the first time in their lives, Reggie Carr and Johnny Thomas registered as Republicans and voted for Trump in the 2020 election — and they aren't stopping their new mission any time soon.