N.Y. prosecutor hires forensic accounting experts as Trump criminal probe escalates  —  NEW YORK — The Manhattan District Attorney's Office has retained forensic accounting specialists to aid its criminal investigation of President Trump and his business operations, as prosecutors ramp …

First case of highly infectious coronavirus variant detected in Colorado  —  The Washington Post is providing this important information about the coronavirus for free.  For more free coverage of the coronavirus pandemic, sign up for our Coronavirus Updates newsletter where all stories are free to read.

Louisville police move to fire two more officers involved in raid that killed Breonna Taylor  —  Louisville police on Tuesday moved to fire two officers involved in the fatal raid on Breonna Taylor's home in a bid for more accountability in the tragedy that ignited the country last summer amid a broader racial-justice movement.

Trump angered by Mar-a-Lago renovations, sources say  —  (CNN)His mood darkened as soon as he walked into his members-only club Mar-a-Lago, three days before Christmas, according to multiple sources.  The changes to his private quarters, many of which were overseen by his wife …

Louisiana Congressman-elect Luke Letlow dies with COVID  —  Louisiana Congressman-elect Luke Letlow has died at Ochsner LSU Health in Shreveport with COVID-19, a family friend confirmed Tuesday night.  —  Letlow, 41, was transferred from St. Francis Medical Center to the Ochsner LSU Health ICU …

McConnell blocks Democrats' attempt to quickly approve $2,000 stimulus checks amid pressure on GOP to act  —  Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Tuesday blocked consideration of a House bill that would deliver $2,000 stimulus payments to most Americans — spurning a request …

L.A. County hospitals turn away ambulances, put patients in gift shop: 'I've never seen anything like this'  —  At Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center, the breaking point came Sunday night.  —  There was not one available bed for at least 30 patients who needed intensive or intermediate levels of care …

Trump asks U.S. Supreme Court to set aside Wisconsin's election  —  MADISON - President Donald Trump on Tuesday asked the U.S. Supreme Court to reverse Wisconsin's high court, set aside the state's presidential election and allow Republicans who control the Legislature to decide how to cast the state's 10 electoral votes.

The Trümperdämmerung Is a Fitting End to 2020  —  As the awful year of 2020 and the awful tenure of Donald Trump both come to an end, the President has partied with the unmasked in Palm Beach and taken credit for a vaccine against a virus that he once counselled could be beaten with bleach.

The Resistance's Breakup With the Media Is at Hand  —  The day after the 2016 election, I got a phone call from an old friend.  Neither of us had slept much, and we spent most of the conversation exchanging shell-shocked comments of the Can you believe this? variety.  Before we hung up, his voice took on a trace of irony.

Nikki Haley's mind-numbing inanity  —  Republicans have made clear for years that they lack constructive ideas to respond to Americans' real-world concerns.  In lieu of rational responses to rising health-care costs or falling K-12 test scores or income inequality, they rant about Confederate flags …

Operation Warp Speed at a crawl: Adequately vaccinating Americans will take 10 years at current pace  —  The Trump administration's Covid-19 vaccine distribution program needs a major shot in the arm because at the current rate, it would take almost 10 years to inoculate enough Americans …

Feds decline charges against officers in Tamir Rice case  —  WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department announced Tuesday that it would not bring federal criminal charges against two Cleveland police officers in the 2014 killing of 12-year-old Tamir Rice, saying video of the shooting was of too poor …

GBI finishes signature audit in Cobb County, finds only two mismatches  —  COBB COUNTY, Ga. — Channel 2 Action News has learned that the Georgia Bureau of Investigation has finished the signature audit in Cobb County over the November election.  —  Earlier in the month …

Federal Judge Calls Trump a ‘Criminal’ During a Phone Call with the Associated Press  —  A senior U.S. District judge called Donald Trump a “criminal” during a phone call with the Associated Press as he discussed the 45th president's recent pardons of political allies who were convicted …

Girlfriend warned Nashville police Anthony Warner was building bomb a year ago, report shows  —  NASHVILLE — Sixteen months before Anthony Quinn Warner's RV exploded in downtown Nashville on Christmas morning, officers visited his home in Antioch after his girlfriend reported that he was making bombs …

Biden's Incoming National Security Adviser Faults Pentagon's ‘Obstruction’  —  The outgoing Trump administration still isn't providing information in the way President-elect Joe Biden's lieutenants feel is appropriate for a team poised to take the reins of power, incoming national security adviser Jake Sullivan told NPR Tuesday.

Biden picks 3 coordinators for Covid-19 response  —  President-elect Joe Biden is expanding his White House Covid-19 Response team, tapping three senior officials to coordinate vaccine, testing and supply chain strategy in an announcement first shared with POLITICO.

Kushner Cos.  Plans to Raise $100 Million by Selling Bonds in Israel  —  Company plan is likely to rekindle criticism of potential conflicts of interest between Jared Kushner's role in White House and his family's business  —  Kushner Cos., the family business of White House senior aide Jared Kushner …

Kelly Loeffler's Conflict of Interest Is Even Worse Than Reported  —  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.  —  As she campaigns for reelection in the January 5 run-off, Kelly Loeffler …

The Life in The Simpsons Is No Longer Attainable  —  The most famous dysfunctional family of 1990s television enjoyed, by today's standards, an almost dreamily secure existence that now seems out of reach for all too many Americans.  I refer, of course, to the Simpsons.

Michael Flynn Is Now Selling QAnon Merch  —  Trump's former national security adviser is going all in on QAnon, selling QAnon T-shirts and launching a QAnon news site  —  Former Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn is going all in on the QAnon conspiracy theory …

Donald Trump, Michelle Obama Most Admired in 2020  —  WASHINGTON, D.C. — Americans are most likely to name President Donald Trump and Michelle Obama as most admired man and woman in 2020.  Trump tied former President Barack Obama for the honor last year but edged out his predecessor this year.

‘Dark period’: Killings spike in NYC amid pandemic, unrest  —  NEW YORK (AP) — Heralded as the safest big city in America in recent years, New York City is closing out its bloodiest year in nearly a decade, grappling with a surge in homicides and a pandemic authorities say has helped fuel violence.

Pence refused to sign on to plan to overturn election, lawyers say  —  Lawyers representing Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Texas) and Arizona's 11 GOP electors disclosed in a court filing Tuesday that Vice President Mike Pence rejected their request to join their attempt to subvert the results of the presidential election.

Pennsylvania Republicans find ‘alarming discrepancy’ twice the margin of Biden's victory  —  Republican lawmakers in Pennsylvania say an “alarming discrepancy” in the presidential vote count is two times larger than the margin of President-elect Joe Biden's victory in the state.

Mexico Set to Become World's Largest Legal Cannabis Market  —  New law aims to boost civil liberties and curb drug cartels  —  MEXICO CITY—Mexico is home to the world's most powerful drug cartels, who have terrorized the country for years.  But the country is poised to try something different …