TRANSITION. Democrats demand briefing from Emily Murphy, GSA Administrator in charge of providing access to Biden transition team: “We have been extremely patient, but we can wait no longer,” said House Oversight Committee Chairwoman Carolyn Maloney and House Appropriations Chairwoman Nita Lowey, in a four-page letter joined by Reps. Gerry Connolly and Mike Quigley.

WISCONSIN. Recount kicks off in state Biden won by 20,000+ votes: “Two Wisconsin counties will kick off recounts of presidential election results on Friday morning. The Trump campaign has paid $3 million for the process but chose to target only the state's two most Democratic-leaning counties for the recount, Milwaukee and Dane County, home to Madison.”

COVID THERAPY. WHO recommends against use of Remdesivir….

MICHIGAN. The Trump coup attempt continues: “Trump has invited some of Michigan's top Republicans to the White House in a sign he may be seeking a way around the results. President-elect Joe Biden is projected to win 306 electoral votes to Trump's 232, and has leads of tens of thousands of votes in several key states. The president also reached out to officials in Wayne County who had sought to block the certification of votes there.” “All-out assault…“

ALRIGHT ALRIGHT ALRIGHT. Matthew McConaughey considering run for Governor of Texas?

STOCKING STUFFERS. Lil Nas X hit Target wearing his “Holiday” outfit.

TAX WRITE-OFFS. Fraud investigations into Trump expand: “Two separate New York State fraud investigations into President Trump and his businesses, one criminal and one civil, have expanded to include tax write-offs on millions of dollars in consulting fees, some of which appear to have gone to Ivanka Trump, according to people with knowledge of the matter.”

NORTH CAROLINA. Lara Trump considers run for Senate: “She is looking at a possible run in 2022, as Republican Sen. Richard Burr's term comes to a close. Burr has said he will not seek reelection after more than 15 years in office.”

ANTHONY TATA. Top Pentagon official tests positive for COVID.

DAVID PERDUE. Georgia Senator pushed tax break for wealthy sports team owners: “Of the hundreds of pages of new regulations the agency developed, Perdue wrote about his concern with one extremely narrow rule: The owners of professional sports teams were being excluded from a valuable tax break being granted to many other businesses that are structured so that the companies don't pay taxes but the owners do.”

ON THE RAG. This week on the gay magazines…

CASTING. Lady Gaga joins Brad Pitt in action film Bullet Train: “The film boasts an impressive ensemble that includes Joey King, Aaron Taylor Johnson, Zazie Beetz, Brian Tyree Henry, Andrew Koji, Masi Oka and two-time Oscar nominee Michael Shannon.”

AUSTRALIA. State went into six-day lockdown over pizza lie: “South Australia's six-day lockdown will end three days early at midnight on Saturday after it was revealed a male who tested positive for Covid-19 had lied to contact tracers over working in a pizza bar where another case had worked.”

NEW TUNE OF THE DAY. Ava Max “My Head & My Heart”.