For those keeping score  Let’s get this out of the way upfront: “A team of international observers invited by the Trump administration has issued a preliminary report giving high marks to the conduct of last week’s elections--and it criticizes President Trump for making baseless allegations that the outcome resulted from systematic fraud.”
That’s from Jess Bravin’s reporting at The Wall Street Journal, No Evidence of Systematic Fraud in U.S. Elections, International Observer Mission Reports. The assessment by the 28-member delegation from the Organization of American States followed similar findings by an election observation team from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. Meanwhile...Barr Hands Prosecutors the Authority to Investigate Voter Fraud Claims. And as Katie Benner and Michael Schmidt report at The New York Times, Barr’s authorization prompted the Justice Department official who oversees investigations of voter fraud, Richard Pilger, to step down from the post within hours. “For those keeping score,” Elie Honig offers: “we’ve now seen 7 veteran career prosecutors resign from 4 different high-profile cases (Stone, Flynn, Durham, now this) to protest Barr’s political weaponization of DOJ.” Matt Zapotosky and Devlin Barrett cover the story at The Washington Post and note that sources “said Barr had first broached a similar idea some weeks ago and that political leadership in the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, of which the Election Crimes Branch is a part, pushed back. Those officials were blindsided when Barr’s memo was released on Monday.” The danger of denial Refusing to concede, Trump blocks cooperation on transition, as Jonathan Lemire and Zeke Miller report at AP News, but not just that: “As he contests the election, Trump has largely stopped governing: His public schedule hasn’t included an intelligence briefing since Oct. 1. No foreign lead call readout in weeks. No statement on Tropical Storm Eta. No COVID task force meeting in months,” Lemire points out. Mike Barnicle describes it this way: “@AP @JonLemire and a report on a very dangerous period of time for the government of the United States of America.” Michael S. Schmidt, Julian Barnes and Zolan Kanno-Youngs of The New York Times explain How Trump’s Refusal to Concede Affects Biden’s National Security Transition. They report that Biden has yet to receive a presidential daily briefing, and it’s unclear whether his team would have access to classified information. And “Across the federal government — the VA, EPA, OMB — career civil servants are being told not to respond to Biden’s transition team. At USAID, a 440-page briefing book for Biden's team sits ready and waiting at the agency. So far, they won’t give it over,” tweets Matt Viser, who links to his latest with Lisa Rein, Greg Miller and Josh Dawsey of The Washington Post, White House, escalating tensions, orders agencies to rebuff Biden transition team. Patrick Radden Keefe says, “I keep thinking about the 9/11 commission report. A lot of people are going to die from Covid between now and the vaccine. Hostile actors could stage an attack while Trump is golfing and firing people. History will be brutal with these treasonous clowns.” Chilling All of this news comes as Trump fired Defense Secretary Mark Esper in a tweet. As The Washington Post’s Missy Ryan, Dan Lamothe, Paul Sonne and Dawsey report, “Esper’s firing plunges the Pentagon into a new period of leadership upheaval as it tries to manage an unusual transition period fraught with political tensions and potential security risks.” “This lame-duck administration is running like a fine-tuned machine,” tweets Jacob T. Levy. Meghann Myers of Military Times had an exclusive interview with Esper the day after Election Day, in which Esper, on his way out, said he was no yes man. He confirmed that he never had any intention of quitting, and though he expected the other shoe to drop, he didn’t have a good read on when. John McGrath highlights from that interview a “hell of a quote from the outgoing secretary of defense.” Plus, “The kicker to this Esper interview is chilling,” tweets Susan Glasser: “Who’s going to come in behind me? It’s going to be a real ‘yes’ man. And then God help us.” Not just a PR problem  Back to the lawsuits, Chris Geidner is “Glad to see this article — and to see the growing ignominy that @JonesDay and @PorterWright are facing and should face if they continue to aid Trump in his efforts to debase our democracy.” Jessica Silver-Greenberg, Rachel C. Abrams and David Enrich of The New York Times write about the Growing Discomfort at Law Firms Representing Trump in Election Lawsuits.
Senior lawyers are worried their firms are helping Trump and his allies undermine the integrity of American elections. As Richard J. Tofel points out, “Filing factually meritless litigation is not just a PR problem for a law firm. It is unethical.” Sums up so much of the Trump era None of this is an issue for top Republicans, who are backing Trump’s efforts to discredit the election results, as Amy Gardner, Ashley Parker, Josh Dawsey and Emma Brown report at The Washington Post. Bob Hille puts it this way: “BREAKING: Rats flock to sinking ship.”  The general sentiment seems to be, “What, me worry?” Chris Megerian highlights “A quote that sums up so much of the Trump era — ‘What is the downside for humoring him for this little bit of time?’” As Charlie Warzel says, “ah yes. what is the worst that could happen…”
At NBC News, Mark Murray, Carrie Dann, Melissa Holzberg and Chuck Todd write that, in appeasing Trump, the GOP is toying with a constitutional crisis. Meanwhile, Maggie Haberman of the The New York Times reports that Trump is planning a PAC in the hopes of keeping his hold on the G.O.P. Although Stephanie Kirchgaessner points out, “This article buys into the notion that a Trump political PAC would be used for political purposes, when everything we know about Trump is that it would be used for personal financial gain, from paying off various debts to lifestyle.” “And so the question is now what happens when he leaves office, as most of his advisers acknowledge his lawsuits are mostly frivolous and Biden’s win in states insurmountable. Do 2024 hopefuls start to break from the president when he leaves?” tweets Haberman. What’s the worst that could happen... As for the GOP leaders who are currently marching in lockstep with Trump, guess they’re eager to get behind more of this: Lawyers can’t find the parents of 666 migrant kids, a higher number than previously reported. That’s the latest from Jacob Soboroff and Julia Ainsley of NBC News, who report that nearly 20 percent, or 129, of those children were under 5 at the time of the separation, according to a source familiar with the data. Now’s a good time to read Melissa del Bosque’s piece at The Intercept on The El Paso Experiment: A Public Defender’s Lonely Fight Against Family Separation. She shares, “My story on the 2017 family separation pilot project was months in the making. It survived the demise of one magazine, only to be resurrected by @theintercept Thank you to the wonderful editors @atrejones @sarahblustain for seeing me through.” Aaron Cantú calls it a “Devastating piece with a laser focus on the first federal prosecutors and judge to legitimize family separation,” and Roger Hodge praises the “Extraordinary reporting from @MelissaLaLinea : the story of the first lawyer to take on Trump’s ‘zero tolerance’ family separation policy in its secret five-month pilot project in El Paso.” Also terrible Christopher Flavelle, Lisa Friedman and Coral Davenport of The New York Times report that the Trump administration has removed the scientist in charge of assessing climate change and will be replacing him with a climate skeptic. And here’s a comforting story from Shane Harris of The Washington Post: As an ex-president, Trump could disclose the secrets he learned while in office, current and former officials fear. Tweets Gabriel Sherman, “Basically the CIA fears Trump will be leaking secrets of Area 51 to Page Six in a few months.” So it’s not all bad news. As Achim Barczok says, “After @Snowden disappointed me on that one: Man, I hope he will finally tell us about the aliens.” Mieke Eoyang has a different take on the above story, although we should warn you that it’s not really any more reassuring: “I think Trump has less value as a counter intelligence source as a former president than some of my colleagues. 1) He doesn’t pay attention to things 2) He lies & exaggerates all the time 3) He doesn’t have a great memory. Jared is the bigger threat.” The worst advance team in the history of mankind Anyway, a man featured at the Giuliani press conference is a convicted sex offender. As Matt Friedman reported yesterday at Politico, the first witness Giuliani called up in front of that garage door at Four Seasons Total Landscaping was Daryl Brooks, who said he was a GOP poll watcher. “Brooks was incarcerated in the 1990s on charges of sexual assault, lewdness and endangering the welfare of a minor for exposing himself to two girls ages 7 and 11, according to news accounts.”  “This has to be the worst advance team in the history of mankind,” tweets Lois Romano. Friedman also reports that Brooks has run for various offices, including U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives, in New Jersey, which, and we’ve double-checked this, is not in Pennsylvania.
“Me: The Four Seasons Total Landscaping story cannot get any nuttier. @MattFriedmanNJ: Hold my leaf blower,” tweets Scott Fallon. And Mark Shea points out that “It is exquisite that the headline is so worded that you can read it to refer to Giuliani.” A few more - A detailed new report released by the Vatican on ex-cardinal Theodore McCarrick says Pope John Paul II was aware of misconduct allegations in 1999. Chico Harlan of The Washington Post writes that the report “provides a stunning play-by-play of how church leaders disregarded clues about McCarrick’s misconduct, believed ‘church men’ over victims, and tried to keep any discipline modest and private.”
- From Jim Pickard and Anna Gross at the Financial Times, a director of the PR firm paid £670,000 to advise the head of the UK government’s coronavirus vaccine task force is a longstanding business associate of Dominic Cummings’ father-in-law. “How cosy,” tweets Aditya Chakrabortty. “Just when you thought it couldn't get any more ‘jobs for the boys’...” adds Tabby Kinder.
- It’s Masters week, which is weird, since it’s November, but that’s 2020 for you. Ian O’Connor of ESPN has a piece on The journey of Tiger Woods’ first Masters caddie, Tommy Bennett. “Twenty-five years ago, a Stanford freshman named Tiger Woods played the Masters for the first time, and a man from the poorest part of Augusta caddied for him. ‘I made pennies while others made millions,’ he said. Their journey, then and now,” tweets O’Connor.
- Also at ESPN, Jeff Passan eports that Chicago White Sox manager Tony La Russa has been charged with DUI stemming from his February arrest, according to court records obtained by ESPN.
- David Sims says, “now that the election is over, I can finally tell you to get excited for MANK.” Read his new piece in The Atlantic to find out Why a Movie About 1930s Hollywood Resonates Today.
- And if, like us, you’re still annoyed that you spent precious hours watching “The Vow,” read Sophie Gilbert’s piece in The Atlantic on How to Tell the Story of a Cult. As Marcela García says, “Why did I ever bother watching The Vow?! Huge waste of time. Starz’ ‘Seduced’ is far superior. ‘The Starz series also includes information so pertinent to understanding NXIVM that it seems inexcusable for The Vow to omit it.’”
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How about something good for a change? Every month for the past three years, we’ve shared the worst of the worst for our feature “This month in bad PR pitches.” But PR pros are also wondering, what about the journalists who are tweeting about good pitches? As 
For 
“Calling Guinness Book of World Records, has anybody stayed in as many Canary Islands hotels as me?” That’s today’s featured journalist, 
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