Axios

The Trump administration is declassifying as-yet uncorroborated intelligence, recently briefed to President Trump, that indicates China offered to pay non-state actors in Afghanistan to attack American soldiers, two senior administration officials tell Axios.

The big picture: The disclosure of this unconfirmed intelligence comes 21 days before the end of Trump's presidency, after he has vowed to ratchet up pressure on China, and months after news reports indicated that the Russians had secretly offered bounties for Taliban militants to kill U.S. troops in Afghanistan.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said on Wednesday he does not see a "realistic path to quickly pass" a House-approved standalone measure for $2,000 stimulus checks, despite calls from President Trump for increased payments.

Why it matters: The move effectively kills any pathway to pass the bill before the end of the the 116th Congress.

President Trump's pardon of four former Blackwater contractors convicted in the 2007 Nisour Square massacre of Iraqi civilians violated international law, United Nations experts said on Wednesday.

Why it matters: The Geneva Conventions require countries to "hold war criminals accountable, even when they act as private security contractors," per UN. By pardoning the four men, Trump directly contradicted and violated these obligations, according to the experts.

President-elect Joe Biden announced Wednesday he would select former Obama administration officials Kathleen Hicks and Colin Kahl to serve in top civilian roles at the Department of Defense.

The state of play: Hicks, who previously served as a deputy under secretary of defense and has remained a trusted Biden adviser, was nominated to become the first female deputy defense secretary.

Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) said in a statement Wednesday that he will object to the certification of President-elect Joe Biden's Electoral College victory during the joint session of Congress on Jan. 6, alleging that some states failed to follow their election laws and that Big Tech interfered on behalf of Biden.

Why it matters: Hawley is the first senator to say he will object to the certification, joining a group of House Republicans. Biden will still be certified the winner, but the move will force Senate Republicans to go on the record on whether they agree with Trump's baseless allegations — many of which have been thrown out in court — that there was widespread election fraud.

The girlfriend of Anthony Warner, the man who is believed to have detonated the bomb in Nashville on Christmas Day, warned police officers in August 2019 that he "was building bombs in the RV trailer at his residence," according to police reports obtained by The Tennessean.

Why it matters: Although the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation said Warner "was not on our radar" before the explosion, the report from the Metro Nashville Police Department "shows that local and federal authorities were aware of alleged threats he had made," The Tennessean writes.

Workers on Tuesday disassembled the inaugural-parade reviewing stand in front of the White House, as President-elect Biden prepares for a mostly virtual day.

The big picture: Biden organizers tell me they don't want crowds because of COVID, and will find other ways to include the American people. It's an early sign of the big change in COVID tone that's coming on Inauguration Day.

If you're feeling extra tired this holiday season, blame the non-stop news cycle of 2020, as visualized in Axios' fourth annual Google Trends chart.

Why it matters: From a pandemic to multi-city protests to contested elections, 2020 has been one unprecedented crisis after another. "We have never seen a year like this in Google Trends history," Simon Rogers, a Google data editor, told Axios."These were huge stories that changed how we search."

Moderate Democrats in Congress are asking President-elect Joe Biden for classified, bipartisan briefings about the recent Russian cyberattacks on the U.S. and for intel assessments of how China may be seeking to exploit the pandemic.

The big picture: These are among the Blue Dog Coalition's recommendations in a letter to Biden that calls on Democrats to stick to legislation both parties can get behind, around the pandemic, economic recovery, government reforms after the Trump era and holding foreign adversaries accountable for interference.

Rep.-elect Luke Letlow (R-La.) died in a Louisiana hospital intensive care unit on Tuesday night "due to complications from COVID-19," his spokesperson Andrew Bautsch confirmed. He was 41.

The big picture: Letlow was due to be sworn into Congress this Sunday. He announced on Dec. 18 that he had tested positive for the coronavirus and was admitted to the Ochsner LSU Health ICU in Shreveport on Dec. 23.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin announced Tuesday the second round of coronavirus relief stimulus payments were being sent to millions of Americans.

The big picture: As President Trump and others continue to press Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who blocked Democrats' request to hold a vote on a House measure to boost the size of the checks to $2,000 per person, Mnuchin tweeted that the $600 payments "may begin to arrive in some accounts by direct deposit as early as tonight" and that paper checks would begin to be mailed Wednesday.

The Louisville Metro Police Department on Tuesday notified two detectives connected to the police shooting of Breonna Taylor that they would be fired, the Courier-Journal reports.

Why it matters: If fired, they would be the latest officers held accountable in the shooting that set off weeks of protests in the city and inspired nationwide demonstrations.