Evidence? Who needs evidence?

Not Attorney General Bill Barr. Last night, Barr authorized federal prosecutors across the U.S. to pursue "substantial allegations" of voting irregularities in the 2020 presidential election—despite presenting no evidence of such. The action gives prosecutors the ability to go around longstanding Justice Department policy that normally would prohibit such overt actions before the election is certified. Barr's move prompted the resignation of Richard Pilger, director of the DOJ's Election Crimes Branch since 2010, on principle. All because Donald Trump continues to refuse to concede the election to the winner, President-elect Joe Biden. —Associated Press

• — No courtly love. Trump may brag about his numerous judicial appointments, but so far, they haven't helped him much in his many election-related court battles. His campaign has spent much of the past week in court, with little success and without presenting evidence of widespread fraud. "You can't go to court just because you don't like the vote totals," Ohio State election law professor Ned Foley said. "You have to have a legal claim, and you have to have evidence to back it up. And that's just not there." —NPR
•  
• — Law firms grow uneasy. Lawyers in particular like evidence, so some senior attorneys at Jones Day and Porter Wright Morris & Arthur, both of which have filed suits on behalf of the president, are worried that they are advancing arguments that lack it—and helping Trump and his allies undermine the integrity of American elections in the process. At least one lawyer at Porter Wright has quit in protest. —The New York Times
•  
• — A matter of national security. As Trump appointee Emily Murphy continues to slow-walk the transition process at the Government Services Administration, more officials are calling for her to sign the letter of "ascertainment" that would allow Biden access to the funding, resources, and classified information needed to take the reins in January. Even Trump loyalist Marco Rubio, chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said, "We need to have that contingency in place." —NBC News

GOP vs GOP in Georgia

Republican Sens. Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue of Georgia called for the resignation of the state's Republican secretary of state, Brad Raffensperger, yesterday, citing "failures" in Georgia's election process. Only problem? They haven't provided a shred of evidence to support their claims.

• — The only "failures" in the election were Loeffler and Perdue. Neither was able to secure a majority win in their respective races last week, so they're both headed for runoff elections in January. The control of the U.S. Senate hangs in the balance.
• 
  — It was a brazen effort to appease Donald Trump. Georgia hasn't officially been called yet, but it is currently favoring President-elect Joe Biden. If Biden claims the state, he'll be the first Democrat to do so in 28 years. The president and his top allies reportedly pressured the two senators to make the accusation of electoral fraud on his behalf, in order to maintain his support for them in their upcoming runoff elections.
   
• — "Earlier today Sens. Loeffler and Perdue called for my resignation. Let me start by saying that is not going to happen," Raffensperger said in a statement yesterday. "The voters of Georgia hired me, and the voters will be the one to fire me." —The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

MORE: What's going on with Georgia's Senate races? —New York Magazine

Mulroy: The Supreme Court could change the election...but probably won't

"[F]our justices believe Pennsylvania's top court had no grounds to extend the voting deadline. Should the Supreme Court hear this case again, Justice Amy Coney Barrett—the conservative jurist who recently replaced the progressive Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg—could become the crucial fifth vote necessary to overturn the Pennsylvania decision. That ruling would invalidate all affected Pennsylvania votes, as well as votes anywhere else in the country where courts or administrators changed election rules to make them more flexible. That's thousands upon thousands of votes, potentially enough to change the election's outcome. That outcome could be catastrophic for public confidence in both the Supreme Court and the American electoral process." —Steven Mulroy in The Eagle-Tribune

Ed. Note: Steven Mulroy is a professor of constitutional law, criminal law, and election law at the University of Memphis.

MORE: America's new challenge: Restore confidence in democracy —The Wall Street Journal

Facebook battles a Bannon-a republic

Social media giant Facebook has removed a widespread network of pages tied to President Trump's former chief strategist Stephen Bannon for pushing misinformation about voter fraud and delegitimizing election results. Bannon's personal page also incurred penalties, including not being allowed to post content, but was not removed.

• — The seven pages, which had a total of over 2.45 million followers and had pushed "Stop the Steal" messaging that alleges election fraud, were flagged on Friday night.
•  
• — Last week, the pages rapidly gained hundreds of thousands of new members and pushed events protesting election outcomes, before Facebook banned one large group for inciting violence.
   
• — The pages taken down include that of Brian Kolfage, a long-time Bannon ally. Kolfage was indicted with Bannon and two others in August for allegedly defrauding donors to a crowdfunded effort to build a private U.S.-Mexico border wall. —The Washington Post

Ignatius: Why was Esper fired?

"A darker possibility is that Trump wants a Pentagon chief who can order the military to take steps that might help keep him in power because of an election result that he claims is fraudulent. Any such attempt would be strongly resisted by [Joint Chiefs Chair Mark] Milley and his senior commanders, as well as the civilian service chiefs. But the fact remains that until his term expires on Jan. 20, Trump remains the commander-in-chief, whose orders must be obeyed if they're lawful." —David Ignatius in The Washington Post

Ed. Note: David Ignatius is a foreign affairs columnist for The Washington Post.

MORE: With Esper gone, Democrats concerned over what Trump will do with the military —Politico

A 'painful' peace in the Caucasus

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has announced he has signed an "unspeakably painful agreement" with Russia and Azerbaijan to end the war over the disputed area of Nagorno-Karabakh, just hours after Azerbaijan claimed it captured the region's strategic city of Shusha.

• — The unrest in Nagorno-Karabakh dates back to the collapse of the Soviet Union, when the region, backed by Armenia, declared independence from Azerbaijan. Shusha was captured by Armenian forces in 1992, and Azerbaijan has long claimed it would retake the territory. Tensions most recently escalated again over the summer.
•  
• — Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev called the ceasefire "essentially a capitulation" by Armenia and said the deal would "return our territories without any further bloodshed." Protesters stormed the Armenian parliament after the agreement was announced.
•  
• — Russian President Vladimir Putin said Russian peacekeeping forces will be deployed along the contact line in Nagorno-Karabakh and within the corridor that connects the region with Armenia. Moscow had tried to broker a ceasefire several times in the past few weeks, but each agreement fell apart within a short time. —CNN

The Economist: Focus on global democracy returns

"Biden sees America's wider network of allies as a vital means for shaping global rules and resisting the rise of authoritarianism. In his first year in office, he plans to host a global 'Summit for Democracy' to shore up the free world, the better to wage the battle of ideas with authoritarian states. Some of his senior advisers would like to see the club of like-minded countries formalizing into a 'League of Democracies.' Perhaps the G7 might be widened into a G10, with the inclusion of India, South Korea, and Australia." —The Economist

MORE: The end of 'America First': How Biden says he will re-engage with the world —The New York Times

All in the family

While it's true that none of us gets to choose our relatives when we're born, we can have a say in who we choose to call family. That's just what foster dad Robert Carter did when he decided to adopt an entire family of five siblings—Marionna, Makayla, Robert, Giovanni, and Kiontae.

• — Carter, now 29, spent years in the Ohio foster care system himself, and knew only too well what it was like to lose touch with loved ones. He entered the system at age 12, and it wasn't until years later that he was finally reunited with his younger sister and brother.
•  
• — Prior to the adoption, the children were living in three separate foster homes. Carter was already fostering the three brothers, and the two sisters were each in other homes. When he realized how much they missed each other, he knew there was only one course of action.
   
• — "[I'm] making memories to replace a lot of the bad ones," Carter said. "Every night, I talk to them and let them know, 'I'm your dad forever. I know what it's like, and I'm always here for you.'" —Good News Network

We still have in this country some of the world's foremost experts on infectious disease. We still have experts on numerous issues, such as nuclear weapons proliferation, and the global security challenges presented by Russia and China. We once led the world, through the Trans-Pacific Partnership, in dealing with China's attempts at forcing other nations to allow it to engage in unfair trade practices. We were the nation that led the world in dealing with Ebola. We have the military might, along with, hopefully soon, the diplomatic skill to once again lead the free world.

What we must not do is allow people driving around in pickup trucks waving Trump flags to decide what courses of action this country should take by pressuring what was once considered the leading party on national security issues to support uninformed and impulsive policy decisions, like those Trump has been making over the last four years. We can do better than having ill-informed partisans deciding our policies. We have well-educated, experienced. and savvy experts to help this country craft prudent policy decisions. —Bill M., Pennsylvania

The views expressed in "What's Your Take?" are submitted by readers and do not necessarily reflect the views of the editorial staff or the Stand Up Republic Foundation.