President-elect Donald Trump has picked former Georgia congressman Doug Collins to lead the Veterans Affairs Department in his new administration.

Spike Lee had a memorable first trip to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and Michael Jordan welcomed a couple newcomers to it.

Vince Carter wowed the basketball world with his high-flying dunks for more than two decades.

Georgia's Republican Party once relied on votes in Atlanta's close-in suburbs, but today the GOP increasingly relies on the mountains of north Georgia for its votes.

Gene Shue, a two-time NBA Coach of the Year who won 784 games with the Bullets, 76ers and Clippers, has died.

The rewards of an early Donald Trump endorsement will be on display Saturday in Georgia.

The rewards of an early Donald Trump endorsement were on display Saturday evening in Georgia.

The divisions among Georgia Republicans after the 2020 election are being laid bare at the party's annual convention.

Georgia Republican Doug Collins, a favorite of former President Donald Trump, says he doesn’t plan to run for governor or U.S. Senate in 2022.

Republicans in Georgia are calling for party unity to avoid more losses to Democrats in 2022.

Former Georgia lawmaker Vernon Jones says he will run against incumbent Georgia governor Brian Kemp in the Republican primary.

Both men say they support Georgia Republicans' efforts to enact an ID requirement for absentee voting that would do away with the state's signature matching system, which Trump heavily attacked. As Trump disputed Democrat Joe Biden’s victory in Georgia, Raffensperger argued the election was accurate and fair. A recorded conversation between Trump and Raffensperger leaked to media, allowing the public to hear Trump pressure Raffensperger and his office to “find 11,000-plus votes” to reverse Biden’s win. The House version, which passed Monday on a party-line vote, would require a photo ID for absentee voting and limit the number of weekend days counties can schedule early voting, among many other changes. The Senate bill would limit absentee voting to just seniors, people with disabilities and people who’ll be out of town.

But as the Senate prepares for an impeachment trial for Trump's incitement of the riot, few seem willing to hold the former president accountable. “The political winds within the Republican Party have blown in the opposite direction,” said Ralph Reed, chair of the Faith and Freedom Coalition and a Trump ally. After Michigan Rep. Peter Meijer backed impeachment, Republican Tom Norton announced a primary challenge. “We’re getting ready for an impeachment trial — that’s really the focus,” said Trump adviser Jason Miller. And that his political activism or whatever role he would play going forward would be with the Republican Party, not as a third party,” Cramer said.

In a state long dominated by Republicans, Democrats won Georgia’s electoral votes for president in November and two U.S. Senate seats in runoff elections Tuesday, defeating Kemp's hand-picked Senate appointee. And the defeats of both Loeffler and fellow Republican David Perdue handed control of the U.S. Senate to Democrats. Some Republicans blame Trump and his false claims of election fraud for hurting GOP turnout in the the Senate runoffs. “I’ll be here in about a year and a half, campaigning against your governor,” Trump said. “I guarantee it.”The strain on Kemp was on display Tuesday when the governor attended an election-night event for the GOP Senate candidates before their defeats were sealed.

Here are some big questions as the 2020 election cycle finally nears a close:DOES TRUMP HELP OR HURT HIS PARTY? While Biden nipped Trump, Perdue led Ossoff by about 88,000 votes in November, finishing just short of the outright majority required to avoid a runoff. Perdue was within a few thousand votes of Trump, leaving Ossoff about 100,000 votes behind Biden’s pace. About 115,000 Senate votes in the Perdue-Ossoff contest went to a Libertarian. Warnock and Ossoff talk often of a “new Georgia” as they concentrate efforts around Atlanta and the state’s mid-size cities.

Perdue got about 88,000 more votes than Ossoff in the general election, but a Libertarian candidate’s 115,000 votes kept him from topping 50%, which is required to win. Warnock got 1.6 million votes, while Loeffler got nearly 1.3 million and Republican U.S. Rep. Doug Collins placed third with nearly a million votes. No ballots, including absentee ballots received in advance of Election Day, can be counted until the polls close. Second, Republican voters have been more likely to vote in person, either on Election Day or during the early voting period. In November, more than 5 percent of Georgia’s votes were counted after noon on the day after Election Day.

The president has spread unfounded assertions of voter fraud and blasted Georgia Republican officials, including Gov. Democrats are fine with the GOP senators' decision to run as Trump Republicans and use exaggerated attacks. But the early vote already has set a statewide Georgia runoff turnout record. McNeely, the former state GOP leader, lamented that even if Perdue and Loeffler win, their campaigns move Georgia further away from a more centrist tradition. But he rose through the Georgia General Assembly in an era when Democrats dominated the state.

The president has spread unfounded assertions of voter fraud and blasted Georgia Republican officials, including Gov. Democrats are fine with the GOP senators' decision to run as Trump Republicans and use exaggerated attacks. But the early vote already has set a statewide Georgia runoff turnout record. McNeely, the former state GOP leader, lamented that even if Perdue and Loeffler win, their campaigns move Georgia further away from a more centrist tradition. But he rose through the Georgia General Assembly in an era when Democrats dominated the state.

That means everything from individual voter contacts urging early voting, which ends Thursday, to last-minute campaign stops from national headliners trying to boost Election Day turnout. Runoff elections historically draw a much lower turnout than general elections, and in Georgia they have favored Republican candidates in the last decade or so. In-person early voting ends statewide Thursday, though some counties observe New Year's Eve as a holiday so Wednesday will be their last day. Perdue and Loeffler both failed to win a majority of votes in the general election last month, forcing the runoffs. In the final days before the election, Democrats need to work on turning out Latino and Asian American voters, Fraga said.

In Georgia's second runoff election, Republican U.S. Sen David Perdue started with an even wider lead, having won 88,000 more votes in November than Democrat Jon Ossoff. Through Wednesday, nearly 2.1 million voters had cast ballots, roughly on pace with the Nov. 3 general election. Miles Coleman of the University of Virginia Center for Politics said the joint effort has helped Warnock wrap up Democratic voters. Henderson also frets that Loeffler has never been to his county, so far from Atlanta that many watch out-of-state television. “The Democrats have really struggled to turn out Black voters in rural parts of the state," Coleman said.

Brian Kemp in December last year was widely seen as a way for the Georgia GOP to appeal to moderate suburban women. Or would she heed the plea for bipartisanship made in a farewell speech by her predecessor, retired Republican Sen. Johnny Isakson? Critics say Loeffler took a hard-right turn once she drew a challenge from staunch Trump ally and fellow Republican Doug Collins. Loeffler's campaign did not make her available for an interview and did not respond to questions sent by email. Loeffler's connection to the company poses potentially deep conflicts of interest on Senate matters dealing with the regulation of financial markets.

Vice President Mike Pence speaks during a briefing on COVID-19 at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Friday, Dec. 4, 2020, in Atlanta. There have even been suggestions from some Trump allies that conservative voters should sit out the Jan. 5 Senate runoffs in protest, a notion Pence took head on. Pence, as he did two weeks ago when campaigning with the Georgia senators, tried to strike a balance. But this time, Pence's message comes as Georgia completes yet another recount of presidential ballots and in the wake of Trump escalating his attacks on Georgia Republicans. As Pence arrived in the state, Georgia officials were in the final stages of a third count requested by Trump’s campaign.

Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said he chose the presidential race because of its significance and tight margin. Because of the close results, he said, a full hand recount would be needed to complete the audit. The actual number of rejected ballots was about 350% higher, but that matched the overall increase in absentee ballots, the release says. Two years ago, 454 absentee ballots were rejected out of 284,393. The Associated Press has not declared a winner in the presidential race in Georgia, where Biden led Trump by 0.3 percentage points.

Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger speaks during a news conference on Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2020, in Atlanta. Georgia election officials have announced an audit of presidential election results that will trigger a full hand recount. “The secretary of state has failed to deliver honest and transparent elections,” GOP Sens. After the Trump campaign asked for a hand recount of all 5 million votes cast in Georgia, Raffensperger chose the presidential election for an audit, which Georgia law now requires for one statewide race each election cycle. Not shying away from the fact that he's a Republican, Raffensperger has said publicly that he wished Trump had won.

This combination of photos shows Democratic candidate for Senate Jon Ossoff, left, on Nov. 10, 2020, and Republican candidate for Senate Sen. David Perdue on Nov. 2, 2020, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)ATLANTA – President Donald Trump won’t be on the ballot in January when Georgia voters settle two Senate runoffs that will determine control of the U.S. Senate. The two Senate contests offer an early measure of Trump’s lasting political imprint and whether both parties can sustain momentum in the post-Trump era. For now, both the incumbents and their Democratic rivals are largely avoiding direct mention of Trump, instead focusing on Senate control. Republicans have dominated statewide runoffs in Georgia recently, proving more adept at returning their core supporters to the polls.

ATLANTA – As Georgia counties prepare for a hand tally of the presidential race, the state's top elections official planned to quarantine after his wife tested positive for the coronavirus, his office said Thursday. Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger’s wife, Tricia, tested positive on Thursday, the deputy secretary of state, Jordan Fuchs, told The Associated Press. An audit of one race is required by law but it's up to the secretary of state to choose the race. Sterling emphatically denied that the selection of the presidential race and subsequent decision to do a full hand count was the result of pressure from the president. Doing a hand count of the nearly 5 million votes cast in Georgia during the Nov. 3 election is a massive task.

Georgia Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate Jon Ossoff rallies supporters for a run-off against Republican candidate Sen. David Perdue, as they meet in Grant Park, Friday, Nov. 6, 2020, in Atlanta. But for Democrats, it’s seemingly a more piecemeal, voter-by-voter approach, while Republicans are pushing a broad branding message through mass media. Republicans need one of the Georgia seats for a majority. Democrats must win both to yield a 50-50 Senate, with Vice President-elect Kamala Harris then holding the tie-breaking vote. “Runoffs favor strong, well-organized campaigns,” Ossoff campaign manager Ellen Foster told The Associated Press, explaining Democrats' tactical emphasis beyond their public events.

Loeffler, appointed after Republican Sen. Johnny Isakson announced his retirement last year, trailed Warnock in an all-party primary to finish out the final two years of a six-year term. Still, the GOP needs at least one of the Georgia seats to command a majority in January. In a 50-50 Senate, Democrats would have the tie-breaking vote in Vice President-elect Kamala Harris. “But all socialists are Democrats.”Rubio alluded to failed presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, an independent who calls himself a democratic socialist and caucuses with Senate Democrats. Their bet is that Georgia, long a GOP stronghold before Biden’s performance in the presidential race, follows the same path.

Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger speaks during a news conference on Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2020, in Atlanta. Georgia election officials have announced an audit of presidential election results that will trigger a full hand recount. Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said at a news conference that the presidential race makes the most sense. Georgians cast nearly 5 million votes in the presidential race and counties have until Friday to certify their results. In addition to the audit of the presidential race, Raffensperger announced that he's consolidating runoff elections.

ATLANTA – Some Republicans renewed their attacks Monday on Democrat Joe Biden's lead over President Donald Trump in Georgia, with U.S. Sens. Perdue and Loeffler offered no evidence and gave no specific examples of illegal votes or fraud, and their campaigns did not respond to requests for further comment. “Does it rise to the numbers or margin necessary to change the outcome to where President Trump is given Georgia’s electoral votes? "He has failed the people of Georgia, and he should step down immediately.”Other Republicans have been more cautious, with Gov. “We must count every legal vote and cast out every illegal vote in the state of Georgia,” Sonny Perdue said.

Abrams, the onetime candidate for Georgia governor who has become perhaps the nation's leading voice on voting rights, is being credited for paving those inroads. “There’s a lot of work that’s gone into this, but Stacey really is the architect of what’s been built in Georgia,” said Dubose Porter, the former Georgia Democratic Party chairman and an Abrams mentor. The 2018 campaign marked a notable shift in Georgia Democrats’ overall approach. They’d do it by reshaping the electorate, by exciting the expanding universe of potentially Democratic voters: the youngest native white Georgians; whites from beyond Georgia; Black voters who cast ballots sporadically; Black voters moving to Georgia from other regions; and a growing Latino and Asian-American population. “We’ll take on Antifa, Black Lives Matter, Fair Fight, Stacey Abrams and all of them.”Trump himself was an accelerating variable in Georgia’s shift, pushing some white suburbanites toward Democrats.

Republican Senate candidate Sen. Mitch McConnell, second from right, and his wife, Elaine Chao, right, look on as aides show him the election results in Louisville, Ky., Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2020. (AP Photo/Timothy D. Easley)WASHINGTON – Hopes fading for Senate control, Democrats had a disappointing election night as Republicans swatted down an onslaught of challengers and fought to retain their fragile majority. Democrats contested seats from New England to the Deep South and the Midwest to the Mountain West, reaching deep into GOP strongholds. The Democrats' gains were in Colorado and Arizona, where former astronaut Mark Kelly beat GOP incumbent Martha McSally. Republican Cynthia Lummis, the former congresswoman from Wyoming, won the Senate seat being vacated by Republican Mike Enzi.

Loeffler smiled and nodded as Marjorie Taylor Greene praised her as “the most conservative Republican" running in Georgia's multi-candidate special election for the U.S. Senate seat Loeffler was appointed to 10 months ago. Loeffler was appointed to the Senate on the hope that she would help the GOP hold on to moderates — especially suburban women — uncomfortable with the party’s right turn under President Donald Trump. Loeffler spokeswoman Caitlin O’Dea said Loeffler was not available to be interviewed for this story and declined to answer questions. “Loeffler and Collins are essentially running in a primary within a special election,” said Brian Robinson, a Republican strategist in Georgia. “Whoever emerges between Collins and Loeffler will then pivot the next day to a general election message and they’ll be talking about different topics,” Robinson said.

The protesters began to chant Black lives matter! after one of them shouted questions critical of Loeffler's description of Black Lives Matter. Loeffler's tangle with Black Lives Matter had already made headlines last month in connection with her co-ownership of the WNBA's Atlanta Dream. The last words of Loeffler's never-completed speech to about 60 people discussed her brush with Black Lives Matter, with her saying I had to draw the line." When we're talking about Black Lives Matter, were not talking about some Marxist organization. Like we said, were talking about Black lives, like real Black Lives.

File- In this Wednesday, June 17, 2020 file photo, Nikita Gleen, raises his hand towards the sky near a Wendy's restaurant, in Atlanta. The Guard troops will provide support at sites including the Capitol and governors mansion, freeing up state law enforcement resources to patrol other areas, according to a statement from Kemp's office. There was no visible presence of Guard troops at either site Tuesday morning. His choice to deploy National Guard troops for todays selfish purpose is outrageous and will endanger lives, she said in a statement. It happened near the Wendys restaurant where a Black man, Rayshard Brooks, was killed by a white police officer June 12.

FILE - In this July 17, 2019, file photo, Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms speaks during a Senate Democrats' Special Committee on the Climate Crisis on Capitol Hill in Washington. Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms invoked that history in a passionate and deeply personal plea for protesters to go home. Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms invoked that history in a passionate and deeply personal plea for protesters to go home. When Dr. King was assassinated, we didn't do this to our city, Bottoms said Friday night. The 50-year-old Bottoms was elected mayor in 2017 and previously served on the City Council.

But while Democrats do allege Trump engaged in some criminal acts, the constitutional grounds for impeachment do not require any crime to have been committed. That was bribery, they say, since Trump was withholding nearly $400 million in military aid that Ukraine depended on to counter Russian aggression. As they draft articles of impeachment, Democrats are also alleging crimes involving obstruction of justice as part of their case that Trump abused his office. Actually, the rough transcript came out first, confirming the whistleblower's description of Trump pressing Ukraine for political favors. ___EDITOR'S NOTE — A look at the veracity of claims by political figures___Find AP Fact Checks at http://apne.ws/2kbx8bdFollow @APFactCheck on Twitter: https://twitter.com/APFactCheck

“We’ll bring articles of impeachment presumably before the committee at some point later in the week," said Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y.Last week, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., instructed the committee to write articles of impeachment — formal charges — against Trump for pressuring Ukraine to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden, a leading Democratic rival. If the committee approves articles by Friday that would set up a final impeachment vote in the days before Christmas. A vote to convict requires a two-thirds vote of the Senate, where Republicans hold 53 of 100 seats. It is unlikely that any Republican senators would cross party lines and vote to remove Trump from office. White House counsel Pat Cipollone informed the Judiciary Committee late Friday that the administration would not be participating in upcoming House hearings.

A divided House panel has endorsed a proposal to decriminalize and tax marijuana at the federal level. Groups supporting an end to the national prohibition on pot call the 24-10 vote by the House Judiciary Committee historic. However, even if passed in the House, the proposal faces an uncertain future in the Republican-controlled Senate. The House Judiciary Committee approved the proposal 24-10 after more than two hours of debate. Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee complained that the proposal to decriminalize cannabis had never had a hearing and lacked the bipartisan support needed to become law.

Rep. Doug Collins, the top Republican on the House Judiciary Committee, is telling a federal judge that the Democrats' impeachment investigation has no legal basis. (CNN) - Rep. Doug Collins, the top Republican on the House Judiciary Committee, is telling a federal judge that the Democrats' impeachment investigation has no legal basis. Collins reiterates the GOP's argument that the full House must vote to authorize an impeachment inquiry, and it has not done so. "If the Committee seeks judicial interference in its proceedings, the House must take the procedural and political action required of it by holding a vote to delegate its impeachment power to the Committee," Collins wrote. In their request for the grand jury information, the Democrats said in their filing earlier this week that Congress needs it for the impeachment probe.