The Trump administration on Thursday night oversaw the execution of a federal death row inmate named Brandon Bernard who was killed by lethal injection in a prison in Terre Haute, Indiana. The 40-year old African American was only 18 when he was convicted of a crime which led to the murder of an Iowa couple. He did not directly kill them. Numerous well-known figures including Kim Kardashian-West appealed to the Trump administration to commute Bernard’s sentence to no avail. Lawyers appealed to the Supreme Court to stay his execution, but the court denied the request. Even as he fights to overturn the results of the election, Trump’s death row killing spree continues unabated as a second inmate named Alfred Bourgeois is scheduled to be killed on Friday. It is exceptionally rare for presidents in the midst of transitioning out of their positions to conduct executions.

Meanwhile more than half of all House Republicans have joined Trump in a new lawsuit brought by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, appealing to the Supreme Court for help in an attempted coup. The Washington Post called it an “unprecedented assault on the U.S. election system.” The basis of the lawsuit is to nullify 10.4 million votes in Georgia, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Michigan – but only those parts of the ballot pertaining to the Presidential race, not the down-ballot races that helped Republicans win some House seats and retain most Senate seats. On Monday December 14th, state electors will meet to cast their votes in the electoral college, cementing Joe Biden’s win. Twenty states, including the District of Columbia have called on the Supreme Court to reject this new lawsuit. Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro called the suit a, “seditious abuse of the judicial process.” On Friday morning Trump cryptically tweeted, “I just want to stop the world from killing itself!”

Among the relentless false claims that Trump and his allies have been making to base their coup attempt on is that thousands of people in each state “voted illegally.” Their lawsuits have revealed the names and addresses of voters without their permission. In Georgia one state Democrat followed up and found they were legitimate voters who had cast legitimate ballots.

In other news Attorney General William Barr apparently knew about a federal tax investigation into Joe Biden’s son Hunter for months but kept it secret. Trump, livid over having missed the opportunity to politicize the investigation to benefit his election chances tweeted, “Why didn’t the Fake News Media, the FBI and the DOJ report the Biden matter BEFORE the Election.” He then went on to claim he won the election anyway.

Trump himself faces an intensifying investigation from the Manhattan District Attorney’s office over his business dealings. The New York Times reports that, “State prosecutors in Manhattan have interviewed several employees of President Trump’s bank and insurance broker in recent weeks,