THE SWEARING-IN of William Barr as Attorney General by Chief Justice John Roberts in 2019. President Donald Trump is at left (Wikipedia/Dept. of Justice).

Attorney General William Barr declared in an interview published Tuesday that there was no widespread voter fraud in the Nov. 3 election, contradicting claims made by President Donald Trump.

According to the Associated Press, Barr made his comments during an interview with the news service. He told the AP that the federal Department of Justice had investigated complaints about the integrity of the election, but “to date, we have not seen fraud on a scale that could have effected a different outcome in the election.”

Barr’s comments were considered to be especially significant because before the election, he raised concerns about the security of mail-in voting.

The Democratic presidential nominee, former vice president Joe Biden, has been acknowledged as the winner of the election by all major news organizations and the federal General Services Administration. He garnered 306 Electoral College votes to 232 for Trump. A majority – 270 is needed – to win. In the popular vote, Biden has polled 80,948,004 votes (51.3 percent) to 74,080,122 votes (47 percent) for Trump, a margin of nearly seven million votes.

Despite that, the Trump campaign has filed almost three dozen lawsuits alleging fraud or error, nearly all of which were rejected or withdrawn.

News: Who May Get the Vaccine First

• A federal panel on the coronavirus is recommending that the first people to receive a coronavirus vaccine be health care workers and residents of nursing homes.
• Wall Street started the new month with vigor, bouncing back from a rocky Monday with good progress on Tuesday. The Dow Jones Average rose by 185.28 to creep closer to an historic high of 30,000. The S&P 500 rose by 40.82 points and Nasdaq leaped by 156.37 points.
• The performer formerly known as Ellen Page announced in a tweet to fans on Tuesday about a new status as a transgendered man to be known as Elliot Page. Page is best known for roles in the movie “Juno” and the TV series “The Umbrella Academy.” Page married Emma Portner in January 2018, according to United Press International.

Weather: It’s Going to Be A Bit Windy

In the West Orange County area, it’ll be calm, clear and sunny through Wednesday’s daylight hours, but winds will begin to gust by Wednesday evening. High winds up to 20 miles an hour are predicted by the National Weather Service through Thursday night and perhaps into Friday. Daytime highs should be in the mid-70s with overnight lows in the high 40s. As for coastal areas, highs will be in the 60s during the day and high 40s at night.

Sports: Ready for some hump-day football?

The Pittsburgh Steelers remain atop ESPN’s NFL Power Football Rankings today. The squad (10-0) is the only unbeaten team in the league, but will face a bit of a break in routine when it plays an unprecedented Wednesday night game – due to covid, what else? – against the Baltimore Ravens (6-4). If anyone has the juice to upset the Steelers it might be Baltimore’s elusive QB Lamar Jackson, who’s accounted for 21 TDs so far.

Next in the Top Five part of the rankings are the Kansas City Chiefs (10-1), the New Orleans Saints (9-2), Green Bay Packers (8-3) and Buffalo Bills (8-3). The Los Angeles Rams (7-4) are ranked 10th and the Los Angeles Chargers (3-8) are 24th of 32 teams.