Republican counsel Steve Castor came to Wednesday's impeachment hearing with a curious line of questioning: could something extremely unusual have, theoretically, been even more unusual?

Castor, the lawyer who questioned diplomat William Taylor on behalf of House Republicans during the public impeachment hearing, asked about what Taylor had previously described as a "confusing and unusual arrangement for making U.S. policy toward Ukraine" in the Trump administration, with there being a secondary, "highly irregular" channel including Rudy Giuliani operating outside of formal diplomatic processes.

But Castor's apparent defense of this irregular channel is that it could have, in theory, been more irregular.

"In fairness, this irregular channel of diplomacy, it's not as outlandish as it could be," Castor said to Taylor. "Is that correct?"

Taylor laughed at this question while agreeing that, well, sure, it "could be" more outlandish. But the line of questioning didn't go quite as Castor likely planned. After Castor tried to get Taylor to say that U.S. Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland's involvement in the secondary channel also was "certainly not outlandish," Taylor didn't exactly agree, responding that it's "a little unusual for the U.S. ambassador to the EU to play a role in Ukraine policy."

"Okay," Castor said, making one more attempt by asking, "It might be irregular, but it's certainly not outlandish." This time, a seemingly baffled but amused Taylor just smiled. Brendan Morrow

The organizer of a swingers convention that is linked to at least 41 cases of coronavirus says if he could "go back in time, I would not produce this event again."

The "Naughty in N'awlins" convention was held in mid-November. Roughly 250 people attended the event, down from about 2,000 people in 2019, NOLA.com reports. Organizer Bob Hannaford said people had to test for COVID-19 before arriving, and half of them reported having antibodies; attendees were then given color-coded wristbands depending on their status.

Hannaford said participants were told to social distance and keep contact diaries, and several have shared with him that they became complacent on the last day of the event and that's "probably why they ended up positive."

One of the participants is now hospitalized with the virus and in serious condition, and Hannaford said that he wouldn't have organized the event "if I knew then what I know now. It weights on me and it will continue to weigh on me until everyone is 100 percent better." The pandemic has been raging in the United States since March, and cases were on the rise in Louisiana when the convention was held. Catherine Garcia

Ivanka Trump, President Trump's eldest daughter and one of his senior advisers, was deposed on Tuesday as part of a civil lawsuit alleging the misuse of inaugural funds, court documents show.

The District of Columbia attorney general's office sued the Trump Organization and Presidential Inaugural Committee in January, claiming that they misused more than $1 million by "grossly overpaying" for event space in the Trump International Hotel in Washington. The suit alleges that in one case, a nonprofit corporation called the 58th Presidential Inaugural Committee, in coordination with the Trump family, paid more than $300,000 to hold a private reception at the hotel for Ivanka Trump and her brothers, Donald Jr. and Eric, on Jan. 20, 2017.

"District law requires nonprofits to use their funds for their stated public purpose, not to benefit private individuals or companies," District of Columbia Attorney General Karl Racine said earlier this year.

Court filings show that Tom Barrack, the chairman of Trump's inaugural committee, was deposed on Nov. 17. The lawsuit alleges that during inaugural planning, Barrack "personally managed" discussions with the hotel about the event spaces used. Catherine Garcia

Former President Barack Obama is willing to set an example when it comes to getting a COVID-19 vaccine.

During an interview with SiriusXM Urban View host Joe Madison set to air on Thursday, Obama said if Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's top infectious disease expert, says a vaccine is safe and can "immunize you from getting Covid, absolutely, I'm going to take it." Obama said he trusts Fauci "completely," and he may get the vaccine "on TV or [have] it filmed, just so that people know that I trust this science, and what I don't trust is getting Covid."

Obama told Madison he understands, due to historical events like the Tuskegee Study, "why the African American community would have some skepticism. But the fact of the matter is, vaccines are why we don't have polio anymore, the reason why we don't have a whole bunch of kids dying from measles and smallpox and diseases that used to decimate entire populations and communities." Catherine Garcia

On Wednesday, the United States broke two coronavirus records: for the first time, more than 200,000 new cases were reported in a day and more than 100,000 COVID-19 patients are hospitalized across the country.

The number of hospitalized patients is nearly double from the spring, during the pandemic's deadly first wave of infections. Philip Landrigan, the director of a global public health program at Boston College, told The New York Times that "any thinking person has to be worried. That we have so many hospitalizations speaks to the fact that we have done a very poor job of controlling this pandemic. It is spreading very rapidly, and in many places, it is basically spreading out of control."

At least 272,000 Americans have died of the coronavirus, with more than 2,700 deaths reported on Wednesday. The single-day fatality record is 2,967, set in mid-April.

On Wednesday morning, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Robert Redfield warned that the next three months "are going to be rough times. I actually believe they're going to be the most difficult time in the public health history of this nation, largely because of the stress that it's going to put on our health care system."

He estimated by February, the United States could be "close to 450,000" COVID-19 deaths, but he wants Americans to remember that "we're not defenseless," and everyone must do their part by wearing masks and practicing social distancing, measures that are proven to work. Catherine Garcia

Following the assassination last week of its top nuclear scientist, Iran on Wednesday imposed a law ordering the country's Atomic Energy Agency to immediately increase its enrichment of uranium.

Under the measure, the uranium will be enriched to 20 percent purity, a level that would give Iran the chance to convert its entire stockpile to bomb-grade levels within six months, The New York Times reports. Further, the law calls for the expulsion of international nuclear inspectors if U.S. oil and banking sanctions against Iran are not lifted by early February.

The law appears to be set up in a way to get President-elect Joe Biden to re-enter the nuclear deal with Iran that President Trump abandoned, the Times notes. It was ratified on Wednesday by Iran's Guardian Council, but President Hassan Rouhani said the government "does not agree with this legislation and considers it damaging for diplomacy."

Iran's top nuclear scientist, Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, was killed on Friday, and while several global intelligence officials have pinned his assassination on Israel, the Israeli government has not taken responsibility. Iran has vowed to retaliate. Catherine Garcia

Several Republican lawmakers are showing enthusiasm for a potential 2024 run from President Trump, Politico reports.

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) went so far as to say he would support Trump's candidacy if he chooses to run, while Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) said he "should run and would have the support" of the Republican Party.

Sens. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) and Rick Scott (R-Fla.), both of whom have had their names floated as potential presidential candidates, also indicated to Politico that they'd back Trump's effort to return to the White House, as did Sens. Steve Daines (R-Mont.) and Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), who said the U.S. "would benefit tremendously" from another Trump term. Blackburn, though, is still holding out hope Trump will win his doomed battle to overturn the 2020 results.

Not everyone was overtly enthusiastic, however, including some of Trump's notable allies like Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), who declined to comment. Cotton is another senator many speculate could launch his own bid, so he may be keeping things close to the vest. Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wisc.), meanwhile, said he doesn't talk about hypotheticals, a point echoed by Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine), John Cornyn (R-Texas), and Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa).

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) may have been the hardest to read. He repeated his opinion that Trump would be the clear favorite if he ran, but didn't hint one way or another how he'd feel about it. "I know it's an interesting story, but I have no idea," he told Politico. Tim O'Donnell