My Career Has Seen Many Powerful Men Get Caught in Sex Scandals. Donald Trump Knows He’s Vulnerable

Thomas Defends Yacht • Stormy Weather Over Trump • Full Authoritarianism

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My Career Has Seen Many Powerful Men Get Caught in Sex Scandals. Donald Trump Knows He’s Vulnerable

It was surreal to watch Donald Trump get arraigned this week on 34 felony counts stemming from hush-money payments made to adult-film star Stormy Daniels, particularly as the culmination of a saga that first came to light in 2018. Jennifer Palmieri who worked for Bill Clinton and John Edwards, reflected on Trump’s indictment and all the fretting around the strength of Alvin Bragg’s case, in light of her long career marked by powerful men getting in legal trouble over sex scandals. Donald Trump knows he’s vulnerable, Palmieri writes, and by function of this case going to a jury, justice is being served.

Our team was also all over a lot of big, non-Trump-getting-arrested news happening this week. Bess Levin captured Clarence Thomas’s defense of getting wined, dined, and toured around on a superyacht by a billionaire GOP donor: He apparently thought that was allowed. Levin also called out Tennessee Republicans for moving toward “full authoritarianism” after they ousted two Black state lawmakers who peacefully protested gun violence. Caleb Ecarma checked in on Republicans’ headline-grabbing youth movement, which, despite the buzz, still isn’t mobilizing voters. And Eric Lutz highlighted the historic election in Wisconsin, which gave liberals control of the state supreme court as the state faces an antidemocratic and antiabortion onslaught from the right. Thanks for reading!

—Tara Golshan, senior editor

My Career Has Seen Many Powerful Men Get Caught in Sex Scandals. Donald Trump Knows He’s Vulnerable

I worked for Bill Clinton, and then for John Edwards. It’s important we let juries decide the merits of cases.

Clarence Thomas Says He Was Told It Was Totally Cool to Secretly Accept Free Trips and Yacht Rides From Billionaire GOP Donor

The Supreme Court justice, who is also married to a big-name conservative activist, says he’ll try to be more transparent about the lavish gifts in the future—but no promises.

The Winners and Losers in Trump’s Stormy-Weather Week

New York may have seemed sedate during his arraignment, but elsewhere in Trump’s America, the MAGA faithful are as committed as ever.

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Elon Musk Is Really Not Helping His Cause of Bringing Advertisers Back to Twitter

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