“We Can’t Lower the Bar So Low”: Can the Senate Rein In a Scandal-Plagued Supreme Court?

BuzzFeed News Shutters • Fox News Steams Ahead • Justin Jones Speaks

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“We Can’t Lower the Bar So Low”: Can the Senate Rein In a Scandal-Plagued Supreme Court?

Good Saturday morning! With Clarence Thomas’s latest scandals only further undermining the integrity of the Supreme Court, Eric Lutz asks if the Senate can rein the justices in. “You’re not a court just because you wear black robes,” Senator Sheldon Whitehouse tells him. “You’re a court because you behave like a court.” Also this week, Abigail Tracy caught up with Justin Jones about his return to the Tennessee state House after being expelled for protesting for gun control, while Bess Levin followed up on a spate of shootings “over simple misunderstandings,” and how “Republicans could not give less of a fuck.”

After the most anticipated media defamation trial of our time ended abruptly on Tuesday, Brian Stelter wrote how Fox News, ever-focused on ratings, is poised to steam ahead despite the massive payout to Dominion (while he, Molly Jong-Fast and I discussed the network’s future on Inside the Hive.) Plus, Charlotte Klein and Joe Pompeo dove into the week’s other big media stunner: the shuttering of BuzzFeed News. Thanks for reading, and we’ll see you Monday.

—Michael Calderone, editor

“We Can’t Lower the Bar So Low”: Can the Senate Rein In a Scandal-Plagued Supreme Court?

Clarence Thomas’s friendship with billionaire Harlan Crow is just the latest stain on the high court, which top Democrats say is in dire need of an ethics overhaul. “You’re not a court just because you wear black robes,” Sheldon Whitehouse tells Vanity Fair. “You’re a court because you behave like a court.”

Fox News, Unapologetic and Unwavering, Steams Ahead After Staggering Dominion Settlement

Fox kept touting its ratings as the trial loomed, and now that it’s over, the cable giant is sure to remain focused on the bottom line. “This was always, always about the money,” says one Murdoch associate.

Americans Are Now Being Shot and Killed Over Simple Misunderstandings—And Republicans Could Not Give Less of a F–k

In the span of a week, Ralph Yarl was shot for ringing the wrong doorbell, Kaylin Gillis was killed for pulling into the wrong driveway, and two cheerleaders were shot over one of them getting into the wrong car.

BuzzFeed News Is Shutting Down: “I’m Shocked and Sad but Not Totally Surprised”

Jonah Peretti announced the end of BuzzFeed’s Pulitzer Prize–winning online news site, citing sluggish returns in the stock market and struggling advertising. The news comes alongside another round of company-wide layoffs at BuzzFeed.

“The Republicans Are Wounded”: Justin Jones, Back in the Tennessee State House, Reflects on His Expulsion and the Future of Democracy

Leaked audio reveals Tennessee Republicans in disarray after expelling Jones and Justin Pearson, two young Black legislators who called for gun control on the state House floor.