Recently in The Bulwark:
CHARLIE SYKES: INDICTED. AGAIN.
THURSDAY NIGHT BULWARK 🎧: Here it is. 🔓
SONNY BUNCH: ‘You Hurt My Feelings’ and ‘Master Gardener’ Reviews.
ATMA 🎧: How Cliffhangers Go Wrong (and Right!) 🔐
SECRET POD🎧: Indictment: Part Deux 🔐
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LAURENCE TRIBE AND DENNIS AFTERGUT: No One Above the Law: Trump Indicted on Federal Charges.
And now there are two.
With a federal grand jury’s indictment of Donald Trump for conspiring to obstruct justice, unlawfully taking and keeping top secret government documents, and willfully retaining national defense materials, the former president sets a sad historical marker unlikely ever to be matched. Already the only president to be impeached twice, Trump has now been indicted twice—including, now, by the nation he once led.
According to reporting tonight from the New York Times, as well as a statement from Trump himself, the former president has now been charged with crimes by two different grand juries in two different jurisdictions—one state and one federal—on two completely different sets of facts for two entirely different sets of crimes.
That’s happened before to those who live—as many think Trump has lived—on the wrong side of the law. But never before to someone who ascended to the pinnacle of American power and who aspires to that position again, followed by tens of millions of Americans eager to install him there by any means available, lawful or otherwise.
At long last, the republic strikes back.
🎥 PODCASTS AND VIDEOS 🎧
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SONNY BUNCH: Why Price Transparency (or the Lack Thereof) Is Killing Hollywood.
If you want to reach an understanding about the state of modern Hollywood, the New Yorker and New York magazines have two important pieces that will help you get there.
First up is Michael Schulman’s deep dive into the rise of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. There’s not a ton new here for folks who follow this stuff regularly—actors like Gwyneth Paltrow don’t even know what Marvel movies they’ve been in! Audiences have been conditioned to expect nothing but spectacle on the big screen!—but it’s useful to see it all laid out in a single place, at length, featuring interviews with folks involved in the making of these movies.
🚨OVERTIME🚨
Happy Indictment Friday! Now we have the indictment. It’s a clearcut doozy. Watch Jack Smith speak to the public about it earlier today here. And here’s what it was like inside the club when Trump was indicted. And.. remember this?
“MY BOXES”… A theory proven correct.
Partygate… Spells the end for Boris Johnson.
Buckle up… Are we going to have another Judge Cannon circus?
A tale of two takes… Through the night Trump sycophants, and even his opponents, were waving their arms crying foul before even the facts were known. (You didn’t think Ron DeSantis was a serious guy, did you?) Now that we have the indictment, and people have read it, some people, like Erick Erickson, get it. Here’s Erick, of whom I am often critical:
I’ve read the indictment, and I’m just smacking my head with how stupid this all is — not the indictment, but Trump’s antics as alleged in the indictment. This was all so avoidable.
And then here’s Hugh Hewitt, who, before he boarded the Trump train, thought that Trump’s lack of knowledge about America’s nuclear triad was disqualifying.
First read of indictment and my reaction is “That’s it? The conspiracy is with the aide who moved the boxes? No documents were sold or given to third parties not in his close employ?”
Taking top secret documents, showing them to people who aren’t allowed to see them, admitting they’re classified, and obstructing giving them back? “That’s it?” Yeah, Hugh, that’s it. Maybe Hugh is happy Trump now cares about the nuclear triad so much he’d break the law to keep that written knowledge about it close. Even Jonathan Turley(!) gets it.
No, Nikki Haley… This is exactly how Justice should be pursued.
Remember when Pelosi tore up Trump’s speech? The right lost their minds! This is how much Trump respects our state secrets and the lives of the people who protect it. He kept them in a shitter.
Sportswashing atrocities… From Hitler to the Saudis.
Pour one out… For Crypto.com, which is shutting down.
Bears, oh my! A black bear made its way into NE D.C.
Could you hike from Dulles to D.C.? Yes? But why would you want to?
So. Many. Dogs. Over 100 of you showed up with pics of your pets, and congrats to Laurie Gilberg and her 8 week old Bouvier Des Flanders pup, Oscar for winning a free month of Bulwark+. Look at all of the good pets here.
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