Friends, I’m sure most of you have probably already heard the biggest story of this cycle by now – but we can go through all of it again anyway. Have a little schadenfreude, as a treat.
Standard standing reminders still apply: I may be starting my eighth year of journalism, but I summarize news within my areas of expertise. NNR summaries often contain some detailed analysis that’s outside my expertise–I’m a lawyer, not a criminal trial!–but all offroad adventures are marked with an asterisk. And, of course, for the things that are within my lane, I’m offering context that shouldn’t be considered legal advice. Okay, I think that’s about it for the disclaimers. Onward to the news!
Cleanup in Aisle 45:
We do have both Trump Court Cases and Trump’s Horrifying Stumping stories in the Election Et Cetera column this cycle, though of course his conviction looms the largest. Here’s what has happened since last time:
- All 34 Counts. Trump was already having something of an eventful cycle by the time last Thursday rolled around, between his pet judge refusing to issue a gag order in the Florida case and getting booed out of a libertarian convention. But things took a sharp turn on Thursday, when the New York criminal trial ended with the jury finding him guilty on all 34 counts of falsifying records. Trump celebrated being the first convicted former President in U.S. history by holding some impressively disturbing press conferences and then fundraising off of the verdict. (Though in fairness to the cheeto, the Biden administration did stage a press conference at the courthouse, so his claims that Biden is behind the verdict are slightly less deranged than they might be otherwise.) The Internet, naturally, celebrated by having an entire field day. When the dust settles, Trump will almost certainly appeal, and when his sentence comes down, he’s also extremely unlikely to face jail time. That said, the sentence date is four days before the Republican National Convention, so have fun with that GOP.
In contrast, the Capitol Hill Dales stories were relatively minor. Here’s what I have for you:
- The Rest of the Capitol Hill News. Of course nothing feels quite as dramatic as the above, but things do continue onward on Capitol Hill. In the least stunning political announcement of 2024, Joe Manchin announced that he’s not a Democrat (but like, for really real from now on). Joe Biden continues to walk a fine line with the war in Gaza, proposing a ceasefire which has Israeli popular support after an airstrike on Rafah killed two dozen people last weekend. And in other Biden news, Hunter Biden’s gun trial will begin tomorrow, as a jury was empaneled today.
Your New Normal:
- My Wife Likes Flags. This cycle saw yet another Supreme Court ethics scandal, this time centering around Justice Alito flying not one, but two different insurrectionist flags on his properties over multiple years. Alito then refused to recuse himself from the Jan 6 cases currently before SCOTUS, responding to Democrats’ demands with an obnoxious letter that basically boiled down to “My wife likes flags, and anyway you can’t make me.” (Ethics experts had some good commentary on the letter; on X, a New York University Law professor rightfully describes said letter as “trolling us.”) Then Chief Justice Roberts, not to be outdone, refused to meet with Democrats about the very real ethics problems he has with several justices on his bench. Folks, I don’t think most outlets reporting on this are really capturing just how bad it is, so I want to take a few minutes to unpack it. Alito himself mentions in his letter that the standard here is whether impartiality might be reasonably questioned. This is because modern judicial conduct codes are designed to capture even activity that gives off an appearance of impropriety, whether or not impropriety is actually occurring. In other words, the point isn’t whether he has an opinion about insurrection (although yeah, he probably does support it), because it’s a problem if anyone even thinks he has an opinion about insurrection. And Alito is out here arguing that yeah, he was pulled over with an open handle of vodka sitting next to him in the cup holder, and yeah, he was captured on camera going 80 down the highway, but it was his wife’s cupholder, and she has the right to drink vodka while he goes 80 down the highway, so how dare anybody question his driving and he’s definitely not going to stop doing it.
The Bad:
- Bad Health Law Blues. This was a rough cycle for health law news. In a disturbing expansion of the forced birth playbook, this cycle Tennessee became the first state to create a right to sue adults who help minors receive gender-affirming care. Meanwhile, last cycle’s Louisiana bill to make abortifacients a scheduled substance with possession a criminal felony is somehow already signed into law, making it through the entire legislative process in two weeks. And in Texas, the Texas Supreme Court reversed a decision which clarified abortion law exemptions, saying that the law was clear enough on its face and, in effect, it’s not the law’s fault that the plaintiffs were denied abortions when they had life-threatening conditions.
The Good:
- Wu Tang World Premier. The world’s most expensive album — sold to Martin Shkreli in 2015 for $2M, seized by the U.S. government in his trial, and eventually sold off as an NFT for $4M — has been loaned out to the Museum of Old and New Art in Australia. The museum plans to play it for the public twice daily for nine straight days, from June 15 to 24. This will be the first time this album, called “Once Upon a Time in Shaolin,” has ever been played in public at all. It’s a fascinating development in what is a fascinating piece of musical history in its own right.
So that’s what I have for you, and let’s all be glad it’s not worse. For still reading these roundups, you deserve this doggo pool exit and a more functional government. I’ll be back next time with more restructured and improved news, and I hope you will be back as well–but in the meantime, feel free to ping the National News Roundup ask box, which is there for your constructive comments. Send me questions! Send me feedback! Send me more hours in the day!
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