FOR MORE THAN FIVE YEARS, the legal campaign against Donald Trump has followed a boom-and-bust cycle. First, some shocking information is reported or a significant development occurs in the various investigations of Trump. Second, national media outlets, assisted by the anti-Trump legal commentariat, explain how Trump might be criminally prosecuted. Then in the end, for some reason or another, Trump remains a free man, the threat he poses to the Republic more potent than ever.
Depending on your disposition, the news on August 8 that the Justice Department had searched Trump's home at Mara-Lago-as part of a criminal investigation into the unlawful retention and destruction of sensitive government documents means either that we are at the start of another of these cycles or that we may finally break free of them. According to the Justice Department, the inquiry "is in its early stages," but many observers began speculating almost immediately about the likelihood of charges being filed against Trump with one former prosecutor quickly concluding that a potential DOJ case against the former president "looks quite strong" and another arguing that "a documents charge, as presidential accusations go, would be relatively easy to prove." A similar flurry of suppositions followed the August 26 release of the affidavit supporting the search warrant, even though the document didn't provide much new insight.
This story is from the August 29, 2022 edition of New York magazine.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the August 29, 2022 edition of New York magazine.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
Enchanting and Exhausting
Wicked makes a charming but bloated film.
Nicole Kidman Lets Loose
She's having a grand old time playing wealthy matriarchs on the verge of blowing their lives up.
How Mike Myers Makes His Own Reality
Directing him in Austin Powers taught me what it means to be really, truly funny.
The Art of Surrender
Four decades into his career, Willem Dafoe is more curious about his craft than ever.
The Big Macher Restaurant Is Back
ON A WARM NIGHT in October, a red carpet ran down a length of East 26th Street.
Showing Its Age
Borgo displays a confidence that can he only from experience.
Keeping It Simple on Lower Fifth
Jack Ceglic and Manuel Fernandez-Casteleiro's apartment is full of stories but not distractions.
REASON TO LOVE NEW YORK
THERE'S NOT MUCH in New York that has staying power. Every other day, a new scandal outscandals whatever we were just scandalized by; every few years, a hotter, scarier downtown set emerges; the yoga studio up the block from your apartment that used to be a coffee shop has now become a hybrid drug front and yarn store.
Disunion: Ingrid Rojas Contreras
A Rift in the Family My in-laws gave me a book by a eugenicist. Our relationship is over.
Gwen Whiting
Two years after a mass recall and a bacterial outbreak, the founder of the Laundress is on cleanup duty.