TRUMP'S EXTORTION TACTICS have no place in a democracy. They belong to a protection racket. If you donate enough money to him, you may receive favorable treatment, including immunity from the law. If you oppose Trump, you may be prosecuted. It is how the Mafia works. (Atl.)

Cities & states that Trump sees as bastions of his political opposition are subject to occupation by masked federal agents. As soon as Mamdani won, many New Yorkers began bracing for Trump’s retaliation. (Atl.)

“It’s gonna be hard for me as the president to give a lot of money to New York, because if you have a Communist running New York, all you’re doing is wasting the money you’re sending there,” Trump told CBS’s 60 Minutes. (Atl.)

NUREMBERG: HOLDING THE VILLAINS ACCOUNTABLE. Historical fiction tends to reflect the moment of its creation as well as the period it depicts. “Nuremberg” is an achievement to fit an engaging history of international criminal justice & slippery post-war alliances. (Econ)

The trial of Nazi war criminals at Nuremberg, which began 80 years ago this month, might never have happened. There was little precedent for prosecuting members of a foreign government, no international court & no prior definition of “crimes against humanity”. (Econ)

After Adolf Hitler committed suicide in April 1945, heralding the end of war in Europe, Winston Churchill, Britain’s PM, considered shooting the surviving members of the Nazi high command. Other high-ranking German officers were to be imprisoned without trial. (Econ)

“Nuremberg”, a new film directed by James Vanderbilt, IS A TIMELY REMINDER OF THE STAKES OF HOLDING VILLAINY TO ACCOUNT. The accused had to be given a fair trial. Though the regime’s crimes were clear, the prosecutors had to establish certain proof of their personal guilt. (Econ)

Based on “The Nazi and the Psychiatrist”, a book by Jack El-Hai, published in 2013, the film explores the relationship between Hermann Göring, Hitler’s second-in-command & the most senior German officer to stand trial, & his psychiatrist, Douglas Kelley. (Econ)

Though Kelley assessed all the Nazis present, he became obsessed with Göring. He asks, “What if we could dissect evil?”—before gleaning information in private consultations with Göring about his defense strategy, then passing it on, somewhat reluctantly, to prosecutors. (Econ)

This sort of film could easily have portrayed everyone on one side as evil & the other as virtuous, but this one does well at depicting the nuanced motives of its American characters. (Econ)

Even as plans for the trial advanced, the alliances it relied on were breaking apart, as mistrust festered between the Soviets and Americans. Kelley himself is egotistical, manipulative and, crucially, allows himself to be manipulated by Göring. (Econ)

From the start, Kelley was thinking at least as much about his legacy as his professional duties, and was obviously driven by his ambition to be the “great scholar of the Nazis”. (Econ)

Those “20-odd broken men”, as Justice Robert Jackson referred to the accused in the trial’s opening statement, are similarly portrayed as humans, not devils. They weep. They sweat with fear. Faced with their fate, they flinch. (Econ)

Göring, a man of contradictions, committed ghastly atrocities while cherishing the love of his wife & young daughter. (Econ)

As the trial dawns & the legal system creaks into action, Kelley offers his own psychological verdict on one of history's great questions: “What sets them apart from us?” he asks. “Nothing.” (Econ)

Before 1945 few had heard of Auschwitz, Bergen-Belsen or other concentration camps. Though many people awaited news of family members in occupied Europe, the millions murdered had not yet been counted. (Econ)

The film shows footage from recently liberated concentration camps—images that most trial observers were seeing for the first time. (Econ)

Even 80 years later, with full knowledge of what happened, it remains agonizing to see starved, skeletal bodies, corpses stretching into the distance & ovens designed for murder. (Econ)

As the film closes, A TORMENTED KELLEY URGES EVERYONE TO PAY ATTENTION BECAUSE, EVEN IN AMERICA SUCH MONSTROUS ACTS COULD HAPPEN. SOURCE: The Economist

Me: "There are three years left in his term and he's only going to get worse. … If you think that this blue tsunami that occurred on Tuesday [means] there's going to be even a bigger tsunami in 2026, yeah, that's probably true. But if you take that for granted and you don't