Donald Trump Pleaded Not Guilty

Advertisement

Newsletter

Also, a book’s yearlong run on the best-seller list. Here’s the latest at the end of Thursday.

By Matthew Cullen

At a federal courthouse in Washington, just steps away from the site of the Jan. 6 riot, Donald Trump was arraigned today on federal charges accusing him of plotting to overturn the 2020 election.

It was the third time in four months that he has been booked, fingerprinted and informed of criminal charges against him by a judge. And like the last two times, Trump pleaded not guilty to all charges.

The scene at the courthouse was tumultuous yet tightly controlled. Security was heavy around the building as Trump supporters and detractors cheered outside. Trump flew in this afternoon from his golf club in Bedminster, N.J., for the court appearance that lasted roughly 30 minutes.

Trump’s multiple indictments will present a logistical challenge. “It cannot be stressed enough how much of Trump’s time in the next 15 months could be spent being required, as a criminal defendant, to be present in courtrooms in Miami, Washington, New York and possibly Georgia,” my colleague Maggie Haberman said.

Trump’s defense, led in part by his new lawyer John Lauro, is preparing to argue that the former president was exercising his First Amendment right to free speech. But perhaps as important, he has made clear that he plans to outrun prosecution by retaking the White House in the 2024 election. If history is a guide, this arraignment could help him raise money for that campaign.

You might be wondering: What happens to the Trump campaign if he is convicted?

The influential American Academy of Pediatrics renewed its support today for gender-affirming care for children, which is banned in 19 states. At the same time, the doctors took the extra step of commissioning a review of research on the treatments.

The review followed years of calls for a closer look at the evidence, particularly as the number of adolescents who identify as transgender has increased. When similar efforts were undertaken in England and Sweden, health officials reported uncertain evidence for the treatments’ effectiveness in adolescents, and access was limited.

Throughout last year, and even in recent months, Federal Reserve officials warned that the U.S. economy needed to cool down in order to tame inflation. The mantra in economic circles became “good news is bad news” — the longer the economy remained on a hot streak, the harder it would be to return to normal.

But instead of interpreting recent reports of G.D.P. growth and a consistently strong labor market as signs of overheating, economists are increasingly seeing them as evidence that America’s economy is resilient.

In related news, the White House defended President Biden after a rating agency downgraded its credit rating of U.S. debt.

During the dark days of the pandemic, many New Yorkers found a rare bright spot in the surge of outdoor dining options. Today, the City Council approved a bill that would allow restaurants to continue seating customers at the now-familiar roadway tables.

But the new licensing rules would force restaurants to remove their street-based structures for four months over the winter, which could run up costs for owners. The measure will likely reduce outdoor dining.

Texas: The body of a person who drowned in the Rio Grande was found in the floating barrier of buoys the state installed to deter migrant crossings.

Espionage: Two Navy sailors in Southern California were accused of providing military secrets and sensitive information to Chinese intelligence officers.

Climate: Earth’s oceans are the hottest they have been in modern history, by an unusually wide margin.

New York: A vast majority of the city’s homeless population has a place to sleep, but a flood of migrants is testing the right to shelter.

Politics: As Dianne Feinstein, 90, struggles to function in the Senate, she is also navigating a fight over a family fortune.

Science: Historical DNA was used to link 42,000 living relatives to enslaved African Americans buried in Maryland.

International: The Colombian government entered into a truce with the country’s largest remaining insurgent group after decades of combat.

Sports: For the first time, Germany was eliminated in the group stage of the Women’s World Cup.

When Jennette McCurdy decided to title her memoir “I’m Glad My Mom Died,” several publishers declined to read past the cover page. It was too provocative of a title for her grandmother as well. But readers weren’t turned away: She has made the best-seller list every single week since the book was released a year ago.

With success came change. Once known for her starring role in the Nickelodeon show “iCarly,” she now lists “writer” as her occupation on forms at the doctor's office. “Not one person has approached me for being an actor from the TV show they watched when they were little,” McCurdy said.

For more: Check out this week’s best sellers.

Nearly two decades ago, Seniesa Estrada set out to become a world-champion boxer and capture the spotlight in a way no one else had in a male-dominated sport. Estrada is now 31 and her dreams have come true: She has fought in 25 professional bouts and won all of them, including a defense of her world title last week.

Our sports columnist Kurt Streeter chronicled her rise. Yet when he watched her fight on Friday, Kurt felt uneasy with each punch, knowing that such blows can lead to brain disease. He asked Estrada about the perils of her sport and questioned his own attraction to it.

Dance craze: Garrett Lee posted his floppy, hypnotic Pinegrove Shuffle on TikTok in June. It’s still going strong.

A dislike of doctors: A reader wrote to explain that she would refuse to take care of her husband if he becomes ill from refusing preventive medicine. Is she a terrible person?

Treat work as work: Experts say changes brought to the working world during the pandemic might be encouraging people to rethink what passion for a job really means.

Cook: Peaches are caramelized with sugar in a skillet to make this upside-down peach cobbler.

Rediscover: Jell-O shots are back, but these upscale versions use rare bourbon or Campari.

Watch: The director of the latest “Mission: Impossible” dissects a key chase scene.

Read: “What an Owl Knows” is among the nine new books we recommend this week.

Listen: On “Popcast,” our music reporters talk about their favorite albums of the year so far.

Heal: Some people get multiday hangovers. Experts have advice for limiting the pain.

Try: Switch up your exercise routine by doing a swim workout in a lake or ocean.

Hunt: Which Manhattan apartment would you buy with an $800,000 budget?

Play: Here are today’s Spelling Bee, Wordle and Mini Crossword.

There are two different ways to play Scrabble. There’s the one I’ve played: the fun family game where having a knack for words can help you one-up your sister. For elite players, it’s “foremost a spatial strategy game,” where all that matters is who racks up the most points.

When my colleague Isaac Aronow took a deep dive into the world of elite Scrabble, he found that knowledge of words hardly mattered. The best players are experts at using two-letter words (which are hardly ever used in day-to-day life), and they focus far more on where they are playing words than on what words they are playing.

Isaac quickly improved, and now he has tips to help you out-Scrabble your friends.

Have a winning evening.

Thanks for reading. I’ll be away for a week starting tomorrow. My colleagues Jonathan Wolfe and Justin Porter will write the newsletter during that time. — Matthew

Sign up here to get this newsletter in your inbox.

We welcome your feedback. Write to us at [email protected].

Advertisement