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This week, Representative George Santos, Republican of New York, was indicted on thirteen counts of alleged financial crimes, including wire fraud, money laundering, theft of public funds and materially false statements to the House of Representatives. The congressman then took a page out of former President Donald Trump’s playbook by calling the prosecution a “witch hunt.” Trump himself was found liable this week for defamation and sexual abuse, in a Manhattan civil trial brought by writer E. Jean Carroll; Trump was ordered to pay her five million dollars in damages. Amid these events, the relationship between billionaire Republican donor Harlan Crow and Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas continues to raise ethical concerns, following revelations about financial and real estate transactions involving the two men. Despite the scandals, Santos, Thomas and Trump maintain their respective positions of power as a lawmaker, justice and Republican leader in the 2024 presidential race. New Yorker staff writers Susan B. Glasser, Jane Mayer and Evan Osnos examine the changes in American political culture that allow leaders to survive scandals that would have ended previous careers, and whether shamelessness is the main driver of our politics.
