The Slatest for Aug. 15: Why Trump’s Georgia Indictment Stands Out Legally

Donald Trump can’t stop getting indicted. Late Monday night, Trump and 18 co-conspirators were charged in Fulton County, Georgia, for attempting to overturn the state’s 2020 election results.

This is the second indictment Trump faces for trying to subvert the election, and his fourth overall. Still, Richard L. Hasen argues that there are some important distinctions between Fulton County DA Fani Willis’ case and the Jan. 6 case, which special counsel Jack Smith will try in D.C.

Hasen argues that the most notable difference in the Georgia case is race—“from the race of the prosecutor, to the focus on Black election worker Ruby Freeman, to the essential nature of the race-baiting bogus voter-fraud charges in Georgia that formed Trump’s basis for falsely claiming that he was the rightful winner.”

Also: Former prosecutors Dennis Aftergut and Philip Allen Lacovara share an example of what Willis’ opening statement could look like, and how she might help the jury understand the RICO Act, which forms the basis of the indictment.

And Jim Newell explains why Trump doesn’t have an escape hatch in Georgia: “Even with a fully Republican-controlled state government, the prospect for pardons appears nearly impossible.”

Trump is not pleased with Judge Tanya Chutkan, who is presiding over his case in the Jan. 6 indictment. He is calling for Chutkan’s recusal for comments she made during the trial of another Jan. 6 defendant, arguing that they are proof the judge is unfairly biased against him. Dahlia Lithwick and Mark Joseph Stern break down why Trump’s play won’t work.

The Supreme Court holds a disproportionate amount of power over America’s laws. Is it time for Congress to take back control? Elie Mystal chats with University of Michigan law professor Leah Litman about how to rein in the rogue court.

Florida has gotten flak for all kinds of unsavory policies that Gov. Ron DeSantis has implemented, but one thing that he is not responsible for is the “rise” of leprosy in the state, Pam Fessler argues. That can’t be pinned on just one man.

Greta Gerwig’s Barbie raises plenty of philosophical and metaphysical questions about how Barbie World and our human world intersect. With a little help from a quantum physicist, Kat Rosenfield tumbles down the endless, electric-pink rabbit hole of contradictory logic and quantum theory at the movie’s core. This is what she found.

The Blind Side’s cringey white-savior complex may have been way darker than we knew. Michael Oher, the former NFL player whose story inspired the Oscar-nominated movie, alleges in a new lawsuit that his adoptive parents, Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy, never actually adopted him, but instead placed him in a conservatorship—with some troubling implications. Luke Winkie helps make sense of all the twists and turns.

Slate’s special advice series continues with some guest columnists tackling readers’ problems:

-Bestselling author Carley Fortune fills in for Prudie to advise a letter writer whose sibling has serious concerns about her upcoming wedding.

-Sexologist Carol Queen brings her expertise to How to Do It, weighing in on heavy petting, difficult positions, and an adventurous girlfriend.

And Slate’s own columnists swap places to try their hand at tackling a different column’s letters:

-Care and Feeding’s Doyin Richards answers questions about sex and relationships, such as how to handle things when you accidentally admit that sex was better with your ex.

-And Jessica Stoya of How to Do It gives parenting advice, like what to do when your in-laws are hellbent on a certain baby name.

… much like one of the steamy moments in Red, White, & Royal Blue. Amazon’s hit new movie is a romance between the U.S. president’s son and the prince of England. The film is being praised for its “radical” sex scenes, but are they really so groundbreaking? Nadira Goffe and J. Bryan Lowder give an honest review.

Thanks so much for reading! We’ll be back tomorrow.