It started at the top, late Thursday afternoon.

Reporters staking out the clerk’s office at the New York County Criminal Court building noticed an unusual commotion. After the media was steered out of the area, it became clear what was happening: charges were being filed against former president Donald Trump, a normally mundane action now loaded with historic significance.

The news broke soon after, followed by a tidal wave of emotion. Trump and his allies roared against the perceived injustice, an act they positioned as inextricably linked to politics and the left’s purportedly endless effort to hobble him. Those who vehemently dislike Trump were giddy. After any number of close escapes, here, it seemed, was the accountability that they’d been expecting for some eight years.

Whether that is the outcome remains to be determined. The charges filed in Manhattan, though, were unquestionably the most significant personal threat Trump has faced in recent memory, stemming (according to news reports) from his effort to keep an alleged extramarital affair out of the public eye. And while it should be presumed that he is innocent of the charges on which he’ll be arraigned next week, that the charges exist at all reflects a shift after years in which he repeatedly skated safely out of reach.

Sign up for How To Read This Chart, a weekly data newsletter from Philip Bump

But the indictment was just the start. Early Friday afternoon, it was Fox News’s turn.

Advertisement

The cable...

Read Full Story: https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMiW2h0dHBzOi8vd3d3Lndhc2hpbmd0b25wb3N0...