Trump indictment covers only a tiny part of a big lie

This is Bloomberg Opinion Today, a mugshot of Bloomberg Opinion’s opinions. Sign up here. Trump’s arraignment. Generic drug recalls. Not-so- Bloomberg This is Bloomberg Opinion Today, a mugshot of Bloomberg Opinion’s opinions. [Sign up here](. Today’s Agenda - Trump’s [arraignment](. - Generic drug [recalls](. - Not-so-grand [auto theft](. - Hand soap [M&A](. Trump v. Barbie It feels very appropriate that Donald Trump, a man who Tim O’Brien [says]( is “addicted to public attention and praise,” got [one-upped]( by [a fictional doll]( on the day he pled not guilty to [34 felony]( counts. As the former president entered the courtroom, the Barbie movie was [trending far higher]( than he was on Twitter. One tweeter went so far to say that “[the nation is healing](.” Bravo, [Greta Gerwig](: Although details within the now-unsealed indictment — which you can read [here]( — will take time to dissect, this excerpt gets to the core of it: “The Defendant orchestrated a scheme with others to influence the 2016 presidential election by identifying and purchasing negative information about him to suppress its publication and benefit the Defendant’s electoral prospects.” Noah Feldman says that while the charges are “historic and unprecedented,” [the timing and nature of them are far from ideal](. “I​​t would have been far better for the stability of our democracy if Trump had first been charged with crimes connected to his attempts to subvert that democracy by pressuring Georgia election officials to find more votes, not to mention interfering with the transfer of power on and around Jan. 6, 2021,” he argues. Trump’s spotlight addiction only muddles things more. Minutes before he began his plea, his campaign fired off an email with the subject line: “NEW ITEM: MUGSHOT,” the contents of which contained [a “NOT GUILTY” T-shirt]( with a fake mugshot of the ex-president. It’s FREE — with [a $47 donation](, of course. “To a certain extent, Trump’s ability to rely on attorney-client privilege and a long-standing disregard for legal and civic norms is being shredded. His response to the unfamiliar and perilous world in which he finds himself will be incendiary and violent,” Tim [writes](. The ugly merch is just a taste of the profiteering to come: To illustrate [Trump’s obsession with peddling lies](, Tim recently took a trip to Berlin to visit fellow Bloomberg Opinion columnist Andreas Kluth. The two went on a walking tour of the city and recorded their conversation for the latest episode of Tim’s podcast, “[Crash Course](.” Although comparisons between the current political landscape and Nazi Germany are oftentimes “facile” — their word, not mine — history can be a useful tool when trying to figure out the direction of the present. Consider “The Big Lie.” In the early 1920s, Adolf Hitler went to prison and wrote “Mein Kampf.” In it, he coined that term, which Andreas explains: “If you tell a lie so big, so colossal, normal people can’t imagine that it’s possible you’re lying.” The principle is the same 100 years later — a man using a Big Lie to convince [large swaths of voters]( that the 2020 election was rigged. Bonus Trump Reading: - For more updates, read [Bloomberg’s live blog]( about Trump’s indictment. - Republicans might regret [attacking]( Trump’s indictment. — Jonathan Bernstein Bad Drugs Getting your eyeballs surgically removed sounds like one of the most unpleasant medical procedures of all time. And yet [four unlucky Americans]( had to do just that after using Indian-made eye drops that contained drug-resistant bacteria. Can you imagine!? One minute, you’re curing your chronic dry eyes, and the next minute, everything becomes blurry and your doctor tells you there’s a nonzero chance that you could die — which is what happened to [three even unluckier Americans](. “For a nation that seeks to claim the mantle of ‘pharmacy to the world,’ [India is scandalously short on regulatory oversight](,” Ruth Pollard writes, noting that “a national law on drug recalls has been under discussion since 1976 without resolution.” The danger is global: India supplies 20% of the world’s generic drugs, manufactures 60% of all vaccines and is home to the largest number of FDA-compliant medical plants outside of the US. Bungled eye drops are just one of the many terrifying mishaps caused by India’s troubled pharmaceutical industry. “In the last six months alone, [India’s] generic cough syrups have killed dozens of children,” Ruth writes, adding that the medicine was laced with industrial solvents and antifreeze agents. Kids are not cars!!! They do not need chemical coolants! [Read the whole thing](. Stop the Steal Is it just me, or are modern-day car thieves pretty bad at stealing things? A few years back, someone broke into my truck window and decided to snag a referee jersey and a whistle — everything else was left untouched. The other day, a TikToker [documented]( how her car robber opted to grab a copy of Donna Tartt’s The Goldfinch instead of a purse full of cash. My dude, you could have literally just signed up for a library card. Chris Bryant says [there are more people stealing cars than ever before](. But — and this is a wild theory — maybe some of those people just [aren’t cut out to be felons](? Unfortunately, the uptick in auto theft — however poorly executed — comes at a time when inflation and used car prices are already through the roof. A few years ago, a pre-owned Ford Expedition or Subaru Forester — traditionally depreciating assets — was no big deal to insure. Now, however: If you’re trying to insure a new car, the figures get even more astronomical. “Customers who drive [Range Rovers]( and other vehicles prized by thieves, may struggle to get coverage at all,” Chris writes. Insurers are playing a game of catch-up after experiencing a flood of losses last year, thanks to the unexpected vitality of the car market. Jake from State Farm took the biggest L with an underwriting loss of [$13.4 billion](. It turns out insurers are the ones being robbed the most. Read [the whole thing]( … and get a library card, while you’re at it. Telltale Charts Expensive hand soap [girlies]( are a particular breed of human: They’re willing to pay anywhere from $40 to $70 to make their hands smell good. They take mental notes of fancy soap labels in dimly lit [restaurant]( [bathrooms](. They decry the practice of re-filling [empty]( Aesop bottles — also known as “[the Aeswap](”— with Palmolive. And they can name every top, mid and base note of [Byredo’s Vetyver]( in their sleep. I explain all of this because maybe upon first glance of seeing the news of L'Oreal [purchasing]( vegan Australian cosmetics brand Aesop for $2.5 billion, you might have thought: So what? But now you know just how deep the soap cult runs. Andrea Felsted says [the partnership is an incredibly smart way to appeal to Millennials and Gen Zers](. Clean beauty is clearly a winning investment: The Age of Zoom gave birth to a new generation of “headset-and-keyboard-toting elites [who] were set to leave less digitally literate elders in the dust,” Lionel Laurent writes. But three years later, we’re [seeing a lot of those people getting shown the door]( — regardless of whether they routinely mute their mic on video calls. The need to work from home during the pandemic created a short-term burst of technological innovation, but that digital rush is all but dead. That’s why we’re seeing white-collar jobs get the axe more than blue-collar ones: Further Reading America’s [latest banking crisis]( puts regulators in the spotlight. — Bloomberg’s editorial board Yeezy was never going to save Gap. [Here’s what can](. — Leticia Miranda [Latin American currencies]( are holding up against the dollar. — Eduardo Porter Is [commercial office space]( truly worth as little as REITs imply? — Jonathan Levin The GOP’s [aversion to Medicare]( funding is political kryptonite. — Karl Smith “America First” ends up putting [American farmers]( last. — Adam Minter ICYMI [Finland]( joined NATO. Jamie Dimon sends [a warning](. [The layoffs]( you don’t hear about. Kickers Passover [pet food](. Sandwich [friends](. [Drinking]( myths. Notes:  Please send fancy soap and feedback to Jessica Karl at jkarl9@bloomberg.net. [Sign up here]( and follow us on [Instagram](, [TikTok](, [Twitter]( and [Facebook](. 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