Opinion: The law is coming, President Trump

Also: Does Capitol Hill even understand how Facebook works? View in [Browser]( | Add nytdirect@nytimes.com to your address book. [The New York Times]( [The New York Times]( Wednesday, April 11, 2018 [NYTimes.com/Opinion »]( [David Leonhardt] David Leonhardt Op-Ed Columnist There are a good number of lawyers who don’t love their jobs. Sure, the pay is often good. But the hours can be long and the work narrow, leaving many people without much sense of a mission. The lawyers who work for the Department of Justice, however, tend to feel quite differently about their work. I’ve known and interviewed many over the years, and they have some of the highest job satisfaction of any group of people I can think of. “You get to do good for a living, and in the name of your country,” as James Comey said in a 2005 speech to Justice Department employees (the same speech I highlighted [in my column earlier this week](. “If that doesn’t motivate you to work hard, nothing will.” To many Justice Department lawyers, doing good means pursuing equality under the law. They see themselves as representing some of the highest American ideals: Every citizen deserves the protection of the law, and no citizen is above the law. Donald Trump does not share the view that the United States has a fundamental set of rules that apply alike to rich and poor, powerful and powerless. “Trump isn’t someone who played close to the line a time or two, or once did a shady deal. He may well be the single most corrupt major business figure in the United States of America,” The Washington Post’s Paul Waldman [wrote yesterday](. Waldman then listed Trump’s scams: Trump University, bankrupt casinos, illegal labor, stiffed vendors and on and on and on. He has often figured out how to stop shy of outright illegality or, in other cases, to violate the law in ways that bring only minor sanctions. He has rarely faced big consequences for his misbehavior. But Trump now finds himself in a very different situation. The scale of the misbehavior by him and his associates appears to be large. It occurred on perhaps the biggest national stage of all, in a presidential campaign. And dozens of talented, committed Justice Department officials have the assignment of figuring out what he actually did. Thank goodness for them and for the work they are doing. “Mr. Trump has spent his career in the company of developers and celebrities, and also of grifters, cons, sharks, goons and crooks,” [The Times editorial board writes](. “He cuts corners, he lies, he cheats, he brags about it, and for the most part, he’s gotten away with it, protected by threats of litigation, hush money and his own bravado.” But, as the headline of that piece bluntly puts it: “The law is coming, Mr. Trump.” Facebook hearings. Mark Zuckerberg’s first day of Capitol Hill testimony revealed something troubling: Many lawmakers don’t understand how Facebook works. Zuckerberg [repeatedly]( had to clarify basic aspects of the company, and some questions simply didn’t make sense. The Times’s Farhad Manjoo [argues]( that lawmakers’ ignorance of Facebook’s technology and business model is one reason why they have failed to police it adequately. Recode’s Kara Swisher [tweeted]( that if the goal were keeping big tech in check, “these were profoundly useless questions by the senators.” There may have been one upside to the clueless questions, though: They performed a public service, [Issie Lapowsky]( writes in Wired]( by “getting Zuckerberg to clearly articulate how Facebook works, and why it works that way.” For more on the hearing, you can read [Alexis Madrigal’s summary]( for The Atlantic. The full Opinion report from The Times follows. Editorial [The Law Is Coming, Mr. Trump]( By THE EDITORIAL BOARD Donald Trump has spent his whole career in the company of grifters, cons and crooks. Now that he’s president, that strategy isn’t working — for him or for the country. Op-Ed Columnist [Why Not Mike Pence?]( By ROSS DOUTHAT Shouldn’t religious conservatives be rooting for impeachment? Op-Ed Columnist [Trump Seethes, and the Rest of Us Should Tremble]( By FRANK BRUNI The president’s sense of persecution reaches dangerous heights after a raid on his lawyer’s office. Op-Ed Contributor [It’s Mueller, Not Trump, Who Is Draining the Swamp]( By QUINTA JURECIC The special counsel, avatar of justice, is revealing the depth of white-collar corruption before our eyes. Op-Ed Contributor [Why the F.B.I. Raid Is Perilous for Michael Cohen — and Trump]( By KEN WHITE If a client is using an attorney’s services for the purpose of engaging in crime or fraud, there is no privilege. LIKE THIS EMAIL? Forward it to your friends, and let them know they can sign up [here](. ADVERTISEMENT Op-Ed Contributor [Walter Mondale: The Civil Rights Law We Ignored]( By WALTER F. MONDALE The Fair Housing Act of 1968 provided powerful tools for ending segregation. We just have to use them. Op-Ed Contributor [Trump Needs to Be More Trumpian in Syria]( By MICHAEL DORAN In announcing an imminent withdrawal, the president violated his own principles. IN CASE YOU MISSED IT [Bashar al-Assad Knows What He Can Get Away With]( By FAYSAL ITANI Syria’s president watches Washington carefully. He wouldn’t use chemical weapons if he thought it would endanger his regime. Contributing Op-Ed Writer [Real Families and the Fictional Roseanne]( By JENNIFER FINNEY BOYLAN Why I’m glad to see a gender-nonconforming character appear on the rebooted TV show. IN CASE YOU MISSED IT [The ‘Roseanne’ Reboot Is Funny. I’m Not Going to Keep Watching.]( By ROXANE GAY Nothing will change if we keep consuming problematic pop culture without demanding anything better. 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Is she the future? HOW ARE WE DOING? We’d love your feedback on this newsletter. Please email thoughts and suggestions to [leonhardt@nytimes.com](mailto:leonhardt@nytimes.com?subject=Opinion%20Today%20Newsletter%20Feedback). ADVERTISEMENT Letters [The F.B.I. Raid on Trump Lawyer’s Office]( Readers discuss the search for documents and the president’s claim it was a “witch hunt.” SIGN UP FOR THE OP-DOCS NEWSLETTER Find out about new [Op-Docs]( read discussions with filmmakers and learn more about upcoming events. FOLLOW OPINION [Facebook] [FACEBOOK]( [Twitter] [@nytopinion]( [Pinterest] [Pinterest]( Get more [NYTimes.com newsletters »](  | Get unlimited access to NYTimes.com and our NYTimes apps. [Subscribe »]( ABOUT THIS EMAIL You received this message because you signed up for NYTimes.com's Opinion Today newsletter. 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