The end of the accountability
By 
The last outstanding attempt to hold Trump legally accountable for fomenting an autogolpe is officially over:
A Georgia prosecutor on Wednesday officially dropped the historic racketeering case against President Donald Trump and others for attempting to overturn the 2020 presidential election, closing the chapter in a legal effort once seen as a grave threat to Trump’s political future.
The move means that Trump has dodged criminal legal jeopardy for his attempts to overturn his 2020 election loss to President Joe Biden. The federal cases against Trump from special counsel Jack Smith on election interference leading up to the January 6, 2021, US Capitol riot and on mishandling classified documents were previously dropped.
“Given the complexity of the legal issues at hand — ranging from constitutional questions and the Supremacy Clause to immunity, jurisdiction, venue, speedy-trial concerns, and access to federal records — and even assuming each of these issues were resolved in the State’s favor, bringing this case before a jury in 2029, 2030, or even 2031 would be nothing short of a remarkable feat,” Peter Skandalakis, the prosecutor on the case, wrote Wednesday.
A lot is going to be written about both the institutions that ran interference for Trump (hello, John Roberts!) as well as the many own-goals we scored along the way.
*Such* a pit in my stomach about the Georgia case. Such a wasted possibility. It's hard to avoid simultaneously crediting Willis for a strong, convincing, aggressive, and important set of indictments, and blaming her for the catastrophic misjudgment that made it impossible to have a trial in 2024.— Jacob T. Levy (@jacobtlevy.bsky.social) Nov 26, 2025 at 11:09 AM
Meanwhile, he’s how things work in a more advanced democracy:
Brazil’s former President Jair Bolsonaro must begin serving his 27-year prison sentence for plotting an attempted coup, Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes ruled Tuesday.
The former president’s defense team had chosen not to file a final appeal after his conviction for plotting a coup in 2022 to overthrow his successor, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. As a result, Moraes requested that the conviction be deemed final, quashing any chance of further appeals and triggering Bolsonaro’s 27-year sentence.
Bolsonaro has been jailed in Brazil’s Federal Police headquarters since Saturday, after police took him into custody for tampering with his court-ordered ankle monitor. On Tuesday, Moraes said Bolsonaro would serve out his sentence at the headquarters.
Bolsonaro’s attorney Paulo Cunha Bueno said in a post on X that the former president would pursue an appeal to fight the conviction, despite the court ruling that their decision is final.
But what about the EXECUTIVE VIGOR? What will the chilling effect be on future Brazilian leaders who want to commit crimes?