For indispensable reporting on the coronavirus crisis, the election, and more, subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily newsletter.





The New York Times isn’t backing away from its reporting on Donald Trump’s history of sexual assault, despite a legal threat from the GOP nominee. On Wednesday night, the Times published a bombshell story detailing several allegations against Trump, and within hours Trump’s lawyers demanded a retraction of the story and threatened a libel lawsuit.

The Times was not moved by that threat. “It would be a disservice not just to our readers but to democracy itself to silence their voices,” the paper replied. And in a mic-drop closer, it challenged him to take the lawsuit forward: “We welcome the opportunity to have a court set him straight.”