The Pentagon Gets Two New Top Generals

This article is part of The D. C. Brief, TIME’s politics newsletter. Sign up here to get stories like this sent to your inbox. The fever didn’t break over the weekend. In fact, it only worsened. Since President Joe Biden’s calamitous showing Thursday night during a debate against former President Donald Trump in Atlanta, Democrats have been in the midst of a very public freak-out.

Tensions are growing between Team Green and Team Black in House of the Dragon, and as the threat of war looms over Westeros, Rhaenyra Targaryen (Emma D’Arcy) is working against the hasty suggestions of the men on her council. She pushes back against her advisors’ proposals and puts the safety of her children first.

The Supreme Court on Monday provided former President Donald Trump with significant legal protection against prosecution for actions taken during his tenure in the Oval Office. In a ruling split along ideological lines, the Justices held that Presidents enjoy immunity from criminal prosecution for official acts but remain susceptible to charges for unofficial conduct—a decision that has profound implications for Trump’s pending criminal cases, particularly those stemming from his efforts to challenge the 2020 election results. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] Chief Justice John Roberts, writing for the majority, said that a President “may not be prosecuted for exercising his core constitutional powers, and he is entitled, at a minimum, to a presumptive immunity from prosecution for all his official acts.” In doing so, the Supreme Court left it up to the lower court to review which conduct is protected and immune from prosecution. Read More: Supreme Court Rules Trump and Former Presidents Have Some Immunity for Official Acts Justice Sonia Sotomayor, in a fiery dissent joined by Justices Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson, criticized the majority’s stance, arguing that it elevates the President above the law and undermines accountability. While the case is a landmark ruling on the powers of the American presidency, it will have immediate effects for Trump, the first former President in history to be indicted.

A mistrial was declared Monday in the murder trial of Karen Read, the Massachusetts woman accused of killing her police officer boyfriend, after the jury failed to reach a verdict. The sensational months-long trial was filled with media storms, conspiracy theories, a jury harassment charge, and protests. Read, 44, was charged with the murder of 46-year old Boston police officer John O’Keefe in January 2022.

Warning: This post contains spoilers for Episode 3 of House of the Dragon Season 2. Following the Episode 2 reveal that Alicent (Olivia Cooke) and the late King Viserys I (Paddy Considine) had a third son, Daeron Targaryen, who has been hanging out in Oldtown this whole time, the third episode of House of the Dragon‘s second season introduced yet another character with Targaryen heritage. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] As Aegon II Targaryen (Tom Glynn-Carney) got ready for a evening out in King’s Landing with his Kingsguard buddies, he didn’t know that one of his uncles would apparently be present at the tavern where he was planning to drink the night away.

Spotted lanternflies have made their annual return for the summer, relaunching conversations about how best to kill the pesky insect that threatens various U. S. industries and species. The U. S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) launched a five-year strategy to reduce the insects’ spread in 2023 through support from federal and state authorities, greater scientific research, and public outreach.