Government Officials Once Stopped False Accusations After Violence. Now, Some Join In.; The New York Times, December 25, 2025

 Steven Lee Myers, The New York Times; Government Officials Once Stopped False Accusations After Violence. Now, Some Join In.

"A churn of disinformation after a major news event is hardly a surprise anymore, but its spread after the Brown killings was not limited to the dark fringes of the internet. It was fueled by prominent figures in business and government whose false statements or politically charged innuendo compounded public anger and anxiety.

That has raised new alarms about the nature and quality of public discourse — and whether there is any consequence for those who degrade it or for the social media platforms that reward it."

Mayor of New Orleans Is Indicted on Corruption Charges; The New York Times, August 15, 2025

Rick Rojas and Pooja Salhotra, The New York Times; Mayor of New Orleans Is Indicted on Corruption Charges

"Mayor LaToya Cantrell of New Orleans was charged on Friday with going to criminal lengths to carry out and cover up a romantic relationship with a city police officer who had been assigned to protect her, prosecutors said.

The indictment emerged from a lengthy federal investigation into corruption that has cast a shadow over Ms. Cantrell’s second and final term as mayor, which ends in January. She and her former bodyguard, Jeffrey Vappie, face a combined 18 felony counts, including making false statements, obstruction of justice and conspiracy."