To the Editor:
Re “Daniels Details Sex With Trump, Which He Denies” (front page, May 8):
I found Stormy Daniels’s detailed testimony about her one-night stand with Donald Trump, which he denies ever happened, to be very credible. Her admitted hatred of Mr. Trump felt like honesty, not a motive to have made up the story.
If the jury agrees, Mr. Trump is therefore the liar. It’s not far from there to make the reasonable inference that if he is lying about the event at the heart of the case, he will lie about everything that came after.
Stephanie Doba
Brooklyn
To the Editor:
You report that the judge during Stormy Daniels’s testimony objected to her description of the sexual positions with Donald Trump as veering in a “scurrilous direction.” It is too bad that no judge objected to the Kenneth Starr report on President Clinton’s affair with Monica Lewinsky, which was even more scurrilous in describing the sexual encounter.
“The prose, far from a dry, factual recitation, contained rich, erotic details of the sort we expect from a book-club romance,” Daniel M. Filler, a law professor, wrote in a California Law Review article, according to The Washington Post.
The truth then and now is that a sexual affair does not need any more description than “they had sex,” but we all like the details.
Stephen T. Schreiber
Princeton, N.J.
To the Editor:
We are living in a country where democracy is on trial. Yet New York’s restrictions on cameras in the courtroom deprive the public of live video coverage of Donald Trump’s hush money trial.
The public has to rely on details described by reporters, some sequestered in a different room with a video feed, others in the courtroom. Meanwhile, nuances like facial expressions, body language, interactions with legal teams and verbal outbursts are left to courtroom sketches shared with the public through the media.
While juror anonymity must be protected, there should be live audio-visual coverage. Mr. Trump’s trials are more critically important than any other in U.S. history. With a presidential election looming, citizens should be able to witness the courtroom activity through their own lens. It is not just Mr. Trump’s freedom at stake.
Cynthia Gardner Bruml
Cleveland
To the Editor:
Re “We Are Talking About the Case Against Trump All Wrong,” by Rebecca Roiphe (Opinion guest essay, May 5):
Ms. Roiphe’s guest essay reminds me of the Indian parable of the blind men who encounter an elephant for the first time and attempt to understand what it is like by touching different parts of its body and then arguing that their one perspective is the one truth.
Ms. Roiphe was an attorney at the D.A.’s office. For her the case is really about business ethics. Let’s say she’s holding an ear. That’s one component, but it’s not the whole story.
The Trump case in New York is also about election interference; let’s call that the tusks. Some say the case is about personal ethics; let’s call that the tail. Dismissing the trunk or the tail just because you are holding an ear does not help anyone.
The moral of the Indian parable is that individual perspectives can be limited. Her essay poses the danger of saying that the Trump case is only about one thing, thereby making it possible to dismiss the whole case as frivolous if you find fault with that one thing. The reality is the whole elephant.
Daniel O’Brien
Lafayette, Ind.
Judge Cannon’s ‘Clear Bias’
To the Editor:
Re “Judge Postpones Start of Documents Trial” (news article, May 8):
It was no great surprise to learn that the Trump documents trial was “indefinitely” postponed.
The federal judge on the case, Aileen Cannon, has done everything in her power to delay the trial, and possibly prevent it from ever occurring, showing clear bias in favor of the former president.
She should be removed not only from the case, but from the bench as well.
Gary L. Adler
Lynbrook, N.Y.
Marjorie Taylor Greene’s Mischief
To the Editor:
Re “Democrats Help Johnson Survive Bid to Oust Him” (front page, May 9):
Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene’s failed attempt to oust Speaker Mike Johnson may appear, on first blush, to be as unhinged as her theory of a wildfire caused by Jewish space lasers, but there is method in her mania.
Ms. Greene, described by a Republican colleague as a “dumpster fire,” is a performative politician who is playing to an audience of one: Donald Trump. Her talk of overthrowing the “uniparty” (Democrats and Republicans voting together) is red meat to the MAGA base.
Reasonable people may try earnestly to unhear and unsee Ms. Greene’s theater of the absurd, but she is functioning as Mr. Trump’s attack dog. Do not underestimate her capacity for mischief; she is not going away anytime soon.
Eric Radack
Santa Fe, N.M.
R.F.K. Jr.’s Health History
To the Editor:
Re “Kennedy Says Doctors Found a Dead Worm in His Brain” (news article, May 9):
It took “a 2012 deposition reviewed by The New York Times” to reveal Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s relevant health history. Voters should be less tolerant of the lack of medical disclosures, the failure to disclose tax returns, the sources of dark money funding campaigns and the unwillingness to participate in moderated debates and in-depth media interviews.
Jim Hoffmann
Manchester, Mass.
The Link Between Teen Depression and Smartphones
To the Editor:
Re “Are Smartphones Driving Our Teens to Depression?,” by David Wallace-Wells (Opinion, nytimes.com, May 1):
In questioning the relationship between smartphone use and the ongoing mental health crisis among our young people, Mr. Wallace-Wells ignores the extensive body of research documenting the conditions that contribute to children’s healthy development and well-being — and how social media provides the exact opposite conditions.
There is little debate that childhood trauma can have long-lasting psychological effects. Are we really to believe that repeated exposure to videos of car crashes, photos of dead bodies, memes about rape and posts glorifying eating disorders have had no effect on the mental health of the millions of children who have seen this content in their feeds?
At a time when suicide has become the second leading cause of death for 10- to 14-year-olds in the U.S., the need for urgent action cannot be overstated. While some argue over whether the current data constitutes causality, Big Tech is continuing to infiltrate our children’s brains with addictive algorithms and harmful content, all in the name of boosting profits.
Getting smartphones out of schools and policy safeguards that prevent social media companies from exploiting children are basic but crucial steps we can take to protect our kids and set them up for successful, healthy lives.
Julie Scelfo
New York
The writer is the founder and executive director of Mothers Against Media Addiction.
To the Editor:
It’s not just teens who are negatively affected by smartphones. What about us older folks? It’s hard to keep up with this ever-changing digital world.
Ann Glasser
Hamden, Conn.