The justice system is not a nice addition to democracy but a core, constitutive element of it. This is now imperilled not only by Mr Trump’s stacking of the judiciary, pardoning of January 6 rioters who assaulted police, and ignoring of rulings that restrain the executive’s actions, but also by its abuse for political ends. The US is descending from rule of law towards rule by law: from law as the restraint upon the executive, applied without fear or favour, to law as its weapon.