Earlier this month, the fatal shooting of Gambino family crime boss Francesco Cali barely registered in the news cycle. If anything, it was a quaint throwback to a different era, when the crime that captivated Americans focused on shootouts and suit-wearing mob bosses rather than a mash-up of wordy, white-collar crimes and theories about Russian collusion.
But Americans know what they like. For better or worse, a news cycle that hinges on court filings and indictments for things like campaign finance violations, failing to register as a foreign agent, and extorting Nike have done their part to make white-collar crime great again.
Of course, sometimes there are juicy bits — salacious accusations of hush money paid to mistresses or a $15,000 ostrich jacket — but most of the drama hinges on the mundane: Instagram images of a judge, tax documents, photocopies of checks, and Russian trolls on the Internet.
Even without gunslinging bootleggers and tough-talking mobsters, America remains hooked on the real-life true crime unfolding in the news. We couldn’t get enough of Robert Mueller’s report and grand jury indictments, press conferences on courthouse steps, and the details of federal fraud charges.
The only question that remains in feeding America’s addiction to Trump-era true crime is how well the saga will play out on the big screen. “CSI”-style episodes on tax crimes? “Godfather”-esque films focusing on bizarre legal drama unfolding on Twitter? Intense scenes from endless hours of digital discovery?
Who knows what the producers will settle on, but I’m hoping that Warren Zevon’s “Lawyers, Guns and Money” makes it into the soundtrack — how could it not when the song opens with, “I went home with a waitress the way I always do/ How was I to know she was with the Russians, too?”
