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The veteran political reporter John Nichols was taking his daughter to the orthodontist on January 6, 2021, the fateful day when the transfer of Presidential power was temporarily derailed by a mob at the Capitol. On March 4th of this year, the former President Donald Trump is scheduled to stand trial for his actions on and around that day, and, in a court filing last November, his attorneys implied that the government is withholding information about whether Nichols, and others, had a role to play in the Capitol attack. This bizarre move not only thrust Nichols uncomfortably into the center of yet another January 6th conspiracy theory but raised some questions about the seriousness of the defense that Trump intends to mount in the case. \u201cIt looks like they\u2019re throwing things at the wall,\u201d Nichols tells David Remnick. \u201cJust trying for dozens and dozens of possible conspiracy theories.\u201d And, though Nichols has endured only teasing from his colleagues for getting name-checked in Trump discovery documents, he notes that many other journalists have been targeted and doxed by far-right actors. False allegations like the John Nichols conspiracy theory can be almost amusing, but they are a dire indicator of the state of American politics. \u201cThere are people who desperately want to drive the deepest possible wedges,\u201d Nichols says. \u201cTo believe that those who disagree with them don\u2019t just disagree with them but are actually evil.\u201d