A federal judge ordered the White House on Tuesday to restore The Associated Press’ full access to cover presidential events, affirming on First Amendment grounds that the government cannot punish the news organization for the content of its speech.

Local officials and business moguls are also turning to lawsuits or the threat of them to silence the press.

What happens when a country stops pretending to care about democracy and just lets the billionaires run wild? Look no further than Putin’s Russia — a place where wealth buys protection, loyalty buys power, and corruption isn’t hidden, it’s institutionalized.