Remember the Clinton scandals. They provoked no decisive legal thunderbolt but a series of agonizing, consequential defeats.

It’s happening again. As first an Apprentice contestant, then a porn star, and now a Playboy playmate sue Donald Trump, the lawsplainers are springing up. This is how Trump will go down. Was the payment to Stormy Daniels an illegal campaign contribution? Will Trump lie under oath in a civil deposition? Will the Apprentice litigation yield a smoking gun, proving once and for all that Trump committed sexual harassment or sexual assault?

Of course, the porn-Playboy lawsuits are but one alleged silver bullet in the legal gun pointed at the Trump administration. There are still those who fervently believe that Robert Mueller will come forward with unequivocal evidence of obstruction or collusion (or, better yet, both). They’re expecting a cathartic national moment — not unlike, they imagine, the Watergate aftermath — when justice will rain down from the heavens, and the bad man will be expelled from American politics.