Episode Transcript
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Hi everyone, it's Nicole Wallace. I
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want to tell you about a new podcast from
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MSNBC called Prosecuting
0:07
Donald Trump. It's hosted by MSNBC
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legal analysts and veteran prosecutors,
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Andrew Weissman and Mary McCord. This
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week, Donald Trump became the first former
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president ever to be arraigned on criminal
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charges, pleading not guilty
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to 34 felony counts of
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falsifying business
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records. Andrew and Mary,
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with their
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combined five decades of prosecuting
0:29
experience, help us understand
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how prosecutors like Alvin Bragg, Fonny
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Willis, and Jack Smith think
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about building a case when the defendant
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happens to be a former president. Stay
0:41
right here to listen to a special preview of
0:44
the latest episode and search for prosecuting
0:46
Donald Trump wherever you're listening to
0:48
hear the full episode and follow the series.
0:56
The statement of the facts comes right out
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of the gate framing this case
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really as part, I think, of the
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whole Donald Trump assault on
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democracy.
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Paragraphs one
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and two, this was a scheme with
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others to influence the 2016 presidential election.
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The transcript of the arraignment,
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the assistant district attorney,
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Chris Conroy, same thing. He came right
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out of the gate telling the story
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of these charges and characterizing
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it as an illegal conspiracy to undermine
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the integrity of the 2016 presidential
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election. First of all, it's unusual
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in my experience at an arraignment to even
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sort of talk about the facts
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of the case or the framing of the case up front.
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But I think this was so important in part
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because it is a false business
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records case. And we can talk about the significance
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of these. These are felony charges. They're
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commonly
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used in white collar work, as the
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district attorney Alvin Bragg explained
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during the press conference. But I think it
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is significant for people.
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to understand this case in
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the
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big scheme, in the overall
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picture of Donald Trump 2016, tried
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to influence the election, 2020 tried to influence
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the election, post 2020
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is still trying to overturn the
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election, and he'll be doing this going
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into 2024.
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He's done it multiple
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different ways, but there is a
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through line here, and we see it in this
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indictment. It started with these hush
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money payments that were done specifically
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to influence the outcome
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of the election and at a critical time in the
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election too. But I don't know, Andrew, whether you
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had that same opinion.
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Absolutely. That was my first thought,
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which is they really were thinking about
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sort of two audiences. One
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was at an ultimate trial,
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how do you get a jury to care?
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Is this just as people were saying,
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oh, it's just hush money payments, it doesn't add
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anything in terms of what we know
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about Donald Trump. We already knew that
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he had that kind of history. No one
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was voting for him because he's a
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paragon of virtue. After
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all, there was the Access Hollywood tape and he
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still got elected. And what this was saying
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is this is actually an election
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fraud case. And that scheme
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happened to trip over these crimes,
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which is filing false business records.
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But it was really sort of why you should
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care. And I think the second
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audience was the public, trying
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to educate the public as to
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why the former president of the United
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States for the first time in history is being
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charged.
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Thanks for listening to this special preview
3:39
of prosecuting Donald Trump. Search
3:42
for prosecuting Donald Trump wherever
3:44
you're listening to hear the full episode
3:46
and and follow the series.
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