America's Talking - Donald Trump Pleads Not Guilty to Charges From 3rd Indictment

Episode Date: August 4, 2023

Former President Donald Trump pleaded not guilty Thursday afternoon to all charges related to his role in protesting the 2020 election results. Trump was indicted for the third time this week. According to the latest indictment, Trump faces four federal charges related to his contesting the 2020 election and connection to the Jan. 6, 2021, storming of the U.S. Capitol building. The indictment charges include conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, conspiracy to defraud the United States, obstruction, and conspiracy against rights. Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/america-in-focus/support Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hello and welcome to America in Focus, powered by the Center Square. I'm Dan McAulb, executive editor of the Center Square Newswire Service. Joining me today is the Center Square's Washington, D.C. Bureau Chief Casey Harper. How are you, Casey? Doing good, Dan. How are you? I am doing well, thank you. We are recording this on Friday, August 4th. More big news this week related to former President Donald Trump, who was indicted again, this time on charges of conspiracy related to his contesting the results of the 2020 election in his role in the January 6, 2021 storming of the U.S. Capitol Building. He pleaded not guilty all of those charges to all of those charges during his arraignment Thursday. Casey, this is the third indictment of the former president in about two months.

Two are federal. The third is in state court in New York. The state charges are related to payments he allegedly made to former porn star Stormy Daniels to keep her quiet. about an alleged affair that Trump denies prior to the 2016 presidential election. The other federal indictment is related to his handling of classified documents after he left the White House. But Casey Trump is the Republican frontrunner heading into the 2024 presidential election cycle, and he could be standing trial three separate times prior to that November 2024 election. He says all the cases against him are a political witch hunt orchestrated by his chief political rival.

Democratic President Joe Biden. What do you make all of this? Oh, man, another week, another podcast, another indictment, Dan. We need like a alleged crimes for presidents per podcast because, you know, of course, all the stuff is going on with Hunter and Joe Biden at the same breakneck pace. We're having more and more evidence come out of potential wrongdoing from presidents. So let me just interrupt you there too. And we're going to have a separate podcast episode dedicated to. to the Biden family saga. So please, the listeners, make sure to check that one out in addition to this one. But go ahead. Let's stick with the former president, Donald Trump. Yeah, you're right. So, you know, our modern political scene these last, you know, few years has been very unique, very interesting. And, of course, without fail, Donald Trump has been at the center of it.

And so this third indictment, you know, H1 has its own features, its own differences. is as, you know, it, to me, what's most interesting about this indictment is how late it's coming. You know, the January 6th was, of course, incredibly public. It grabbed the imagination of the nation for, you know, several months here in, you know, the D.C. area, D.C. where I live, there were large fences around the U.S. Capitol for months and months after January 6th with barbed wire and soldiers, and it looked like a military compound after January. after January 6th. I mean, this was taken very seriously, as you know. Many of the people involved in January 6 were hunted down by the FBI, put in jail. Someone, you know, a police officer shot someone who

died, Ashley Babbitt, right? So this is a big, big deal. And then, you know, we finally, I think as a nation, started to move beyond it. Even Trump himself has stopped talking very much about the election, you know, the allegations of the election being stolen, right? And so we kind of started to move past it. And now this indictment comes. And so I think that's the big question. This is the question that Trump raised on true social, his social media side of choice, is where was this indictment two years ago? And I think that is a fair question because, as you pointed out, the difference between two years ago and now is now he is by a wide margin of the Republican frontrunner.

The latest New York Times, Sienna polling shows that Trump is actually dominating the Republican field by like, I want to say. say like 30 points. And he's in a dead tie with President Joe Biden. So he, I mean, it's a coin toss, according to the latest quality polling we have that Trump could be in the White House. And so, you know, of course we cannot say whether Trump is guilty or not. There's a lot of charges here. He's up over, I think over 40 charges across all his cases at this point, not to mention the civil lawsuits he's faced. So, you know, I don't think it's our plate. There could be a fourth indictment coming. because he's still under federal investigation related to the Georgia election in 2020 and allegations that former President Trump tried to get involved there and overturned Georgia's votes.

That's right. It's so funny. You know, it's such an interesting thing because people may remember last year, and I think we've talked about this on the podcast before, but Trump and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who's perceived as his biggest, Trump's biggest challenger and arch nemesis at this point, I actually had a much slimmer margin on Trump. And then the FBI rated his Marlago estate, if you remember that.

And after that, Trump's poll numbers just shot up. And they really haven't gone back down. And so this indictment has weirdly helped, I really believe, helped Trump win the Republican primary, assuming he hope maintains this lead. And it's funny on Trump posted on true social, I only need one more indictment to win. So it's obviously being tongue-in-cheek here. There is a level of somberness because of, you know, it's sad when both are leading presidential candidates have pretty questionable legal issues at hand. But there's something about these indictments that at least on the Republican side have helped propel Trump ahead, not behind.

And we laugh about it. Of course, it's not a funny matter when we're a year and a half away from the next presidential election. The two frontrunners, of course, President Joe Biden, if he continues to seek re-election, which I think there are still some doubts, perhaps, about that, maybe slight doubts. And the allegations against him and his family and his son's business dealings oversee and alleged bribes that some claim that the family took to help out oversee interests. and then Trump could be on trial three separate times ahead of November 24. He is the frontrunner.

The first primaries don't get underway until January 2024. But then there's a rapid succession of primaries in states across the country. And I think his first trial is scheduled right now for April 2024. We're going to be well along the primary process by April 2024. I mean, what happens, and this is the big unknown, I know you don't have a great answer for this because nobody does. Dan, I always have a great answer. Okay, well, let's hear your great answer to this question then. Let's say he is, we're into April.

He's got a huge lead in the Republican primaries across the country, and he gets convicted at trial in April, assuming the trial goes forward in April as it's scheduled to. Yeah, I don't have a great answer for that. No, I mean, it is the question, right? I think it's unlikely that Trump gets convicted before, I don't know. I mean, who really knows? But it's just that would be pretty fast timeline for such a big case. You know, when someone has the legal budget that Trump does, the main thing they do is they delay the proceedings, right? And that's why one of the main reasons you pay for a big lawyer is,

even if you get convicted, they can drag the trial out for several years to give you more free time with your family before you head to prison. So let me, I just want to interpret your answer there. So you think it's very possible, if not likely, or maybe likely, that nothing's going to happen in terms of the illegal conclusion to these three cases against the former president before November 2024, that everything will get pushed back beyond that? I think that's the most likely scenario in my mind. I wouldn't say that, you know, I think like a 60% chance. That's what happens. And then it raises the question of can Trump pardon himself, right? And that's a whole other legal thing.

I mean, let me go take another step further. Can you even prosecute a sitting president? Let's say everything gets packed, all these legal cases get pushed back past the November election. Trump wants a GOP nomination. Trump beats Biden in November 2024. Can you even prosecute a sitting president? I don't know. Is that constitutional? Can you do that? I think that you can. I think there was talk about that. You know, there's been talk about that with Nixon and even, I think Bill Clinton, you know, I think no one ever had the stomach to do it.

It was kind of a different political moment in both those cases. But so I think they could prosecute him. Of course they can impeach him. I think they can bring the legal charges. But I think, you know, Trump could still continue his campaign if arrested. And what's to say he couldn't campaign from behind bars? Or, you know, from behind bars in some sense, he could be this martyr. You know, it's funny, if you study like guerrilla movements or different things, I find those really interesting. What you find is that when the, or revolutionary movements,

whenever the leader is either martyred or put in prison, the movement explodes in growth. it's like the key reason that movement's like this grow. And not to say that this is really the same. But it has some similar facets. When the leader is put behind bars, the movement just explodes in popularity. So it is possible that putting Trump in prison could actually help him win. Now, he would be a convict and unable to vote for himself, right?

But he could still win. And if depending on how long his term is, I mean, let's say he gets a year. Well, he just does his time. He runs the country from behind bars and then comes out. Now, I know that sounds crazy and it is crazy, but if there's anyone who is going to do it, Trump will do it. And if Trump wins from prison, who, what you, I don't think you have any constitutional authority to remove him. But can the Republican Party decide to remove him if he is convicted before the election even if they wanted to commit suicide as a part? They could do that, yes.

but I think it would be the end of the Republican Party. All right. My head's spinning, Casey. Of course, we're doing a lot of speculation here trying to project what's going to happen in the months and weeks before the November 24 election. We're going to continue to cover this ongoing saga. Really, it's fascinating and troubling times at the same time. But, Casey, we are out of time. listeners can keep up with this ongoing saga at the center square.com for Casey Harper.

I'm Dan McHale. Please subscribe and thank you for listening.