Tangle - The Trump charges, and we're taking a break.

Starting point is 00:00:00 Based on Charles Yu's award-winning book, Interior Chinatown follows the story of Willis Wu, a background character trapped in a police procedural who dreams about a world beyond Chinatown. When he inadvertently becomes a witness to a crime, Willis begins to unravel a criminal web, his family's buried history, and what it feels like to be in the spotlight. Interior Chinatown is streaming November 19th, only on Disney+. The flu remains a serious disease. Last season, over 102,000 influenza cases have been reported across Canada, which is Chinatown is streaming November 19th, only on Disney+. yourself from the flu. It's the first cell-based flu vaccine authorized in Canada for ages six months and older, and it may be available for free in your province. Side effects and allergic reactions can occur, and 100% protection is not guaranteed. Learn more at flucellvax.ca.

Starting point is 00:01:00 From executive producer Isaac Saul, this is Tangle. Good morning, good afternoon, and good evening, and welcome to the Tangle podcast, the place we get views from across the political spectrum. Some independent thinking without all that hysterical nonsense you find everywhere else. I'm your host, Isaac Saul, and on today's episode, we're doing something a little bit different. We are going to do a brief abbreviated version of the podcast. That is because we are headed into a vacation, although I did not want to take today off because obviously there are some things going on that we need to address. So first at the top, let me just say today is Passover. Sunday is Easter. We are in the midst of Ramadan and Congress just kicked off a two week recess. In other words, this is a great

Starting point is 00:01:56 time for a quick vacation, not just for me and the Tangle staff who try to take breathers whenever we can, but for you, our readers. Politics is grueling and partisan warfare can be overwhelming. It takes energy to remain engaged, level-headed, and open-minded. Too much news is not a good thing. So whenever we take a little time off, I always encourage my readers to join us. Step outside, get some sun, visit with the family, take a breath. To that end, we'll be taking off tomorrow and returning to the podcast on Tuesday, April 13th. If you are someone who observes any of the religious holidays during this time of year, I wish you a peaceful and fulfilling holiday. If you don't, I hope you at least get a day or two off from work thanks to the holidays. And if you're not observing and you're retired, well,

Starting point is 00:02:38 it sounds like you've got some free time already, so I'm jealous. While we are headed into vacation, I don't want to leave you hanging without any news. So today, we've got a few quick hits, an abbreviated tangle on the Trump indictment, the details of which we got yesterday, and a quick reminder on how to support us. With that out of the way, we'll jump in with our quick hits for the day. First up, Judge Janet Protasewicz won her race in Wisconsin. That was the story that we covered in yesterday's Tangle, marking the first time the state will have a liberal Supreme Court in 15 years. Number two, progressive Brandon Johnson won Chicago's mayoral runoff election over former

Starting point is 00:03:21 Chicago Public Schools CEO Paul Valas, a moderate. Number three, Representative Tricia Cotham, a Democratic lawmaker in the state of North Carolina, is changing her party affiliation and giving Republicans a veto-proof majority over Governor Roy Cooper, the Democrat. Number four, the United States pledged another $2.6 billion in military aid to Ukraine. Number five, the Tennessee state GOP is moving to expel three Democrats who participated in gun control protests at the state capitol. Tonight, former President Donald Trump has been charged with 34 felonies, the first president, former or current, to ever become a criminal defendant.

Starting point is 00:04:09 Trump himself today pleading not guilty, the charges unsealed, accusing the former president of falsifying business records to allegedly conceal other crimes. Under New York state law, it is a felony to falsify business records with intent to defraud and intent to conceal another crime. These are felony crimes in New York State, no matter who you are. I never thought anything like this could happen in America. Never thought it could happen. The only crime that I have committed is to fearlessly defend our nation from those who seek to destroy it.

Starting point is 00:04:48 Yesterday, Trump was arraigned and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg unsealed his indictment and statement of facts in the case. Trump is being charged with 34 felony counts of falsifying business records. The charges are largely identical to what was reported here in Tangle and what was expected based on leaks from the district attorney's office. Bragg alleges that from August 2015 to December of 2017, Trump orchestrated a scheme with others to influence the 2016 presidential election by identifying and purchasing negative information about him to suppress its publication and benefit the defendant's electoral prospects. The most surprising part of the indictment is part of Bragg's argument. While he hasn't pinned the case to one exact potential cover-up crime that would elevate the misdemeanor charges to

Starting point is 00:05:33 a felony, he surprised some pundits by introducing multiple theories, including that Trump may have violated state election laws or was committing business fraud to back up planned state tax crimes. The complication around the state election law charge is that Trump was running in a federal race, though some think the state tax charges could carry more weight. Trump appeared in court and pled not guilty to all of the charges. As expected, Bragg is attempting to elevate misdemeanor business record charges to felonies by alleging they were done to conceal or advance other crimes, in this case one of the multiple theories Bragg has introduced. Adult film star Stormy Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal are both named in the case as women whose stories Trump purchased in order to keep

Starting point is 00:06:14 them out of the media. So too is a doorman at Trump Tower who alleged to know of an illegitimate child Trump fathered but whose story was rejected by the tabloid AMI. Judge Juan Merchan set the next hearing for December 4th, and prosecutors asked to try the case in January, which would be a month before the Iowa caucuses. Legal experts said a trial could not start for another year, and an indictment or conviction would not prevent Trump from running for president. Trump, meanwhile, returned to Mar-a-Lago and delivered a speech, calling Judge Merchant a Trump-hating judge with a Trump-hating wife and family. I never thought anything like this could happen in America, he said. Never thought it could happen. The only crime I have committed

Starting point is 00:06:54 is to fearlessly defend our nation from those who seek to destroy it. Thanks for watching! Chinatown. When he inadvertently becomes a witness to a crime, Willis begins to unravel a criminal web, his family's buried history, and what it feels like to be in the spotlight. Interior Chinatown is streaming November 19th, only on Disney+. The flu remains a serious disease. Last season, over 102,000 influenza cases have been reported across Canada, which is nearly double the historic average of 52,000 cases. What can you do this flu season? Talk to your pharmacist or doctor about getting a flu shot. Consider FluCellVax Quad and help protect yourself from the flu. It's the first cell-based flu vaccine authorized in Canada for ages 6 months and older,

Starting point is 00:07:56 and it may be available for free in your province. Side effects and allergic reactions can occur, and 100% protection is not guaranteed. Learn more at FluCcellvax.ca. All right, with that out of the way, we'll get into some opinions on the indictment. As news of the charges dropped, an interesting thing happened. Even some of Trump's most notable detractors seem skeptical of the charges. Senator Mitt Romney, the Republican from Utah who has said Trump is unfit for office, said the prosecutor's overreach sets a dangerous precedent for criminalizing political opponents and damages the public's faith in our justice system. Former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe,

Starting point is 00:08:39 who was fired by Trump, said the indictment was an unimpressive document and landed like a dud. Former Attorney General William Barr, who has hammered Trump for his claims the election was stolen, called it a pathetically weak case. On the right, the Wall Street Journal editorial board said there were few surprises except perhaps astonishment that Mr. Bragg's case looks even weaker than we expected. National Review said it would be one thing if there were a clear felony violation that is consistently prosecuted, but the unsealed indictment is as weak as advertised. Bragg also catalogs every false business entry deeming each a felony in a frowned-upon practice known as stacking to try and make an attenuated or relatively minor offense seem more serious through sheer repetition. In the New York Post, Michael Goodwin called it pathetic.

Starting point is 00:09:24 through sheer repetition. In the New York Post, Michael Goodwin called it pathetic. On the left, in the Washington Post, Ruth Marcus said prosecutors could win, and she hopes they do, but fears I had in the weeks leading up to the indictment about the strength of the case against Trump were in no way allayed by Tuesday's developments. In the New York Times, David Firestone said the images and details of the case were more serious than Trump expected, and Bragg is on a much safer ground tying the fraudulent business records to a violation of state law because the defense cannot argue that he lacks jurisdiction on the matter. In Slate, Mark Joseph Stern said this is not the slam dunk case Democrats wanted. It expressed some sympathy to the view that this

Starting point is 00:10:04 case could get dismissed and agreed that the other cases carry more convincing and serious charges. But, Katz said, good, charge all of those too. Let the man spend his entire miserable 2024 re-election campaign enduring the daily monotony and fear of court proceedings while the nation is reminded at every turn of his repeated attempts to steal elections through fraud and violence and the rampant criminality that has defined his entire adult life. Not only that, Katz argued, but let's get George W. Bush and Dick Cheney indicted for torture, illegal wiretapping,

Starting point is 00:10:35 and various war crimes. Investigate, indict, and prosecute Bill Clinton for the alleged rape of Juanita Broderick. Prosecute every politician who's engaged in insider trading, illegally destroyed documents, or engaged in insider trading, illegally destroyed documents, or engaged in other kinds of fraud. This would be a better country by leagues if everyone who puts on a dark suit and takes an oath of office understands not only that the law applies equally to them, but that the power they wield to shape and execute those laws means they will have to endure more scrutiny and potentially harsher consequences than ordinary citizens. All right, and my take on this is that nothing about the indictment was particularly new or surprising. It was basically what we expected. I do find Katz's argument that we should just go

Starting point is 00:11:20 after every politician for every crime they commit persuasive in many ways. But to sum up my position again from the last few days, I think Trump probably committed the acts he is accused of. There seems to be a lot of evidence for it. I don't think this indictment is wise, given the fact that we typically don't prosecute these kinds of crimes when they're committed by presidents or high-profile politicians. I worry about the Pandora's box we just opened, and I also doubt that Trump can get a fair trial in Manhattan. Monday's podcast on this is all still relevant. All right, before we go, just a quick note that if you want to continue to support our work, there are a few great ways to do that. One is to give this podcast a five-star rating. You can share it with your

Starting point is 00:12:10 friends. You could just email somebody and tell them to subscribe to Tangle. You can also become a subscriber by going to readtangle.com slash membership. All right. And last but not least, have a nice weekend story. What if your doctor prescribed you something that could cure your ails, but instead of being a dose of medicine, it was a pleasant, enjoyable activity that was free and easy to access? Well, there is strong evidence that is just what the doctor should be ordering. A new meta-analysis from UNSW Sydney shows nature prescriptions. The recommendation to spend more time in nature

Starting point is 00:12:45 showed patients had reduced blood pressure as well as lower depression and anxiety scores, and they had a higher daily step count. The research shows that contact with nature reduces harms, including those from poor air quality, heat waves, and chronic stress, while encouraging healthy behaviors such as socializing and physical activity. This can help to prevent issues including loneliness, depression, and cardiovascular disease. USNW has the story. There is a link to it in today's podcast description. All right, everybody, that is it for today's podcast. Like I mentioned at the top, we are off the next few days. We'll be back in your ears on Tuesday. I hope you all have a lovely long weekend and a nice break and observance if you are into that kind of thing.

Starting point is 00:13:31 And we'll see you on Tuesday. Have a good one. Peace. Our podcast is written by me, Isaac Saul, and edited by Zosia Warpea. Our script is edited by Sean Brady, Ari Weitzman, and Bailey Saul. Shout out to our interns, Audrey Moorhead and Watkins Kelly, and our social media manager, Magdalena Vakova, who created our podcast logo. Music for the podcast was produced by Diet75. For more from Tangle, check out our website at www.tupaco.com Based on Charles Yu's award-winning book, Interior Chinatown follows the story of Willis Wu,

Starting point is 00:14:27 a background character trapped in a police procedural who dreams about a world beyond Chinatown. When he inadvertently becomes a witness to a crime, Willis begins to unravel a criminal web, his family's buried history, and what it feels like to be in the spotlight. Interior Chinatown is streaming November 19th, only on Disney+. The flu remains a serious disease. Last season, over 102,000 influenza cases have been reported across Canada, which is nearly double the historic average of 52,000 cases. What can you do this flu season? Talk to your pharmacist or doctor about getting a flu shot. Consider FluCellVax Quad and help protect yourself from the flu. It's the first cell-based flu vaccine

Starting point is 00:15:05 authorized in canada for ages six months and older and it may be available for free in your province side effects and allergic reactions can occur and 100 protection is not guaranteed

Tangle - The Trump charges, and we're taking a break.

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