The Daily Signal - TOP NEWS | What’s Next for Trump Indictment, DOJ Sues Norfolk Southern, Pope Released From Hospital | March 31

Episode Date: March 31, 2023

On today’s Daily Signal Top News, we break down: George Soros says he does not know Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg. The federal government sues the railroad responsible for the train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio.  We know now that Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich is being held in Lefortovo prison in Moscow.  The New York Times reports that the Environmental Protection Agency gave California the green light “to require that half of all garbage trucks, tractor-trailers, cement mixers and other heavy vehicles sold in the state must be all-electric by 2035.” Relevant Links Listen to other podcasts from The Daily Signal: https://www.dailysignal.com/podcasts/ Get daily conservative news you can trust from our Morning Bell newsletter: DailySignal.com/morningbellsubscription   Listen to more Heritage podcasts: https://www.heritage.org/podcasts Sign up for The Agenda newsletter — the lowdown on top issues conservatives need to know about each week: https://www.heritage.org/agenda Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I'm Virginia Allen. I'm Samantha O'Sheris. And this is the Daily Legal Top News for Friday, March 31st. Here are today's headlines. Last night, Donald Trump became the first former president in history to face criminal charges. The charges revolve around supposed hush money payments made years ago to porn star Stormy Daniels. The details of the charges are still sealed, so the public doesn't know what exactly these details are of the. the charges. But CNN reported earlier today that two sources have confirmed to them that Trump is facing more than 30 counts related to business fraud. So the question now is, what happens next? Here with us to answer that question is Heritage Foundation Legal Fellow and former prosecutor, Zach Smith. Zach, thanks for being back with us. Of course. Thank you for having me back.

Okay, so what is going to happen to Trump now? Is he going to be put in handcuffs and locked behind bars? Well, Virginia, I think my crystal ball is broken because I've been so wrong on so much over the past a few years. But look, what we've heard so far is that Donald Trump is planning to self-surrender. He'll probably be arraigned sometime early next week. At that point, we should know what the charges against him are. the indictment should be unsealed at that point in time. And we can talk more specifics, whether he'll be handcuffed, whether he'll be perp-walked, into or out of the courthouse.

We'll just have to wait and see how that plays out. I would be very surprised, though, if Donald Trump were to spend any time in custody, particularly given Alvin Bragg's pledge not to hold most people, even violent offenders in custody pending their trials. Now, what do we know about the charges? As I mentioned, CNN is reporting that Trump faces more than 30 counts related to business fraud. What do we know about what these counts might be? Well, we don't know, Virginia. As you mentioned, the indictment is still under seal, so we can only speculate. Now, it has been widely reported across many media outlets that the investigations seem to be focusing, as you mentioned, on those hush money payments. to Stormy Daniels and maybe some other individuals as well. What's interesting about this, and as we previously discussed, if those are in fact the basis of the charges against Donald Trump, Alvin Bragg would be pursuing a very novel legal theory. He'd be pursuing a very complex legal theory,

and one that would likely turn factually a lot on the testimony of former Trump attorney Michael Cohen, which may present its own set of practical problems given Michael Cohen's felony conviction, given his apparent lack of candor in many, many circumstances, to put it mildly. And so again, this could be an uphill battle for Alvin Bragg, but we all need to wait and see what the charges actually are. And we are seeing some interesting news right now related to Alvin Bragg. He is, of course, the Manhattan District Attorney, who's been the one leading this investigation into former president Donald Trump, Republicans say that Bragg's investigation is politically motivated.

Last week, some top GOP members, including House Judiciary Committee Chairman, Representative Jim Jordan, sent a letter to Bragg, and they demanded Bragg to release documents related to his investigation into Trump. And they even asked Bragg to testify before Congress regarding the investigation. Is that something that might happen, that we might actually see Bragg come before Congress to give further explanation of this investigation. Well, again, Virginia, my crystal ball is broken, so I'm hesitant to make any predictions. But look, for all his flaws, Alvin Bragg isn't stupid. He knows that by indicting Donald Trump, his political star, especially with those on the

radical left, is going to rise. And keep in mind, Alvin Bragg, when he came into office, he was part of a radical rogue prosecutor movement that was backed by George Soros and others who came into office, pledging not to prosecute many, many crimes, not to hold individuals pending their trials, and to seek very lenient in some cases, in many cases, inappropriately lenient sentences, even for very serious, very violent crimes. And if anyone's interested in learning more about this radical rogue prosecutor movement or learning more about Alvin Bragg specifically, my colleague, Cully Stimson and I, we actually have a book coming out on June 26th of this year

called rogue prosecutors, where we take a deep dive into the ideological underpinnings of this movement and where we devote an entire chapter to Alvin Bragg and his terrible policies and their devastating consequences for the citizens of New York. Quickly, Zach, before we let you go, as you've mentioned, the GOB has called Alvin Bragg a George Soros-backed prosecutor. But Soros told Semifold just this week that he doesn't know Bragg. Soros says he did not give any campaign money to brag. Is that true? Well, that statement, while technically true is disingenuous, keep in mind that George Soros and other left-leaning

billionaires have funded these candidates through a variety of PACs and a variety of sources. And so while George Soros did not contribute directly to Alvin Bragg's campaign, he did contribute to a PAC that supported Alvin Bragg, and he's done similar things across the country. And so if George Soros or others want to get cute and argue technicalities, I think people will quickly realize that those technicalities really are trying to hide the larger truth that he did, in fact, back many of these radical candidates, whether directly or indirectly, are through just providing the infrastructure that so many of them have come to rely on. Well, we here, of course, at the Daily Signal will continue to be following this indictment

of former President Donald Trump very close. and keeping you all up to date. Zach, we really appreciate your time today. Thanks for joining us. Of course. Thanks for having me on. The federal government is suing the railroad responsible for the train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio. The Justice Department filed a lawsuit today

against Norfolk Southern over the February train derailment that resulted in the spilling of hazardous chemicals into Ohio and Pennsylvania streams and rivers. The Department of Justice says it is aiming to hold the railway accountable for unlawfully polluting the nation's waterways and to ensure it pays the full cost of the environmental cleanup. The Associated Press reports that the chemicals spilled from the crash seeped into creeks and nearby rivers and eventually ended up in the Ohio River. The Ohio Department of Natural Resources says the release of the chemicals from the crash

killed an estimated 44,000 fish, mostly small ones like minnows. Earlier this week, another train derailed in Minnesota. The train belonged to BNSF Railway and was carrying ethanol and corn syrup. The derailment happened in Raymond, which is about 100 miles west of Minneapolis. The crash did prompt temporary evacuations from about 250 nearby homes. This recent derailment does not appear to have been as severe as the derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, but lawmakers say it is a reminder of the. need for rail safety legislation.

As you all may remember, yesterday we discussed that Russia recently arrested an American Wall Street Journal reporter named Evan Gershevik. We now know that Gershevik is being held in Russia's Lafortova prison in Moscow. Laforta prison has a long and troubling history. The Associated Press reports of the prison was built as a military penitentiary in 1881. and was used for low-ranking convicts sentenced to relatively short terms. The prison became more well-known after the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution because it was a key detention facility for the Soviet secret police. And in the 1930s, the prison was a central holding place for those Joseph Stalin labeled enemies of the people.

The AP reports that Stalin's chief of secret police took part in some of the same. some prisoners interrogations and executions in the basement of the prison. Gershevik was arrested on spying charges, which the Wall Street Journal denies. In other world news, Pope Francis has been released from the hospital. The Pope was being treated in a Rome hospital for ronkitis. The Vatican has confirmed that Pope Francis will be in St. Peter's Square for Mass on Palm Sunday. And for our last story of the day, the New York Times is reporting that the Environmental Protection Agency gave California the green light to require that half of all

garbage trucks, tractor trailers, cement mixers, and other heavy vehicles sold in the state must be all-electric by 2035. EPA Administrator Michael Reagan said in a press release, under the Clean Air Act, California has long-standing authority to address pollution from cars and trucks. Today's announcement allows the state to take additional steps in reducing their transportation emissions through these new regulatory actions. California Governor Gavin Newsom weighed in on the news, tweeting, California leads the way once again. Time to stop playing small ball. Half of all heavy-duty trucks sold in California will be electric by 2035. The Hill reports comments made by Jed Mandel, who is the president of the Truck and Engine Manufacturers Association. Mandel said,

we've remained concerned that limiting manufacturers lead time to produce compliant vehicles will present significant challenges. Mandel added adequate lead time, regulatory stability, and the necessary zero-emission recharging and refueling infrastructure are imperative for manufacturers to develop, build, and sell the customer-acceptable, effective products capable of meeting the California Air Resources Board's Zero-Omission Vehicle Sales Mandates. And with that, that's going to do it for today's episode of the Daily Signals Top News. If you haven't gotten a chance, be sure to check out our morning show right here in this podcast feed, where we interview lawmakers, experts, and leading conservative voices.

Join me on Monday morning. I'll be sitting down with Diana Furch Gott Roth. She is the director of the Center for Energy, Climate, and Environment here at the Heritage Foundation, and we'll be discussing the passage of HR1 in the House of Representatives. her thoughts on President Biden's anticipated veto of the bill and why she thinks the Biden administration's energy policies are making China stronger. Also, we would love to hear what you think about the Daily Signal podcast. So leave us a rating and review on Apple Podcast, Spotify, wherever you like to listen.

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