Earlier this week, on Tuesday, April 4, former President Donald Trump was indicted in a Manhattan court on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records related to hush money payments to porn star Stormy Daniels. President Trump pleaded not guilty. This indictment is legally and constitutionally significant as it is the first indictment of a president in American history. In this episode, David French, an opinion columnist at The New York Times and co-host of Advisory Opinions, and Kimberly Wehle, professor of law at the University of Baltimore School of Law and a legal analyst at ABC News, join to help break down the legal charges against former president Trump as well as the broader legal significance of this case. Host Jeffrey Rosen moderates.
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Today’s episode was produced by Lana Ulrich, Bill Pollock, and Sam Desai. It was engineered by Greg Scheckler. Research was provided by Sophia Gardell, Emily Campbell, Sam Desai, and Lana Ulrich.
Participants
David French is an opinion columnist at The New York Times. He also hosts the legal podcast Advisory Opinions. Before that, he was a senior editor at The Dispatch, which he helped start, and a contributing writer at The Atlantic. He is a former president of the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE). His most recent book is Divided We Fall: America’s Secession Threat and How to Restore Our Nation.
Kimberly Wehle is professor of law at the University of Baltimore School of Law. She is the author of three books that explain complex constitutional concepts for lay audiences. She is an ABC legal contributor and an opinion contributor to The Atlantic, Politico, The Bulwark and The Hill. Previously, she was a contributor for BBC World News and BBC World News America on PBS, and an on-air legal analyst and commentator for CBS News. She hosts a show on Instagram called #SimplePolitics with Kim Wehle at @kimwehle.
Jeffrey Rosen is the president and CEO of the National Constitution Center, a nonpartisan nonprofit organization devoted to educating the public about the U.S. Constitution. Rosen is also professor of law at The George Washington University Law School and a contributing editor of The Atlantic.
Additional Resources
- “District Attorney Bragg Announces 34-Count Felony Indictment of Former President Donald J. Trump,” (Apr. 4,2023)
- People v. Trump, Indictment
- People v. Trump, Statement of Facts
- David French, “What You Need to Know About the Trump Charges,” The New York Times (Apr. 4, 2023)
- Kim Wehle, “The Case Against Trump: The Charges and the Facts Behind Them,” The Bulwark (Apr. 4, 2032)
TRANSCRIPT
This transcript may not be in its final form, accuracy may vary, and it may be updated or revised in the future.
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