Photo: Photo: Ed Jones/AFP/Getty


UPDATE, APR 6:

An interview with a different perspective….

I spoke with Nuala McGovern on BBC Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour about the legal and political dimensions of the Trump indictment.

However, we focus on Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal, the two women whose sexual encounters with Trump in 2006-2007 eventually led to the criminal charges. The payoffs to each were part of a “catch and kill” plan — developed by Trump, his lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen, and National Enquirer published David Pecker — to suppress any stories jeopardizing the campaign for the Presidency.

Listen to Discussion from 2:10

We also discuss the importance of returning to a focus in the US on women’s rights, housing, education, health care, abortion, and other essential day-to-day issues.

There are the many cases of individual women accusing Trump of sexual abuse.

But there are also the issues of women’s rights. Think about the Women’s March in 2017 and 2018 to highlight them.

In his battle against the “system”, Trump has always put himself first, rather than the needs of women.


ORIGINAL ENTRY, APR 5:

I joined the BBC on Tuesday night and Wednesday morning to explain and analyze the arraignment of Donald Trump of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records, part of a plan to interfere in the 2016 Presidential election.

Listen to Wednesday’s BBC 5 Live from 1:07.10

In a 10-minute chat with Rick Edwards, I discuss the significance of the indictment, the next steps in the legal process and in other cases against Trump, and the challenge of Trump to the Republican Party and the US system.

As an analyst, I’m not allowed to use the word “unhinged” about Trump’s speech last night.

He not only attacked Democrats and radical lefties. He attacked the District Attorney, prosecutors, the judge, the judge’s wife, the judge’s daughter….

He and his supporters are going to make this a choice: you choose Trump or you choose the US legal system. There is no in-between.

Listen to Tuesday’s BBC 5 Live from 06:50 to 45:50

Alongside Catie Edmondson of The New York Times, I joined Nick Bright soon after the arraignment and the unsealing of the charges by Judge Juan Marchan.

I explain the “two-stage” indictment, discuss the legal process, and consider the attempt by Trump and his allies to undermine that process through misinformation and gaslighting.

Trump’s hope is to put his thumb on the scales of justice by saying, “Look, if you keep this case up, I’ll get re-elected.”

Those political manipulations should not affect this legal process. But there’s always a danger that the media keeps building a Trump “base” as the primary folks to watch.

When they do that, Trump controls the narrative. And if he controls the narrative, he escapes accountability.

After a break for the news, I profile Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg. I outline his background — including his successful prosecution of the Trump Foundation in 2017 and his attention to white-collar crime — to explain why he has now charged a former President of the US.

See also Why Trump Was Arraigned On 34 Felony Counts

EA on International TV and Radio: The Indictment — Trump v. the US Legal System