Former President Trump faces a range of legal liabilities, including charges of falsifying business records, election fraud, mishandling national security documents, and subverting the 2020 election.
The Manhattan charges, related to falsifying business records, are seen as less threatening but may be the first case to go to trial. The Georgia charges, involving election fraud, are significant as they could not be pardoned at the federal level.
The case of national security documents highlights the mishandling of classified information and the efforts to hide them. The 2020 election subversion case raises constitutional questions about the prosecution of a former president.
The likelihood of conviction varies across the cases, with higher chances in the Manhattan and Georgia charges and lower chances in the Florida case. The role of Chief Prosecutor Jack Smith and the independence of the Department of Justice are also discussed.
Chapters
00:00 Introduction and Overview
01:15 Manhattan Charges: Falsifying Business Records
04:56 Importance of State-Level Charges
08:11 Billionaire Defense and Questionable Accounting Practices
10:33 Georgia Charges: Election Fraud
18:28 Introduction to Chief Prosecutor Jack Smith
24:41 National Security Documents Case
33:30 2020 Election Subversion Case
42:01 Likelihood of Conviction and Prison Time
ABOUT MASTERING THE ROOM
Mastering the Room is a bite-sized podcast from GW’s Graduate School of Political Management, hosted by political analyst and professor Casey Burgat. In less time than the average morning commute, you’ll get smarter on today’s issues with information and perspectives you won’t get anywhere else.
The podcast challenges guests to go beyond the Sunday show talking points and offer a deeper understanding of polarizing topics, discussing points of view that few have heard before.
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ABOUT CASEY BURGAT
Mastering the Room host, Casey Burgat, is the Director of the Legislative Affairs program at the George Washington University Graduate School of Political Management. Prior to joining GSPM, Dr. Burgat was a Senior Governance Fellow at the R Street Institute where his research focused on issues of Congressional capacity and reform. Mr. Burgat is known for his regular contributions to scholarly and journalistic publications, including CNN, the Washington Post, and Politico, and has appeared on a variety of television and radio outlets. Dr. Burgat co-authored Congress Explained: Representation and Lawmaking in the First Branch, a textbook on all things Congress, published by the Sage/CQ Press in the fall of 2022.
Law Professor Stephen Saltzburg on Trump Trials