Trump This is persecution of a political opponent
Trump This is persecution of a political opponent
Transcript
00:00 It was a very sad day for America.
00:03 And it was also very sad driving through Washington,
00:06 D.C., and seeing the filth and the decay and all of
00:11 the broken buildings and walls and the graffiti.
00:14 This is not the place that I left.
00:17 It's a very sad thing to see it.
00:19 When you look at what's happening, this is a
00:21 persecution of a political opponent.
00:25 This was never supposed to happen in America.
00:28 This is the persecution of the person that's leading
00:31 by very, very substantial numbers in the Republican
00:34 primary and leading Biden by a lot.
00:37 So if you can't beat him, you persecute him or you
00:40 prosecute him.
00:41 We can't let this happen in America.
00:43 Thank you very much, everybody.
00:44 Do you want these trials to happen before the 2024 election?
00:51 So there we are.
00:52 Donald Trump is heading back to Bedminster on his
00:55 plane, and he said that it was a sad day for America.
01:00 He then said it was sad to see the filth and decay,
01:04 as he put it, in Washington.
01:07 Has to be said, not a city he's ever been that fond of.
01:11 He famously called it the swamp and said he would drain it.
01:15 He then went on to say that it is nothing short of
01:19 political persecution, political persecution of a
01:23 person leading the Republican primary.
01:27 So a very short speech from Donald Trump, very brief
01:33 and no questions.
01:35 And he will now be heading off back to, we think,
01:39 Bedminster in New Jersey, his golf club there,
01:43 with his legal team, who will be all on that plane with him.
01:50 And his hearing is done.
01:53 He has pleaded not guilty.
01:55 James Matthews is still at the courthouse.
02:00 And James, very brief words from Donald Trump,
02:04 but typically defiant.
02:06 Yeah, typically defiant.
02:12 And we've heard all that before.
02:14 The central theme is that this is a political witch hunt,
02:18 a weaponization of the justice system.
02:21 That feeds into his fundraising.
02:23 It feeds into his presidential campaign.
02:26 What will his defense be?
02:28 Well, I think we've got a sense of that.
02:30 Actually, before the hearing, Mark,
02:31 we heard from Elena Habba, Donald Trump's lawyer.
02:35 And amidst all the talk of individuals
02:38 who were in the room, Donald Trump's inner circle
02:42 telling him, warning him, that he had lost the election,
02:45 that claims of a rigged election were false,
02:49 she made the point that this was a man receiving advice
02:52 from many people, not necessarily all of whom
02:55 were giving him the same advice.
02:56 So that seems to chime with what we've
02:59 heard from his legal team, that one strand of his defense
03:03 will be that he was acting on the advice of his lawyers.
03:07 Therefore, he was an innocent in all of this.
03:11 I mean, that will be played out in due course.
03:14 A trial date due to be fixed on the 28th of August
03:17 at the next hearing.
03:19 It is being billed here, quite rightly, I think,
03:21 as the most significant, the biggest criminal trial
03:26 in American history.
03:27 The prosecution of a former president
03:30 for nothing less than crimes against democracy.
03:33 It's no ordinary case.
03:35 It will have no ordinary consequences.
03:38 And as you say, James, I mean, the argument now
03:41 is going on about when this trial should take place.
03:44 Trump's lawyer, I see, said in this hearing
03:47 that the time frame of the government is absurd.
03:50 Yeah, the government wants to get it on quickly.
03:58 A speedy trial, as I say, that places a 70-day limit.
04:02 So they want to bring this to court in short order.
04:07 Donald Trump's team say that's just not realistic.
04:10 Given the amount of discovery.
04:13 Actually, what they said was they want to take a couple of days
04:16 for discovery to get a handle on the amount of material
04:19 and evidence that they have to go through
04:22 so that they can build an appropriate defence
04:26 for Donald Trump.
04:27 And it's important that this is seen to be fair at this stage
04:32 for all concerned, certainly for the legal process.
04:35 Because if there is seen to be a misstep by the presiding
04:40 judge, then there is, of course, the possibility
04:43 that that could lead to an appeal following any conviction.
04:47 But the clock is ticking.
04:49 Politically, the clock is very much ticking.
04:52 And the deadline is tight.
04:53 There's a presidential election in November 2024.
04:58 Donald Trump is facing three criminal trials,
05:00 which will punctuate his presidential campaign.
05:03 The question is, will we be looking at Donald Trump,
05:06 the convict, by the time we get to the next election?
05:10 He will hope, one thinks, one imagines.
05:13 I think it's fair to say that as far as possible,
05:16 he can push each of those criminal trials beyond the election.
05:21 And should he win in November 2024, then he finds himself,
05:26 or will do, in a position to influence the charges against him,
05:29 to sack the prosecutors who have been chasing him.
05:32 And of course, to line up a presidential pardon,
05:35 not for the first time, but this time for himself.
05:38 [BLANK_AUDIO]