Once again, Donald Trump made history on Monday, becoming the first American president to ever stand on criminal charges.The former president has been charged with 34 counts of falsifying business records in a bid to conceal a hush money payment made to adult film star Stormy Daniels in the lead-up to the 2016 presidential election.The charges on their own are misdemeanours but have been elevated to felonies because Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg says they occurred to violate state or federal election laws.Independent TV's Richard Hall spoke with supporters and protesters alike outside court.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00 So after months and months and months of delays, attempted delays, gag orders and many, many,
00:05 many angry social media posts, Donald Trump's criminal trial finally starts today and protesters
00:11 in favour of Donald Trump and against Donald Trump have gathered here.
00:14 There are about 20 to 30 journalists for every one protester.
00:17 In fact, I think there are more people from German TV than there are actual protesters
00:22 here today.
00:23 Can I ask why you came down today?
00:26 I came down to support my president.
00:28 They put 96 charges on him.
00:30 This one is paying a prostitute.
00:33 Now what man didn't pay for a prostitute in the United States?
00:36 I know I did plenty of times.
00:38 To be fair, the charges are that he tried to influence the outcome of the election by
00:42 telling her to be quiet and not say anything about this.
00:45 I've been to Thailand, so I'm not really going to judge my future president on what he did
00:49 in his personal life.
00:50 A bunch of people have told me that today.
00:52 They said I've dealt with prostitutes.
00:53 I've been to Thailand three times.
00:54 Yeah, sure.
00:55 What do you think I do in Thailand?
00:56 Just sit in a chair?
00:57 I don't know.
00:58 I don't do anything.
00:59 I go out and I have fun with women.
01:00 You know, that's what we do as men.
01:01 Donald Trump did nothing wrong!
01:02 Donald Trump did nothing wrong!
01:03 Donald Trump did nothing wrong!
01:04 Donald Trump, for the first time in 77 years, is finally being held accountable for being
01:09 a career conman, a career liar, a cheat, and a fraud.
01:13 Today is the beginning, finally, of the criminal aspect of justice being served.
01:18 So this case is not about an affair.
01:21 I think what's really essential for people to understand is that the case is about Donald
01:25 Trump's effort to interfere successfully in the 2016 election.
01:30 Do you think that this trial is going to be the start of some kind of accountability for
01:33 him?
01:34 If they have a fair jury, I think they'll convict him.
01:37 Alex, you've been in the court.
01:38 Can you tell us anything about Trump's demeanor in there?
01:40 Yeah, I mean, he has to be here, right?
01:42 Like, this is his first criminal trial.
01:44 But he does look a little bored, a little listless.
01:46 He typically keeps his hands folded in front of him, kind of stares into a middle distance.
01:50 This is not in his comfort zone, which is, you know, you can really mark the disparity
01:56 from how he acts online, how he acts at his rallies, and, you know, what he's forced to
02:00 do when he goes into the court of law.
02:02 This is an assault on America.
02:03 Nothing like this has ever happened before.
02:08 [BLANK_AUDIO]