Trump's Terms

For this episode of Trump's Trials, we hand the mic over to Consider This.

On Monday, former President Donald Trump will enter a Manhattan courtroom for his first criminal trial. But before a verdict can be rendered a jury must be selected. And for Trump's legal team that is going to be a challenge.

A small number of attorneys have faced a similar challenge — how do you select an impartial jury when your client is famous?

Host Scott Detrow speaks with attorney Camille Vasquez for insight into the art of jury selection in such a case. She represented Johnny Depp in his defamation suit against his ex-wife Amber Heard.

Topics include:
- Jury selection
- Jury questionnaire
- Questioning potential jurors
- What to look for in a juror

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This week on Trump's Trials, host Scott Detrow and Domenico Montanaro are joined by lawyer and former ambassador Norm Eisen.

On Monday, former President Donald Trump will enter a Manhattan courtroom as a defendant in a criminal trial. This will be the first time in American history a former president has faced criminal prosecution. Trump is charged with 34 counts related to falsifying businesses records. The prosecutor intends to connect alleged hush money payments made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels to interference in the 2016 election.

Topics include:
- Election connection to hush money case
- Jury questionnaire
- Key players

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This week on Trump's Trials, host Scott Detrow is joined by NPR Justice Correspondent Carrie Johnson and NYU law professor Melissa Murray.

This week Judge Aileen Cannon dismissed one of former President Donald Trump's motions to dismiss the Florida classified documents case. Trump argued that when he left the White House he designated the highly sensitive documents as "personal" under the Presidential Records Act.

But Cannon has not prevented Trump from using that same argument as part of his defense — something Special Counsel Jack Smith pushed back against in a recent brief.

Topics include:
- Presidential Records Act
- Jury instructions
- Gag order in hush money case
- Civil fraud bond

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For this episode of Trump's Trials, All Things Considered host Ari Shapiro speaks with Reuters reporter Ned Parker.

On Monday Judge Juan Merchan, who is overseeing the New York hush money case, expanded a gag order to protect his own family. That's after former President Donald Trump repeatedly attacked the judge's daughter on Truth Social. In his ruling Judge Merchan wrote, "the threat is very real."

This follows a recent report out from Reuters that found threats against federal judges, prosecutors, judicial staff and court buildings has tripled since 2015. Judges in federal Trump-related cases often receive death threats, credible enough to warrant protection from the U.S. Marshals Service.

Topics include:
- Increase in threats
- Connection to Trump
- Judges and U.S. Marshals' response

Follow the show on Apple Podcasts or Spotify for new episodes each Saturday.

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This week on Trump's Trials, host Scott Detrow is joined by retired Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer.

In Breyer's new book Reading the Constitution: Why I Chose Pragmatism, Not Textualism, Breyer explains why he finds textualism's popularity troublesome.

Textualism is the legal theory that argues the correct way to interpret the Constitution and statutes is to read the text as it was understood at the time the documents were written. Pragmatism, the legal theory Breyer favors, takes current social and political context into consideration when formulating a legal opinion.

In Breyer's view, textualism can weaken the public's faith in the rule of law and poses risks for the health of nation.

However, Breyer was reluctant to comment on cases pending before the court, like former President Donald Trump's claim he is immune from criminal prosecution because of presidential immunity.

Topics include:
- Pragmatism vs. textualism
- Public opinion of the court
- Trump and immunity

Follow the show on Apple Podcasts or Spotify for new episodes each Saturday.

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For this episode of Trump's Trials, we hand the mic over to the NPR Politics Podcast

Former President Donald Trump got a brief reprieve in his New York civil case, as the amount he owes to secure a $454 million bond has been temporarily reduced on appeal.

In another New York courtroom the judge overseeing the criminal hush money case set a new trial date — April 15th. The case was originally set to go to trial on March 25th but was delayed due to prosecution and defense receiving new documents from the U.S. attorney's office.

NPR Politics Podcast host and White House correspondent Deepa Shivaram is joined by justice correspondent Carrie Johnson and national political correspondent Mara Liasson.

Topics include:
- Civil fraud judgment lowered
- Impact on Trump campaign
- Next steps

Follow the show on Apple Podcasts or Spotify for new episodes each Saturday.

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For this episode of Trump's Trials, host Scott Detrow speaks with NPR's Andrea Bernstein.

An appeals court has cut the bond former President Donald Trump has to post from $454 million to $175 million in his civil fraud trial. The news came the same day as the deadline before the New York Attorney General could start seizing Trump properties to pay off the massive judgement. And in a separate New York court, a judge sharply rebuked Trump's lawyers in his hush money criminal case and set a trial date for April 15.

Topics include:
- How Trump bargained his way to a lower bond
- Trump's response to the criminal case against him going forward
- Next steps

Follow the show on Apple Podcasts or Spotify for new episodes each Saturday.

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This week on Trump's Trials, host Scott Detrow and Domenico Montanaro are joined law professor Kim Wehle.

On the eve of what should have been the start of the New York hush money trial we dive into the details of the case:

Former President Donald Trump is facing 34 counts related to payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels over an alleged affair she had with Trump. The payments were made in the fall of 2016, just months before the election.

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg is claiming those payments are a form of election interference, with the theory being by paying off Daniels, Trump prevented information about the alleged affair from reaching voters.

The case has been delayed to give the Trump team time to sort through hundreds of thousands of documents.

Meanwhile, Trump's $454 million civil fraud judement is due in less than 48 hours. His lawyers are claiming they are unable to come up with the bond to pay the judgment. We look into what could happen if Trump does not pay the state of New York.

Topics include:
- New York hush money case
- Southern District of New York documents
- Civil fraud judgement due
- What happens if Trump can't post the money

Follow the show on Apple Podcasts or Spotify for new episodes each Saturday.

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For this episode of Trump's Trials, NPR's Ari Shapiro speaks with NPR's Andrea Bernstein.

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg says there's no reason former president Donald Trump's hush money criminal trial can't start next month. Last week Bragg agreed to delay the trial - originally scheduled to begin on March 25th - for 30 days due to an influx of documents from the U.S. Attorney's office. Trump's attorneys have been arguing for an even longer delay of 90 days.

Topics include:
- Reason for delay in documents being delivered
- Trump's response
- Next steps

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For this episode of Trump's Trials, NPR's Ailsa Chang speaks with NPR's Andrea Bernstein.

Former President Donald Trump is claiming he cannot secure a bond for roughly half a billion dollars to cover the judgment from his New York civil fraud trial. Lawyers for Trump claim they approached 30 companies and four brokers and none were willing to give Trump the $454 million bond. Trump has until March 25th to file the bond or risk having some of his assets seized.

Topics include:
- Bond deadline
- Possible appeal
- Possible asset seizer

Follow the show on Apple Podcasts or Spotify for new episodes each Saturday.

Sign up for sponsor-free episodes and support NPR's political journalism at plus.npr.org/trumpstrials.

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See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.

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