Trump claims free speech protects him from Georgia prosecution | The Excerpt

On Friday’s episode of The Excerpt podcast: Former President Donald Trump's lawyers are arguing that the First Amendment and free speech should protect him from prosecution in Georgia on charges he tried to steal the 2020 election. USA TODAY Pentagon Correspondent Tom Vanden Brook talks exclusively to the commander of the Army Corps of Engineers about how the Francis Scott Key bridge cleanup will happen. Three former presidents were in a single room Thursday night, in the biggest fundraiser of the campaign cycle so far. FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried will spend more than two decades behind bars. And fast-food workers are losing their jobs in California after a minimum wage increase goes into law.

Hit play on the player below to hear the podcast and follow along with the transcript beneath it.  This transcript was automatically generated, and then edited for clarity in its current form. There may be some differences between the audio and the text.

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Sara Ganim:

Good morning. I'm Sara Ganim filling in for Taylor Wilson. Today is Friday, March 29th, 2024. This is The Excerpt. Today, former President Donald Trump makes another attempt to get charges of election interference in Georgia. Tossed plus a USA Today exclusive about what's next for the cleanup of the Francis Scott Key Bridge and FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried is given a lengthy prison sentence for stealing billions from customers.

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Former President Donald Trump's lawyers were back in court in Georgia yesterday arguing that Trump should not be prosecuted for trying to steal the 2020 election. For more on what happened, I spoke with USA Today Justice Department correspondent Bart Jansen. Bart, thanks so much for joining The Excerpt.

Bart Jansen:

Thanks for having me.

Sara Ganim:

What happened? What did Trump's lawyers argue yesterday?

Bart Jansen:

Trump's lawyer was trying to throw out the charges based largely on the argument that every time that he's accused of doing something, that basically he was saying something or conveying a message and his lawyers were saying, well, he was talking about politics and the management of elections. That should be the highest level of protected speech under the First Amendment. And so how could you possibly charge somebody for just exercising their right to free speech?

Sara Ganim:

And how did prosecutors respond?

Bart Jansen:

Well, they said even if the stuff was true that he was saying, that you could still charge him because he was effectively coordinating or directing criminal activity by others, which is why the overall charges in the case are a conspiracy. The allegations are that 19 people got together and through various illegal activities conspired to try to steal the 2020 election. Four of those people have already pleaded guilty. The other 15, including Trump, have pleaded not guilty. So the prosecutors say it doesn't even matter if it's true, it's that he was coordinating people and communicating with them and that they were conspiring together. Now, the prosecutors go a step further and say most of what he was saying was lies. He was alleging widespread election fraud that state and federal officials investigated and found no evidence of widespread fraud. Of course, his lawyers say that even if he was lying, you still have to protect that speech. They don't really concede that he was lying, but even if he was, you have to allow people to be wrong in political debate.

Sara Ganim:

Trump has tried this First Amendment argument before in trying to get a similar case in Washington DC dismissed. Is there a chance he could get a different result in Georgia?

Bart Jansen:

Well, there's absolutely a chance that he could because it's a different judge and it's a different jurisdiction and it's state level charges instead of federal charges. But in the federal case, which is also largely the same allegations US District Judge Tanya Chutkan has already reviewed this argument. She did an exhaustive study of whether he should be shielded from the charges because of the First Amendment, and she ruled that he should not, but Fulton County Superior Judge Scott McAfee is a different judge. He's shown himself to be a pretty thoughtful guy and so he could potentially reach a different decision, but he didn't sound like he was agreeing with Trump. He said that those are facts that the jury should weigh and should be decided at trial. He did not issue a decision from the bench and he sounded skeptical of the First Amendment argument.

Sara Ganim:

What's next for this case?

Bart Jansen:

They'll be debating these pretrial motions for at least weeks and maybe months yet before any trial starts. Fulton County District Attorney, Fani Willis has requested a start for the trial August 5th, but Judge McAfee has not yet ruled on that request or set any date, but he continues to iron out these disputes about what issues can be debated, how issues will be debated before the trial. So there's a lot more pretrial work to do on this before we get to the full trial.

Sara Ganim:

And Bart, where does this case fall in terms of the calendar compared to the other three criminal cases that Trump has pending?

Bart Jansen:

The race is on to try to get any of these trials completed with verdicts before the November election. The best chance looks like New York, then perhaps the federal case in Washington DC on election interference. And Georgia, Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis would like hers to be in that mix with an August start, but that has not been assigned yet.

Sara Ganim:

Thank you so much, Bart. I really appreciate your info and your context, all of your reporting.

Bart Jansen:

Thanks for having me.

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Sara Ganim:

The wreckage of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore and the grounded cargo ship that crashed into it early Tuesday is presenting a deadly hazard to divers who are trying to clear the channel and search for missing bodies. This comes from the commander of the Army Corps of Engineers in an interview exclusive to USA Today. Lieutenant General Scott Spellmon told USA Today Pentagon correspondent Tom Vanden Brook, that this is a very complex and challenging operation. The predawn bridge collapsed, killed six construction workers, but as of early this morning, only two bodies have been recovered from the site. The fatal event resulted in about 3,600 feet of steel bridge supports plunging into the channel. Some of that structure remains draped over the grounded cargo ship that caused the collapse. Lieutenant General Spellmon said rescuers have to go down approximately five stories where there is no sunlight to do their recovery work maneuvering around razor sharp broken metal that could be deadly.

Spellmon said that one of the largest cranes in the country is now headed to the site to help move the 4,000 tons of metal. But to do that, the Army Corps of Engineers will have to cut the metal into at least four sections. They'll then have to remove the concrete and mangled reinforcing bars that have sunk to the bottom of the channel. Spellmon said that all of the debris will need to be removed to make sure the channel remains clear for transit and the process can't even start until the analysis of how to accomplish all of this safely is complete, something that could take several more days. Meanwhile, Secretary Pete Buttigieg announced last night that the first $60 million in federal funds to support Maryland's rebuilding effort have been approved. You can follow the latest developments at usatoday.com.

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Last night, a star-studded group of commanders in chief were out to help shore up support for President Joe Biden's reelection campaign. As the current Democratic presidential nominee looks to unite the party, former presidents, Obama and Clinton co-headlined a high dollar fundraiser at New York's Radio City Music Hall. More than 5,000 supporters attended the sold out event, making it the most lucrative fundraiser so far this election cycle. USA Today White House correspondent Joey Garrison, joins The Excerpt to shed light on what the event did for President Biden's campaign. Joey, thanks for being here today.

Joey Garrison:

Hey, thanks for having me on.

Sara Ganim:

Tell us what made this event so unusual?

Joey Garrison:

Well, so a few things. So last night, President Biden's campaign raised $25 million or more. We're still waiting for a final tally, which if you ask the campaign, that makes it the most lucrative fundraising event really in the history of politics. So first and foremost, it raised a ton of money for the Biden campaign, which has already outraged Donald Trump so far. Secondly, it's just very rare that you have three presidents altogether in this way. Obviously, you have Biden supported by two of the previous Democratic presidents, Obama, Clinton. That in itself isn't unusual, but ironically, if you look at Donald Trump, he doesn't enjoy that same luxury. Of course, he's alienated himself from much of kind of the old Republican Guard, including former President George W. Bush.

Sara Ganim:

$25 million is a lot of money. But beyond that, what did this event mean for the Democratic Party?

Joey Garrison:

Biden is still trying to shore up support among all the factions within the party. And so right now, Biden has been struggling in polls head to head with Donald Trump. And the main reason for that is he's underperforming with some of the key constituencies who tend to vote democratic. Those include black voters. He's underperforming there, as well as Latino voters, young voters, the progressive wing of the party. And so to have Obama, who still is the most popular figure in the Democratic Party to be out there, it shows a unified front that's signaling a message to Democrats whether or not Biden might not be the person they wanted to see there to get on board. And the message we heard from Biden as well as the former presidents, Obama and Clinton were all the same. And that's the urgency to beat Trump, and they're all unified with that message, that Trump presents what they say is a real threat to this country.

Sara Ganim:

There has been some speculation over the last few years that the relationship between Obama and Biden has frayed a little bit. Were you surprised to see them come together for this?

Joey Garrison:

No, not at all. And I think anything that speculated on that might be a little overblown. I think the biggest difficulty for Biden is Biden is still kind of operating in the shadow of Obama. Of course, Biden who had been in politics for decades really didn't see his rise to the stage that we see him now. It's only the result of Obama picking him as his vice president. And he stood with two presidents in Obama and Clinton who've really kind of created their own legacies for themselves. Whereas Biden is still kind of trying to figure out, I think what his legacy is going to be.

Obama campaign vigorously for Biden in the 2020 campaign. And Obama is first of all quite alarmed by the possibility of Trump getting into the White House again. And I think the way Trump followed him into the White House in 2016, that's something that I think has always upset Obama. I think the real concern that Obama has, that Trump could actually win this means that Obama is going to be there campaigning for Biden every step of the way for the next seven, eight months until the November election.

Sara Ganim:

Joey Garrison is a White House correspondent for USA Today. Joey, thank you so much.

Joey Garrison:

Hey, thanks for having me on.

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Sara Ganim:

FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried was sentenced to 25 years in prison yesterday for stealing $8 billion from customers. It's the end of a dramatic downfall for the former billionaire Wonder Kind. A US district judge rejected Bankman-Fried's claim that the customers of the now bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange did not actually lose any money, accusing him of lying during his trial testimony. The disgraced crypto boss was found guilty in November of seven fraud and conspiracy counts stemming from FTXs 2022 collapse in what prosecutors have called one of the biggest financial frauds in US history. Bankman-Fried said in a statement to the judge that FTX customers have suffered and he apologized to his former colleagues. At the same time, he also vowed to appeal his conviction and his sentence.

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Fast food workers in California are losing their jobs as restaurant chains there are preparing to meet a new $20 minimum wage set to go into effect on April 1st. The restaurants making cuts are mostly pizzerias according to a report published by The Wall Street Journal, which said that multiple businesses will be laying off hundreds of workers while also cutting back hours for those who remain. California Governor Gavin Newsom signed the landmark legislation last September forcing food chains with 60 or more locations nationwide to increase wages. After the bill was signed, Pizza Hut announced the slashing of more than 1200 delivery jobs. And Excalibur Pizza says it will cut 21% of its workforce. Chipotle's CFO told Yahoo Finance that the company will be forced to increase prices to comply.

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And before we go, today marks the one-year anniversary of the arrest and imprisonment of Wall Street Journal Reporter Evan Gershkovich by Russian authorities. USA Today recognizes the incredible value that reporters like Evan bring to our understanding of complex topics around the world. Journalism is not a crime. We at USA Today stand with Evan and call for his immediate release. To show your support, The Wall Street Journal has a list of things that you can do. There's a link in today's show notes.

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Thanks as always for listening to The Excerpt. You can get the podcast wherever you get your audio, and if you're on a smart speaker, just ask for The Excerpt. We are produced by Shannon Rae Green and Bradley Glanzrock. Our executive producer is Laura Beatty. I'm Sara Ganim, filling in for Taylor Wilson, who will be back tomorrow with more of The Excerpt from USA Today.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump claims free speech protects him from prosecution | The Excerpt