Will Current Charges Hurt or Help Trump?

What’s Next For Trump?

We spend the first part of the show talking about the fact that we are now back in unprecedented times: In a first for a former US president, Donald Trump was indicted on criminal charges by a New York grand jury yesterday, his lawyers and prosecutors said.

So what are the charges?

The charges against Trump have not been revealed yet and are typically kept confidential until the defendant’s first court appearance, known as an arraignment. CNN reports that Trump will be arraigned in New York City next Tuesday. However, we know that the investigation revolves around the $130,000 paid to porn star Stormy Daniels as hush money by Trump’s former lawyer, Michael Cohen. Despite denying the affair and allegations of involvement in the payment, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg accuses Trump and his company of falsifying business records to conceal the payment. A successful conviction is not guaranteed and relies on an untested “novel legal theory,” which would require the prosecution to prove that Trump falsified the records to hide or commit a separate crime.

What’s everyone saying?

After the indictment, Democrats praised the justice system for holding the powerful accountable, while Republicans accused Democrats of attempting to damage Trump’s 2024 election prospects, which he may use as a campaign talking point. Trump will be fingerprinted and photographed during his arraignment in New York next week, and this could be the first of several indictments as he is currently being investigated in three other criminal probes, including one involving classified documents.

What we read about it:

Other Stories That Feel Like They Should Get More Attention

Here are two other major stories that might get overshadowed because of the Trumo news

On Thursday, a federal judge in Texas ruled that Obamacare’s requirement for health insurance to cover preventive health care at no cost is unconstitutional and struck it down nationwide. The ruling affects PrEP for HIV, cancer screenings, mammograms, and some prenatal care including screenings for gestational diabetes and preeclampsia. Insurance companies can choose to continue covering these services cost-free, but others may go back to charging deductibles or co-pays. This could lead to people not getting adequate health care and getting sick or dying. Two Texas companies sued the Department of Health and Human Services in 2020, claiming they wanted to provide health insurance to employees that didn’t cover PrEP drugs because they objected to it “on religious grounds.” The judge ruled that the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) did not have the constitutional authority to decide what preventive care should be covered without cost-sharing. The case is Braidwood Management Inc. v. Xavier Becerra and the plaintiffs’ lawyer is Jonathan Mitchell, the architect of the Texas abortion ban and a strident homophobe. Braidwood’s owner is Republican megadonor Steven Hotze, who has compared gay people to termites that “eat away at the very moral fabric of the foundation of our country.” He’s also been charged for bankrolling a 2020 election fraud scheme. The Biden administration will likely appeal the Obamacare ruling, but it may face a conservative supermajority Supreme Court. This decision comes as we await a ruling from a different Texas judge in a case where anti-abortion groups sued the Food and Drug Administration to revoke approval for a key medication abortion drug.

Russian authorities have arrested Evan Gershkovich, an American citizen, and journalist with The Wall Street Journal, on charges of espionage, in a move that highlights the dangers faced by independent journalism in the country. Gershkovich was reporting in the city of Yekaterinburg when he was arrested by the Federal Security Service (FSB) on charges of collecting information about one of the enterprises of the Russian military-industrial complex that constitutes a state secret. The Journal has denied the allegations and stands in solidarity with Gershkovich and his family. This is reportedly the first time an American journalist has been arrested in Russia on espionage charges since the end of the Cold War.

The timing of the arrest is notable, as last week the US indicted suspected Russian spy Sergey Cherkasov, who was operating under the name Victor Ferreira, for his activities in Washington. Some experts speculate that Gershkovich’s arrest may be a retaliatory move or an attempt to use him as leverage in a prisoner swap for Cherkasov. US diplomats are reportedly working to meet with Gershkovich in person, while the US government has been working for years to secure the release of Paul Whelan, an American security consultant arrested in Russia on espionage charges in 2018.

The deteriorating relationship between the US and Russia, particularly over the conflict in Ukraine, has created a climate in which journalists reporting on security issues are vulnerable to being targeted. The arrest of Gershkovich is a worrying development for independent journalism in Russia, as it could discourage journalists from reporting on sensitive topics for fear of retaliation by the authorities.