1 00:00:02,400 --> 00:00:11,960 Speaker 1: Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio news. This is Bloomberg Law 2 00:00:12,240 --> 00:00:15,000 Speaker 1: with June Brusso from Bloomberg Radio. 3 00:00:17,600 --> 00:00:20,840 Speaker 2: Everything was done with the knowledge and at the direction 4 00:00:21,160 --> 00:00:21,960 Speaker 2: of mister Trump. 5 00:00:22,520 --> 00:00:26,159 Speaker 3: Michael Cohen is telling jurors at Donald Trump's trial the 6 00:00:26,239 --> 00:00:29,680 Speaker 3: same thing he told Congress back in twenty nineteen, that 7 00:00:29,840 --> 00:00:32,600 Speaker 3: everything he did in the hush money scheme to pay 8 00:00:32,600 --> 00:00:36,760 Speaker 3: off adult film actress Stormy Daniels was done at Trump's 9 00:00:36,800 --> 00:00:41,040 Speaker 3: direction to help the former president influence the twenty sixteen election. 10 00:00:41,479 --> 00:00:45,280 Speaker 3: Cohen is the prosecution star witness, the only witness to 11 00:00:45,360 --> 00:00:49,000 Speaker 3: testify about what Trump allegedly said about the one hundred 12 00:00:49,000 --> 00:00:51,640 Speaker 3: and thirty thousand dollars payment at the center of the 13 00:00:51,640 --> 00:00:56,120 Speaker 3: case against Trump for falsifying business records. But on cross 14 00:00:56,160 --> 00:01:01,520 Speaker 3: examination on Thursday, Trump's lawyer grilled Cohen for hours about 15 00:01:01,520 --> 00:01:05,280 Speaker 3: his well documented history of lying under oath and about 16 00:01:05,319 --> 00:01:10,160 Speaker 3: possible inconsistencies in his trial testimony, questioning whether he really 17 00:01:10,200 --> 00:01:13,600 Speaker 3: got approval from Trump for the hush money payment. Joining 18 00:01:13,600 --> 00:01:15,800 Speaker 3: me is former federal prosecutor Jeff Psi. 19 00:01:16,480 --> 00:01:16,800 Speaker 2: Jeff. 20 00:01:16,840 --> 00:01:20,400 Speaker 3: It may not have been an elegant cross examination, but 21 00:01:20,720 --> 00:01:25,160 Speaker 3: the defense attorney Todd Blanche made some inroads in undercutting 22 00:01:25,200 --> 00:01:29,039 Speaker 3: Cohen's credibility and even some of the testimony he just 23 00:01:29,240 --> 00:01:31,560 Speaker 3: gave it the trial on direct examination. 24 00:01:32,200 --> 00:01:35,360 Speaker 4: Every trial, whether it's as a high profile as this 25 00:01:35,400 --> 00:01:38,640 Speaker 4: one or an average case that occurs in courtrooms across 26 00:01:38,640 --> 00:01:43,000 Speaker 4: this country, are always won or lost at cross examination. 27 00:01:43,400 --> 00:01:47,240 Speaker 4: And the reason is because cross examination is the ultimate 28 00:01:47,319 --> 00:01:51,160 Speaker 4: test of credibility. It's the issue that is swirling around 29 00:01:51,200 --> 00:01:54,520 Speaker 4: this trial. It swirls around every trial, and you see 30 00:01:54,520 --> 00:01:57,880 Speaker 4: it magnified more because so much of the case resides 31 00:01:58,120 --> 00:02:01,040 Speaker 4: in the testimony of Michael Cohen. What you saw earlier 32 00:02:01,200 --> 00:02:03,960 Speaker 4: in the trial was an effort by the prosecution to 33 00:02:04,160 --> 00:02:08,000 Speaker 4: bolster what ultimately would be a lot of the problems 34 00:02:08,040 --> 00:02:11,240 Speaker 4: that are associated with Michael Cohen by virtue of some 35 00:02:11,320 --> 00:02:14,160 Speaker 4: of the lies that were told, things that are true 36 00:02:14,320 --> 00:02:17,000 Speaker 4: versus untrue, et cetera. But at the end of the day, 37 00:02:17,320 --> 00:02:19,800 Speaker 4: the case is still going to come down to whether 38 00:02:19,919 --> 00:02:23,919 Speaker 4: or not, on a very fundamental level, the jury trusts 39 00:02:24,000 --> 00:02:27,480 Speaker 4: that what Michael Cohen is saying as the very nucleus 40 00:02:27,600 --> 00:02:31,160 Speaker 4: of his testimony, that the former president knew what was 41 00:02:31,200 --> 00:02:34,240 Speaker 4: going on and that he directed this to happen, which 42 00:02:34,280 --> 00:02:37,480 Speaker 4: is to say the payments for purposes of assisting his 43 00:02:37,520 --> 00:02:40,080 Speaker 4: own campaign for president. That's what this is going to 44 00:02:40,080 --> 00:02:43,560 Speaker 4: come down to. And so often in cross examinations, just 45 00:02:43,760 --> 00:02:46,920 Speaker 4: like this one, they can take several days. Sometimes they 46 00:02:46,960 --> 00:02:49,840 Speaker 4: have lots of valleys, and then on occasion they've got 47 00:02:49,880 --> 00:02:53,000 Speaker 4: some of these peaks, and the question is for the jury, 48 00:02:53,400 --> 00:02:56,040 Speaker 4: what are they going to remember the most, the peaks 49 00:02:56,200 --> 00:02:57,240 Speaker 4: or the valleys. 50 00:02:57,440 --> 00:03:00,680 Speaker 3: The first day on cross, the defense and he tried 51 00:03:00,720 --> 00:03:04,720 Speaker 3: to bring out Michael Cohen's bias against Trump, which is 52 00:03:04,760 --> 00:03:09,400 Speaker 3: pretty obvious considering his books and podcasts and merchandising. But 53 00:03:09,480 --> 00:03:12,799 Speaker 3: in the second day on cross Thursday, Blanche got more 54 00:03:12,840 --> 00:03:16,200 Speaker 3: aggressive and he reminded jurors that Cohen had lied to 55 00:03:16,320 --> 00:03:19,640 Speaker 3: Congress in sworn testimony, and he lied to a federal 56 00:03:19,760 --> 00:03:22,880 Speaker 3: judge under oath when he pleaded guilty to tax crimes, 57 00:03:23,080 --> 00:03:26,120 Speaker 3: and on cross he conceded that he had perjured himself 58 00:03:26,160 --> 00:03:29,359 Speaker 3: because the outcome affected him personally. Do you think that 59 00:03:29,440 --> 00:03:30,640 Speaker 3: resonates with the jury. 60 00:03:31,200 --> 00:03:34,560 Speaker 4: I think issues of credibility always hit the jury, and 61 00:03:34,600 --> 00:03:36,280 Speaker 4: in this case, I think what you're seeing in the 62 00:03:36,320 --> 00:03:41,320 Speaker 4: cross examination is an effort to undermine his credibility by 63 00:03:41,360 --> 00:03:45,720 Speaker 4: demonstrating that Michael Cohen is motivated by something at this 64 00:03:45,920 --> 00:03:49,840 Speaker 4: moment other than the truth. It is, generally speaking, for 65 00:03:49,880 --> 00:03:53,360 Speaker 4: the prosecution, a rather black and white issue jury. You 66 00:03:53,440 --> 00:03:55,360 Speaker 4: don't have to like this person, you don't have to 67 00:03:55,680 --> 00:03:58,040 Speaker 4: want to go out for a beer with this person, 68 00:03:58,320 --> 00:04:00,160 Speaker 4: but at the end of the day, he or she 69 00:04:00,280 --> 00:04:04,920 Speaker 4: is telling you the truth. That is an important prosecution argument, right. 70 00:04:04,960 --> 00:04:08,280 Speaker 4: It's a very black and white good versus evil mana 71 00:04:08,320 --> 00:04:12,040 Speaker 4: chean kind of duel that the prosecution sets up. But 72 00:04:12,440 --> 00:04:15,000 Speaker 4: it's a lot more nuanced for the defense and what 73 00:04:15,040 --> 00:04:18,039 Speaker 4: they need to establish, and especially in a person like 74 00:04:18,080 --> 00:04:22,480 Speaker 4: Michael Cohen, is that there is a motivation underlying what 75 00:04:22,600 --> 00:04:25,560 Speaker 4: he is doing that goes beyond just the issue of 76 00:04:25,920 --> 00:04:29,320 Speaker 4: that is a truthful statement versus that as a false statement. 77 00:04:29,640 --> 00:04:31,839 Speaker 4: What they want to establish. And I think what you've 78 00:04:31,880 --> 00:04:34,760 Speaker 4: been seeing through the cross examination, whether it's talking about 79 00:04:34,839 --> 00:04:38,040 Speaker 4: his various plea agreements, statements he's made to the press, 80 00:04:38,440 --> 00:04:41,719 Speaker 4: statements he's made on his podcast, statements he made to Congress, 81 00:04:42,160 --> 00:04:46,560 Speaker 4: is that he has his own Michael Cohen focused interest 82 00:04:46,640 --> 00:04:50,560 Speaker 4: at play, and in this instance, what is especially motivating 83 00:04:50,640 --> 00:04:54,000 Speaker 4: him is a desire, as the book says, to get prevented, 84 00:04:54,320 --> 00:04:57,760 Speaker 4: and that, to me is where you're really seeing a 85 00:04:57,800 --> 00:05:01,120 Speaker 4: lot of the effort by the defense ends to establish 86 00:05:01,240 --> 00:05:04,440 Speaker 4: those points through cross examination. And then I think what 87 00:05:04,480 --> 00:05:08,040 Speaker 4: you're also saying, and some of the specific testimony they've 88 00:05:08,040 --> 00:05:13,440 Speaker 4: been eliciting, is that when Michael Cohen says in direct 89 00:05:13,480 --> 00:05:19,320 Speaker 4: examination that X event happened and it's corroborated by this 90 00:05:19,400 --> 00:05:23,360 Speaker 4: particular email, that particular document, what you've seen is that 91 00:05:23,400 --> 00:05:26,640 Speaker 4: the defense wants to take that head on. And then 92 00:05:26,720 --> 00:05:28,920 Speaker 4: you saw through some of the text messages that were 93 00:05:28,920 --> 00:05:33,080 Speaker 4: presented to him, questioning whether or not in fact some 94 00:05:33,160 --> 00:05:36,839 Speaker 4: of those records in fact corroborate what he's saying. And 95 00:05:36,880 --> 00:05:41,359 Speaker 4: it's the undermining of some of that corroboration which is 96 00:05:41,440 --> 00:05:44,520 Speaker 4: where the defense is looking to find a toe hold 97 00:05:44,920 --> 00:05:47,040 Speaker 4: to be able to really destroy his credibility. 98 00:05:47,960 --> 00:05:51,359 Speaker 3: Cohen has admitted lying over and over and over again 99 00:05:51,480 --> 00:05:55,520 Speaker 3: on both direct and cross There are so many instances 100 00:05:55,600 --> 00:05:59,080 Speaker 3: of his lying and admittedly lying. Do you think the 101 00:05:59,120 --> 00:06:03,119 Speaker 3: prosecution is enough corroboration in the documents, the texts, etc. 102 00:06:03,839 --> 00:06:07,239 Speaker 3: For a jury to believe, you know, a convicted liar. 103 00:06:07,600 --> 00:06:13,760 Speaker 4: Most prosecutions when they involve corroboration by what the prosecution 104 00:06:13,920 --> 00:06:17,200 Speaker 4: would call other bad guys is they go to a 105 00:06:17,320 --> 00:06:20,600 Speaker 4: jury and they say, jury, we don't pick who are 106 00:06:20,720 --> 00:06:24,280 Speaker 4: people are that are involved in these cases? They pick themselves. 107 00:06:24,600 --> 00:06:27,479 Speaker 4: And what better way to know how a crime is 108 00:06:27,520 --> 00:06:31,320 Speaker 4: committed by going to a bad guy. That's the general 109 00:06:31,480 --> 00:06:34,520 Speaker 4: conceit of how a lot of prosecutions are built. In 110 00:06:34,560 --> 00:06:37,599 Speaker 4: other words, the people who commit crimes, or people who 111 00:06:37,640 --> 00:06:41,240 Speaker 4: in this case tell lies, whether it's before Congress or otherwise, 112 00:06:41,320 --> 00:06:45,599 Speaker 4: are not themselves in those instances angels. And I think 113 00:06:45,640 --> 00:06:49,520 Speaker 4: that that is that kind of bolstering that the prosecution 114 00:06:49,720 --> 00:06:53,279 Speaker 4: needs to do in order to avoid the problem of 115 00:06:53,360 --> 00:06:56,680 Speaker 4: presenting to the jury this concept that you have to 116 00:06:56,760 --> 00:07:00,599 Speaker 4: believe that Michael Cohen is perfect in order to find 117 00:07:00,680 --> 00:07:05,400 Speaker 4: him credible. Instead, in this instance, they want a more 118 00:07:05,520 --> 00:07:08,800 Speaker 4: nuanced approach with Michael Cohen for the jury to be 119 00:07:08,880 --> 00:07:12,280 Speaker 4: able to say and a somewhat piece me away. I 120 00:07:12,400 --> 00:07:16,040 Speaker 4: can accept that Michael Cohen lied about this, that and 121 00:07:16,160 --> 00:07:18,800 Speaker 4: the other, but I believe that he told the truth 122 00:07:18,880 --> 00:07:23,040 Speaker 4: in the courtroom today or yesterday about this other issue. 123 00:07:23,080 --> 00:07:26,720 Speaker 4: And that's a very difficult needle for prosecutors to thread, 124 00:07:26,920 --> 00:07:29,440 Speaker 4: but it's one they have to because at the end 125 00:07:29,480 --> 00:07:32,080 Speaker 4: of the day, this case was always going to be 126 00:07:32,360 --> 00:07:35,040 Speaker 4: and so far it has proved to be a case 127 00:07:35,080 --> 00:07:39,680 Speaker 4: about circumstantial evidence. There are pieces of direct evidence that 128 00:07:39,720 --> 00:07:42,560 Speaker 4: they have in the form of a conversation that the 129 00:07:42,600 --> 00:07:46,040 Speaker 4: former president was in, but by and large, the jury's 130 00:07:46,080 --> 00:07:50,040 Speaker 4: going to have to believe these various pieces of corroborative 131 00:07:50,320 --> 00:07:54,040 Speaker 4: evidence that in fact, the former president knew what was 132 00:07:54,080 --> 00:07:57,160 Speaker 4: going on, he directed the conduct as it relates to 133 00:07:57,240 --> 00:08:00,480 Speaker 4: Stormy Daniels, and that he knew that this was for 134 00:08:00,520 --> 00:08:04,320 Speaker 4: the underlying purpose of his campaign, and that the documents, 135 00:08:04,400 --> 00:08:07,840 Speaker 4: Let's not forget the documents, these business records in fact, 136 00:08:07,880 --> 00:08:11,720 Speaker 4: were doctored precisely because of that purpose. And I think 137 00:08:11,800 --> 00:08:14,720 Speaker 4: that not forgetting about the fact that this is about 138 00:08:14,760 --> 00:08:18,360 Speaker 4: those documents is a very important piece of ultimately what 139 00:08:18,880 --> 00:08:20,680 Speaker 4: the prosecutors are going to be able to do if 140 00:08:20,680 --> 00:08:22,600 Speaker 4: they're able to get a conviction in this case. 141 00:08:23,280 --> 00:08:26,280 Speaker 3: Does it surprise you that the prosecution is ending their 142 00:08:26,360 --> 00:08:29,640 Speaker 3: case with Michael Cohen such a flawed witness. 143 00:08:30,480 --> 00:08:35,200 Speaker 4: No, you know, A very important rule for prosecutors is 144 00:08:35,240 --> 00:08:38,200 Speaker 4: that you want to make sure that you have at 145 00:08:38,240 --> 00:08:41,240 Speaker 4: the beginning and at the end of your cases presented 146 00:08:41,600 --> 00:08:45,679 Speaker 4: powerful evidence to a journey. That powerful evidence can look 147 00:08:45,920 --> 00:08:49,000 Speaker 4: different ways, and it can be in the form of testimony. 148 00:08:49,040 --> 00:08:51,880 Speaker 4: It can often look like documents or b documents, but 149 00:08:52,240 --> 00:08:54,400 Speaker 4: it's powerful at the beginning, and it's got to be 150 00:08:54,440 --> 00:08:58,640 Speaker 4: powerful at the end. In the event that the prosecutors 151 00:08:58,960 --> 00:09:02,679 Speaker 4: believe that they're are things that need repair that go 152 00:09:02,840 --> 00:09:07,080 Speaker 4: beyond just redirect examination, which they'll have the opportunity to 153 00:09:07,160 --> 00:09:09,760 Speaker 4: do next week, they should be in a position to 154 00:09:09,840 --> 00:09:12,440 Speaker 4: be able to have a failsafe to build something else, 155 00:09:12,520 --> 00:09:15,080 Speaker 4: end to end on it appears, at least from what 156 00:09:15,120 --> 00:09:17,959 Speaker 4: they've told the judge, they've got enough confidence that they 157 00:09:18,000 --> 00:09:21,400 Speaker 4: don't potentially even need other witnesses beyond mister Crolan will 158 00:09:21,400 --> 00:09:24,720 Speaker 4: see if that potentially changes. But it is a pretty 159 00:09:24,760 --> 00:09:27,920 Speaker 4: regular practice for prosecutors to have a few different side 160 00:09:27,920 --> 00:09:31,080 Speaker 4: options available to them, because if you know trial work, 161 00:09:31,120 --> 00:09:33,920 Speaker 4: then you know things never quite go the way you 162 00:09:34,160 --> 00:09:37,640 Speaker 4: otherwise expect them, and so being prepared is always kind 163 00:09:37,640 --> 00:09:38,800 Speaker 4: of an important rule of THEMB. 164 00:09:39,200 --> 00:09:41,800 Speaker 3: So the prosecution has tried to show the jury the 165 00:09:41,880 --> 00:09:45,840 Speaker 3: hush money payments connected to the business records, I mean, 166 00:09:45,880 --> 00:09:47,920 Speaker 3: have they shown them why it's a felony? 167 00:09:48,440 --> 00:09:52,800 Speaker 4: It's circumstantial. It's circumstantial. But the prosecutors knew that the 168 00:09:52,880 --> 00:09:56,920 Speaker 4: case was always going to be largely about circumstantial evidence, 169 00:09:57,000 --> 00:10:01,760 Speaker 4: and it importantly was never going to be about sex 170 00:10:01,960 --> 00:10:05,520 Speaker 4: and salacious details of what happened in Lake Tahoe and 171 00:10:05,559 --> 00:10:08,120 Speaker 4: things of the sort. Were the case to turn into 172 00:10:08,360 --> 00:10:12,160 Speaker 4: only that, the prosecutors would have a problem. And the 173 00:10:12,200 --> 00:10:17,000 Speaker 4: reason is because a case built only on salatious details 174 00:10:17,520 --> 00:10:20,680 Speaker 4: of the fluff of a case is the kind of 175 00:10:20,760 --> 00:10:23,320 Speaker 4: thing that when a jury goes back to the jury, 176 00:10:23,600 --> 00:10:28,000 Speaker 4: and jurors always take their duties pretty responsibly and seriously 177 00:10:28,280 --> 00:10:31,320 Speaker 4: that when they're examining the evidence as compared to the 178 00:10:31,360 --> 00:10:35,120 Speaker 4: instructions that the judge will give, a case built only 179 00:10:35,240 --> 00:10:39,679 Speaker 4: on kind of salacious details will often lead a jury 180 00:10:39,720 --> 00:10:43,400 Speaker 4: to question, well, wait a second, this all sounds very bad, 181 00:10:43,800 --> 00:10:46,320 Speaker 4: but is there a crime committed? So I think what 182 00:10:46,360 --> 00:10:49,560 Speaker 4: you're going to find in the closing arguments, in particular, 183 00:10:50,080 --> 00:10:52,880 Speaker 4: is an effort by the prosecutors to do a rather 184 00:10:53,080 --> 00:10:58,760 Speaker 4: methodical approach to tying together those circumstantial pieces to the 185 00:10:58,960 --> 00:11:02,840 Speaker 4: underlying business records that we're talking about, because in the 186 00:11:02,960 --> 00:11:07,360 Speaker 4: absence of very tightly tying that circumstantial evidence together and 187 00:11:07,440 --> 00:11:11,680 Speaker 4: a focus instead on some of the salacious details of 188 00:11:11,720 --> 00:11:16,360 Speaker 4: the case will really undermine the prosecutor's ability to get 189 00:11:16,400 --> 00:11:19,120 Speaker 4: a conviction. So kind of watch this space, because I 190 00:11:19,120 --> 00:11:22,120 Speaker 4: think you'll find that the prosecutors are really going to 191 00:11:22,160 --> 00:11:26,480 Speaker 4: try to take a very workman methodical approach to their 192 00:11:26,480 --> 00:11:31,160 Speaker 4: closing to ensure that the jury has fundamentally at its 193 00:11:31,200 --> 00:11:35,680 Speaker 4: fingertips the specific building blocks of evidence they need to 194 00:11:35,760 --> 00:11:38,600 Speaker 4: be able to check the box of guilty on the 195 00:11:38,679 --> 00:11:39,240 Speaker 4: verdict form. 196 00:11:39,800 --> 00:11:43,520 Speaker 3: The defense has said that no decision has been made 197 00:11:43,559 --> 00:11:46,480 Speaker 3: on whether Trump is going to testify or not. Do 198 00:11:46,480 --> 00:11:48,880 Speaker 3: you think that's believable that no decision has been made. 199 00:11:49,040 --> 00:11:52,880 Speaker 4: Who can predict, of course, with precision, what a client 200 00:11:52,960 --> 00:11:56,120 Speaker 4: will do, especially a client like the former president. But 201 00:11:56,160 --> 00:12:00,280 Speaker 4: I strongly suspect that the defense lawyers at Leaves have 202 00:12:00,360 --> 00:12:03,240 Speaker 4: a very strong idea of what they're going to do 203 00:12:03,440 --> 00:12:06,600 Speaker 4: or not do. What you, of course tell the judge 204 00:12:06,679 --> 00:12:10,280 Speaker 4: and the other side are different if no firm final 205 00:12:10,679 --> 00:12:13,760 Speaker 4: decision has been made. But it also kind of falls 206 00:12:13,840 --> 00:12:17,280 Speaker 4: under that general category that the defense lawyers have an 207 00:12:17,280 --> 00:12:20,960 Speaker 4: important job to do, which is to keep the prosecutors 208 00:12:21,160 --> 00:12:24,280 Speaker 4: on their toes and so they're going to make that 209 00:12:24,520 --> 00:12:28,520 Speaker 4: final final decision at the last moment, and so up 210 00:12:28,520 --> 00:12:31,680 Speaker 4: to that point, there is certainly an element of unknown 211 00:12:31,720 --> 00:12:34,360 Speaker 4: I think even to the defense lawyers as to what 212 00:12:34,440 --> 00:12:37,600 Speaker 4: they're going to do. But I suspect they've got an idea. 213 00:12:37,040 --> 00:12:39,000 Speaker 3: And we could find out what they're going to do 214 00:12:39,440 --> 00:12:43,120 Speaker 3: as soon as Monday when trial resumes. Thanks Jeff. That's 215 00:12:43,200 --> 00:12:48,040 Speaker 3: former federal prosecutor Jeff's side coming up next our Kago's founder, 216 00:12:48,080 --> 00:12:52,200 Speaker 3: Bill Wong, on trial for market manipulation. I'm June Grosso 217 00:12:52,360 --> 00:12:53,400 Speaker 3: and this is Bloomberg. 218 00:12:54,880 --> 00:12:57,960 Speaker 2: You know, our father God is the king of everything, 219 00:12:58,040 --> 00:13:01,800 Speaker 2: not just Wall Street or church, and sometimes non Christians 220 00:13:01,840 --> 00:13:05,679 Speaker 2: walk in and they know that, you know, we worship God, 221 00:13:05,800 --> 00:13:09,920 Speaker 2: and so they are attracted to it. So that's why 222 00:13:10,080 --> 00:13:14,280 Speaker 2: we are trying to really help people read the scripture. 223 00:13:14,520 --> 00:13:17,560 Speaker 3: As Bill Wong was amassing a fortune of thirty six 224 00:13:17,679 --> 00:13:21,800 Speaker 3: billion dollars in near total secrecy through his family office, 225 00:13:21,880 --> 00:13:25,440 Speaker 3: he led an unassuming suburban life in New Jersey, a 226 00:13:25,520 --> 00:13:30,920 Speaker 3: devout Christian, promoting regular Bible readings and founding a philanthropic organization. 227 00:13:31,520 --> 00:13:35,040 Speaker 3: But it was a very public collapse when that family 228 00:13:35,120 --> 00:13:39,959 Speaker 3: office Our Kago's Capital Management suddenly melted down in March 229 00:13:40,000 --> 00:13:43,960 Speaker 3: of twenty twenty one, all but erasing Huang's fortune and 230 00:13:44,080 --> 00:13:48,160 Speaker 3: costing the firm's lenders ten billion dollars. About a year later, 231 00:13:48,280 --> 00:13:52,400 Speaker 3: Huang was indicted on charges of fraud and racketeering conspiracy. 232 00:13:52,840 --> 00:13:56,600 Speaker 3: Manhattan US attorney Damian Williams said that Wang and his 233 00:13:56,720 --> 00:14:00,560 Speaker 3: co conspirators had lied to banks to obtain billions of 234 00:14:00,640 --> 00:14:03,880 Speaker 3: dollars that they then used to inflate the stock price 235 00:14:03,920 --> 00:14:06,079 Speaker 3: of a number of publicly traded companies. 236 00:14:06,679 --> 00:14:12,040 Speaker 1: The lies fed the inflation, and the inflation fed more lies. 237 00:14:13,280 --> 00:14:18,319 Speaker 1: Round and round it went. But last year the music stopped, 238 00:14:19,160 --> 00:14:23,080 Speaker 1: the bubble burst, the prices dropped, and when they did, 239 00:14:23,640 --> 00:14:27,000 Speaker 1: billions of dollars nearly evaporated overnight. 240 00:14:28,040 --> 00:14:31,640 Speaker 3: The trial of Wong and his co defendant, former Archago 241 00:14:31,840 --> 00:14:36,400 Speaker 3: CFO Patrick Halligan, began this week in the Federal Courthouse 242 00:14:36,440 --> 00:14:40,120 Speaker 3: in Lower Manhattan, across the street from where Donald Trump 243 00:14:40,200 --> 00:14:43,920 Speaker 3: is being tried. Joining me is securities law expert James Park, 244 00:14:44,000 --> 00:14:47,680 Speaker 3: a professor at UCLA Law School. Jim, will you explain 245 00:14:47,720 --> 00:14:51,600 Speaker 3: what the prosecutors are accusing Wong and halliganov? 246 00:14:52,080 --> 00:14:55,600 Speaker 5: Well, there are a couple of major allegations. The first 247 00:14:55,640 --> 00:14:59,760 Speaker 5: of this is a market manipulation case. They're accusing U 248 00:15:00,240 --> 00:15:05,280 Speaker 5: and our Chagos of purchasing stock in order to inflate 249 00:15:05,320 --> 00:15:09,800 Speaker 5: the price beyond natural market forces, and that violates federal 250 00:15:09,800 --> 00:15:15,200 Speaker 5: securities law. Secondly, they're alleging that he and his subordinates 251 00:15:15,400 --> 00:15:18,040 Speaker 5: lied to banks in order to get the funds to 252 00:15:18,080 --> 00:15:22,240 Speaker 5: speculate in the stocks. And so the first allegation I 253 00:15:22,240 --> 00:15:25,640 Speaker 5: think is probably the more difficult one for the prosecution. 254 00:15:25,800 --> 00:15:28,560 Speaker 5: It's a little bit unclear as to how we define 255 00:15:28,680 --> 00:15:33,520 Speaker 5: market manipulation. There have not been very many prosecutions of 256 00:15:33,920 --> 00:15:38,160 Speaker 5: manipulation involving what we call open market purchases of stock, 257 00:15:38,240 --> 00:15:43,200 Speaker 5: where you're just buying securities in the marketplace. The second 258 00:15:43,320 --> 00:15:47,520 Speaker 5: set of allegations, though, I think, is more straightforward, more established, 259 00:15:47,640 --> 00:15:50,320 Speaker 5: and it could be just a simple federal wire fraud. 260 00:15:50,400 --> 00:15:52,920 Speaker 5: So there are really two sets of allegations here. 261 00:15:53,280 --> 00:15:57,160 Speaker 3: Wang's lawyers have described the prosecution as the most aggressive 262 00:15:57,280 --> 00:16:00,840 Speaker 3: open market manipulation case ever. Do you agree with that? 263 00:16:01,200 --> 00:16:03,800 Speaker 5: It certainly is the biggest that I have heard of. 264 00:16:04,280 --> 00:16:09,120 Speaker 5: And you know, any open market manipulation case is somewhat 265 00:16:09,160 --> 00:16:12,320 Speaker 5: novel because they are not brought very frequently mean the 266 00:16:12,400 --> 00:16:16,640 Speaker 5: laws unclear, and I think that there, you know, is 267 00:16:16,640 --> 00:16:19,520 Speaker 5: certainly going to be sort of a challenge, I think 268 00:16:19,600 --> 00:16:23,120 Speaker 5: in terms of whether or not the fact will support 269 00:16:23,320 --> 00:16:28,240 Speaker 5: a violation of market manipulation. And I think that you know, 270 00:16:28,360 --> 00:16:31,560 Speaker 5: this set effects that was unprecedented, and I think that 271 00:16:31,880 --> 00:16:34,040 Speaker 5: is part of the novelty of the case is that 272 00:16:34,440 --> 00:16:36,760 Speaker 5: at one point in time he had you know, a 273 00:16:36,760 --> 00:16:39,440 Speaker 5: position of one hundred and sixty billion dollars in a 274 00:16:39,520 --> 00:16:43,000 Speaker 5: number of these publicly traded securities. So it is certainly 275 00:16:43,080 --> 00:16:47,200 Speaker 5: the largest market manipulation case involving open market purchases of 276 00:16:47,240 --> 00:16:50,480 Speaker 5: stocks that I am aware of, and that makes it 277 00:16:50,600 --> 00:16:54,520 Speaker 5: somewhat unique as to whether or not it is something 278 00:16:54,600 --> 00:16:57,800 Speaker 5: that is an abuse of federal authority. I think there 279 00:16:57,840 --> 00:16:59,960 Speaker 5: has been at least one decision in the sec civil 280 00:17:00,160 --> 00:17:03,880 Speaker 5: case that did find there were sufficient allegations to support 281 00:17:03,920 --> 00:17:07,440 Speaker 5: a manipulation claim. So certainly there is some support for 282 00:17:07,720 --> 00:17:09,320 Speaker 5: the federal prosecutor's position. 283 00:17:09,960 --> 00:17:14,080 Speaker 3: I've read that looking back, his strategy seems like market suicide. 284 00:17:14,560 --> 00:17:18,879 Speaker 3: In the opening statements, the prosecution said that Wang wanted more, 285 00:17:19,400 --> 00:17:22,439 Speaker 3: more money, more success, more power, that he wanted to 286 00:17:22,480 --> 00:17:25,959 Speaker 3: be a Wall Street legend, but the judges said he 287 00:17:26,080 --> 00:17:29,359 Speaker 3: was bewildered by Wang's strategy of simply buying more and 288 00:17:29,440 --> 00:17:33,000 Speaker 3: more shares. At a hearing, judge Hellerstein said, what did 289 00:17:33,000 --> 00:17:35,320 Speaker 3: he want? What did he want to achieve being a 290 00:17:35,320 --> 00:17:38,600 Speaker 3: big shot. I suppose that's possible, but it doesn't seem 291 00:17:38,640 --> 00:17:40,200 Speaker 3: to me that was his aim. 292 00:17:40,800 --> 00:17:43,680 Speaker 5: The prosecutor said he wanted to be a Wall Street legend. 293 00:17:43,840 --> 00:17:48,520 Speaker 5: That certainly is a possibility. Another explanation is that he 294 00:17:48,960 --> 00:17:51,960 Speaker 5: basically dug a hole for himself. He got too aggressive, 295 00:17:52,080 --> 00:17:55,760 Speaker 5: He established a really large position that left him vulnerable 296 00:17:55,800 --> 00:17:59,120 Speaker 5: if the market changed, and so he did everything he 297 00:17:59,160 --> 00:18:02,720 Speaker 5: could in order to get himself out of significant losses. 298 00:18:02,760 --> 00:18:05,520 Speaker 5: And so it may be partly that he wanted to 299 00:18:05,560 --> 00:18:09,160 Speaker 5: be this legend. He was not content being a billionaire. 300 00:18:09,200 --> 00:18:12,760 Speaker 5: That was fairly obscure. But you know, the other motivation 301 00:18:12,880 --> 00:18:16,240 Speaker 5: I think might have been just desperation and that he 302 00:18:16,880 --> 00:18:19,879 Speaker 5: was in trouble and he wanted to do everything he 303 00:18:19,960 --> 00:18:23,080 Speaker 5: could in order to make sure that he didn't lose 304 00:18:23,119 --> 00:18:26,159 Speaker 5: a lot of money on these various trades, and you know, 305 00:18:26,200 --> 00:18:29,000 Speaker 5: it would have been humiliating, and it was humiliating when 306 00:18:29,320 --> 00:18:33,200 Speaker 5: he lost billions of dollars in money that was borrowed 307 00:18:33,240 --> 00:18:36,080 Speaker 5: and his own money in these trades. So I think 308 00:18:36,080 --> 00:18:37,840 Speaker 5: there are a number of ways you could look at 309 00:18:37,960 --> 00:18:40,720 Speaker 5: what his motivation might have been. Now in terms of 310 00:18:40,760 --> 00:18:44,280 Speaker 5: whether or not this is completely irrational, I think that 311 00:18:44,280 --> 00:18:47,760 Speaker 5: that'll be a critical part of the prosecution's case, you know. 312 00:18:47,840 --> 00:18:49,439 Speaker 5: I think one of the things they may do is 313 00:18:49,440 --> 00:18:51,560 Speaker 5: they may say, well, here were the things that he 314 00:18:51,680 --> 00:18:54,640 Speaker 5: was planning to do to earn a profit on this 315 00:18:54,880 --> 00:18:57,120 Speaker 5: position that there's a way he could have gotten out 316 00:18:57,160 --> 00:18:59,960 Speaker 5: of it with some profits. And I expect that very 317 00:19:00,119 --> 00:19:02,920 Speaker 5: cooperating witnesses will give us a little bit more insight 318 00:19:03,080 --> 00:19:06,200 Speaker 5: into what the strategy was. So there was a motivation 319 00:19:06,280 --> 00:19:09,199 Speaker 5: asserted by the prosecution. In addition, I think we're going 320 00:19:09,240 --> 00:19:11,840 Speaker 5: to learn more facts at trial as to what the 321 00:19:11,880 --> 00:19:13,080 Speaker 5: motivation might have been. 322 00:19:13,440 --> 00:19:16,600 Speaker 3: The defense has said that the banks were sophisticated lenders 323 00:19:16,640 --> 00:19:20,200 Speaker 3: who were doing their own research. We've heard that argument before. 324 00:19:20,840 --> 00:19:24,679 Speaker 5: They are sophisticated lenders, but you can commit fraud against 325 00:19:24,720 --> 00:19:29,080 Speaker 5: sophisticated lenders. And we're going to probably hear some testimony 326 00:19:29,160 --> 00:19:32,879 Speaker 5: from these banks as to, you know, what they expected 327 00:19:32,920 --> 00:19:36,200 Speaker 5: and what type of information they were looking for. And 328 00:19:36,359 --> 00:19:40,320 Speaker 5: how the lies affected what they would have done. Would 329 00:19:40,359 --> 00:19:43,520 Speaker 5: they have, you know, pulled the loan. Did he prevent 330 00:19:43,600 --> 00:19:47,439 Speaker 5: them from really responding and preventing what actually happened. I 331 00:19:47,440 --> 00:19:50,119 Speaker 5: think we're going to get some testimony from these fairly 332 00:19:50,160 --> 00:19:53,240 Speaker 5: sophisticated lenders. But I think he has a point right 333 00:19:53,240 --> 00:19:55,960 Speaker 5: so that you know, these are banks that should have 334 00:19:56,000 --> 00:19:59,679 Speaker 5: done more due diligence. They should have taken care of themselves, 335 00:19:59,760 --> 00:20:03,199 Speaker 5: and they were quite capable of doing so. But what 336 00:20:03,240 --> 00:20:05,600 Speaker 5: the banks will say is that we didn't expect we 337 00:20:05,720 --> 00:20:06,359 Speaker 5: be lied to. 338 00:20:06,760 --> 00:20:09,600 Speaker 3: The biggest challenge for the defense at trial will be 339 00:20:09,640 --> 00:20:14,159 Speaker 3: the two cooperating witnesses. In the opening statement, the defense 340 00:20:14,200 --> 00:20:17,840 Speaker 3: attorney called the former head of risk management, Scott Becker, 341 00:20:18,040 --> 00:20:22,080 Speaker 3: manipulative and a very very convincing liar. So it seems 342 00:20:22,119 --> 00:20:25,240 Speaker 3: like the defense is going to attack the star witnesses 343 00:20:25,400 --> 00:20:28,880 Speaker 3: in part by saying they're alling to get their plea deal, 344 00:20:29,160 --> 00:20:31,560 Speaker 3: a familiar attack on cooperating witnesses. 345 00:20:32,040 --> 00:20:34,520 Speaker 5: The standard defense in these types of cases. If you 346 00:20:34,520 --> 00:20:37,720 Speaker 5: have a cooperating witness who is testifying against you, that's 347 00:20:37,760 --> 00:20:41,400 Speaker 5: the job of the defense attorney to undermine their credibilities. 348 00:20:41,520 --> 00:20:43,960 Speaker 5: Then this is the sort of argument that is made 349 00:20:44,040 --> 00:20:48,200 Speaker 5: every single day in federal courts throughout America. More recently, 350 00:20:48,280 --> 00:20:52,119 Speaker 5: this is what the FDx trial also hinged upon Sam Begman. 351 00:20:52,240 --> 00:20:56,199 Speaker 5: Freed was charged with various counts of wire fraud and 352 00:20:56,240 --> 00:21:00,280 Speaker 5: securities fraud, and the reason he was convicted was because 353 00:21:00,320 --> 00:21:03,880 Speaker 5: his top lieutenants testified against him and there were attempts 354 00:21:03,960 --> 00:21:06,800 Speaker 5: to try to reduce their credibility. So this is what 355 00:21:06,880 --> 00:21:09,199 Speaker 5: these trials ultimately come down to. 356 00:21:09,359 --> 00:21:10,199 Speaker 6: Who do you believe? 357 00:21:10,359 --> 00:21:13,040 Speaker 5: Do you believe the cooperating witnesses or do you believe 358 00:21:13,080 --> 00:21:15,720 Speaker 5: the defendant? And the other interesting question I think that 359 00:21:15,760 --> 00:21:19,040 Speaker 5: will come up is will this defendant actually testify in 360 00:21:19,080 --> 00:21:19,880 Speaker 5: his own defense? 361 00:21:20,520 --> 00:21:22,600 Speaker 3: And what are some of the reasons why you think 362 00:21:22,640 --> 00:21:25,520 Speaker 3: he might want to take the stand in his own defense. 363 00:21:26,400 --> 00:21:31,359 Speaker 5: I think that after the cooperating witnesses testify that there 364 00:21:31,400 --> 00:21:33,679 Speaker 5: will be a lot of explaining to this right if 365 00:21:33,720 --> 00:21:37,640 Speaker 5: he really wants to come and defend himself. I think 366 00:21:37,680 --> 00:21:41,040 Speaker 5: that it all comes down to his state of mind, 367 00:21:41,280 --> 00:21:44,280 Speaker 5: and so the only way the jury can really understand 368 00:21:44,320 --> 00:21:47,320 Speaker 5: his state of mind is if he comes and testifies 369 00:21:47,400 --> 00:21:51,639 Speaker 5: and basically argues that you know they were wrong, they're lying, 370 00:21:51,760 --> 00:21:53,119 Speaker 5: And this is the reason why. 371 00:21:53,800 --> 00:21:54,480 Speaker 7: Now if he. 372 00:21:54,520 --> 00:21:57,920 Speaker 5: Does testify, though, that puts him at great risk because 373 00:21:58,400 --> 00:22:00,600 Speaker 5: you know, about a decade ago, in one of his 374 00:22:00,760 --> 00:22:04,679 Speaker 5: prior pege funds, he had to settle a case that 375 00:22:04,720 --> 00:22:07,879 Speaker 5: the SEC brought and the Department of Justice brought against 376 00:22:07,960 --> 00:22:11,400 Speaker 5: him for insider trading. And then also in the SEC case, 377 00:22:11,440 --> 00:22:15,840 Speaker 5: there were allegations of similar types of market manipulation where 378 00:22:15,880 --> 00:22:19,919 Speaker 5: he was ordering subordinate to enter into losing trades in 379 00:22:20,000 --> 00:22:23,240 Speaker 5: order to create the impression that his position was a 380 00:22:23,320 --> 00:22:26,960 Speaker 5: profitable one, and that would be very bad I think 381 00:22:27,000 --> 00:22:30,520 Speaker 5: for his defense if the jury learns that he has 382 00:22:30,600 --> 00:22:34,760 Speaker 5: been charged with similar types of misconduct in the past. 383 00:22:34,880 --> 00:22:37,720 Speaker 5: And that's why he's running a family office, is because 384 00:22:38,040 --> 00:22:40,920 Speaker 5: he had to settle with the SEC and the Department 385 00:22:41,000 --> 00:22:44,200 Speaker 5: of Justice, and that's why he's not able to really 386 00:22:44,240 --> 00:22:47,000 Speaker 5: manage outside funds by investors. 387 00:22:47,480 --> 00:22:53,360 Speaker 3: The prosecution's first few witnesses were from Archagos, the co president, 388 00:22:53,440 --> 00:22:56,760 Speaker 3: the head of research, and an operations staffer. What do 389 00:22:56,760 --> 00:22:58,720 Speaker 3: you think the prosecution is trying to do at the 390 00:22:58,760 --> 00:23:01,560 Speaker 3: beginning of the trial he with these witnesses. 391 00:23:01,560 --> 00:23:03,480 Speaker 8: You know, I think that they're trying to do a 392 00:23:03,520 --> 00:23:07,080 Speaker 8: few things. I think, first of all, they are establishing 393 00:23:07,119 --> 00:23:10,760 Speaker 8: at the beginning of the case that there was a lie, 394 00:23:11,080 --> 00:23:14,879 Speaker 8: and that's the thank the investment bank ubs thought that 395 00:23:14,960 --> 00:23:17,040 Speaker 8: it was a lie, that they would have done something 396 00:23:17,080 --> 00:23:19,560 Speaker 8: differently if they had known the truth. So they're trying 397 00:23:19,600 --> 00:23:24,160 Speaker 8: to establish the harm, the damages from the fraud at 398 00:23:24,200 --> 00:23:26,960 Speaker 8: the very outset. I think the second thing they're trying 399 00:23:26,960 --> 00:23:31,119 Speaker 8: to do is with the testimony of one of their employees, 400 00:23:31,280 --> 00:23:35,000 Speaker 8: to just give the jury a sense of the days 401 00:23:35,040 --> 00:23:38,840 Speaker 8: of chaos when the firm is in trouble and what's 402 00:23:38,880 --> 00:23:41,240 Speaker 8: going on in that setting. And that's a nice way 403 00:23:41,240 --> 00:23:45,000 Speaker 8: of introducing the jury to their set of events, as 404 00:23:45,040 --> 00:23:46,840 Speaker 8: well as the hedge fund itself. 405 00:23:47,200 --> 00:23:51,200 Speaker 3: Few of the jurors have financial backgrounds. The judge has 406 00:23:51,200 --> 00:23:53,840 Speaker 3: said the trial will be financed one oh one for 407 00:23:54,000 --> 00:23:56,360 Speaker 3: many of them. He said, if you sit through eight 408 00:23:56,400 --> 00:23:58,520 Speaker 3: weeks of trial, you'll be able to go out and 409 00:23:58,560 --> 00:24:02,399 Speaker 3: manipulate the market. But is that a downside for the prosecution. 410 00:24:02,880 --> 00:24:06,040 Speaker 5: It poses a challenge. It poses a challenge to explain 411 00:24:06,160 --> 00:24:09,000 Speaker 5: things like a total return swap, so there's always a 412 00:24:09,080 --> 00:24:12,120 Speaker 5: risk the jury will get confused, and so the prosecutors 413 00:24:12,119 --> 00:24:14,719 Speaker 5: are going to really have to go step by step, 414 00:24:14,880 --> 00:24:18,119 Speaker 5: and that is going to take some time. There's always 415 00:24:18,119 --> 00:24:20,280 Speaker 5: the risks that the jury will tune out and not 416 00:24:20,359 --> 00:24:24,000 Speaker 5: really understand all of the details. On the other hand, 417 00:24:24,040 --> 00:24:26,479 Speaker 5: I think there are some aspects of the case that 418 00:24:26,680 --> 00:24:30,240 Speaker 5: should be fairly simple to understand, where you know, I've 419 00:24:30,280 --> 00:24:33,480 Speaker 5: borrowed money essentially from this bank and they want to 420 00:24:33,800 --> 00:24:36,520 Speaker 5: know what's going on, and I don't tell them the truth, right. 421 00:24:36,560 --> 00:24:39,240 Speaker 5: I think that's a very simple set of facts that 422 00:24:39,320 --> 00:24:42,560 Speaker 5: most ordinary jurors will be able to understand. I think 423 00:24:42,600 --> 00:24:45,280 Speaker 5: the more challenging part of the case is the market 424 00:24:45,359 --> 00:24:49,399 Speaker 5: manipulation case and trying to distinguish, you know, what exactly 425 00:24:49,520 --> 00:24:53,320 Speaker 5: did he do wrong in relation to normal practices on 426 00:24:53,400 --> 00:24:58,360 Speaker 5: Wall Street, normal practices that an aggressive trader might essentially 427 00:24:58,920 --> 00:25:02,159 Speaker 5: use in order to to beat the market. And so 428 00:25:02,320 --> 00:25:05,760 Speaker 5: there are questions about, you know, is it manipulative to 429 00:25:06,640 --> 00:25:08,720 Speaker 5: phone in a lot of orders at the end of 430 00:25:08,720 --> 00:25:11,119 Speaker 5: the day when there's not a lot of trading. Is 431 00:25:11,119 --> 00:25:14,720 Speaker 5: that something that we can say is deceptive and intent 432 00:25:14,920 --> 00:25:17,760 Speaker 5: or is it simply industry practice? And so I think 433 00:25:17,800 --> 00:25:22,800 Speaker 5: it'll be difficult for prosecutors to clearly explain, you know, 434 00:25:22,880 --> 00:25:27,440 Speaker 5: why this sort of trading crosses align into manipulation. 435 00:25:28,000 --> 00:25:29,720 Speaker 3: That may be why it's expected to be a two 436 00:25:29,760 --> 00:25:33,840 Speaker 3: month trial. Thanks so much, Jim. That's Professor James Park 437 00:25:34,000 --> 00:25:38,119 Speaker 3: of UCLA Law School. Coming up. Republican LED state sue 438 00:25:38,119 --> 00:25:41,840 Speaker 3: over Title nine changes. I'm June Grosso and you're listening 439 00:25:41,840 --> 00:25:46,680 Speaker 3: to Bloomberg. The Biden administration has expanded the protections under 440 00:25:46,760 --> 00:25:52,159 Speaker 3: Title nine to LGBTQ students. Title nine forbids discrimination based 441 00:25:52,200 --> 00:25:55,520 Speaker 3: on sex and education, and it will now protect students 442 00:25:55,520 --> 00:26:00,200 Speaker 3: from discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. 443 00:26:00,359 --> 00:26:03,960 Speaker 3: But Republican LED states are piling on to challenge the 444 00:26:04,000 --> 00:26:04,879 Speaker 3: new rules. 445 00:26:05,400 --> 00:26:10,119 Speaker 7: Florida rejects Joe Biden's attempt to rewrite Title nine. We 446 00:26:10,200 --> 00:26:13,800 Speaker 7: will not comply and we will fight back. We are 447 00:26:13,880 --> 00:26:17,280 Speaker 7: not going to let Joe Biden try to inject men 448 00:26:17,359 --> 00:26:18,840 Speaker 7: into women's activities. 449 00:26:19,200 --> 00:26:22,600 Speaker 3: At least twenty two Republican LED states are suing over 450 00:26:22,640 --> 00:26:26,359 Speaker 3: what they say is an illegal rewriting of the landmark 451 00:26:26,520 --> 00:26:29,840 Speaker 3: nineteen seventy two law. Joining me is Paul Smith, a 452 00:26:29,880 --> 00:26:33,520 Speaker 3: professor at Georgetown Law. He's an expert in civil rights 453 00:26:33,520 --> 00:26:37,240 Speaker 3: and civil liberties issues. He argued in won the landmark 454 00:26:37,280 --> 00:26:41,000 Speaker 3: gay rights case Lawrence versus Texas at the Supreme Court. 455 00:26:41,359 --> 00:26:43,760 Speaker 3: Pleasure to have you, Paul. Will you start by telling 456 00:26:43,840 --> 00:26:47,520 Speaker 3: us about the Biden administration's expansion of Title nine. 457 00:26:48,280 --> 00:26:53,160 Speaker 6: Well, the action that was taken just recently to finalize 458 00:26:53,400 --> 00:26:57,359 Speaker 6: new regulations to add additional rights under Title nine to 459 00:26:57,640 --> 00:27:02,200 Speaker 6: LGBTQ students. In many ways, they read duration of the 460 00:27:02,280 --> 00:27:05,240 Speaker 6: rules that were in place under Obama and had been 461 00:27:05,600 --> 00:27:09,199 Speaker 6: cut back during the Trump administration. The Biden administration is 462 00:27:09,240 --> 00:27:12,960 Speaker 6: going even further, clarifying several things. The first thing is 463 00:27:12,960 --> 00:27:17,440 Speaker 6: clarifying is that discrimination against people based on sexual orientation 464 00:27:17,760 --> 00:27:22,160 Speaker 6: and or transgender status is a form of sex discrimination, 465 00:27:22,800 --> 00:27:26,320 Speaker 6: violating Title line. Title line is a statute for bid 466 00:27:26,440 --> 00:27:30,760 Speaker 6: sex discrimination in educational institutions, funded by the federal government. 467 00:27:30,960 --> 00:27:33,000 Speaker 6: The second thing it does is it gives very specific 468 00:27:33,240 --> 00:27:37,639 Speaker 6: examples of what constitutes discrimination against people based on sexual 469 00:27:37,640 --> 00:27:42,439 Speaker 6: orientation or transgender status gender identity. So, for example, it 470 00:27:42,520 --> 00:27:46,560 Speaker 6: is to be clear that schools have to allow transgender 471 00:27:46,560 --> 00:27:50,439 Speaker 6: students to use the bathroom and changing facility consistent with 472 00:27:50,520 --> 00:27:54,000 Speaker 6: their gender identity. They can't refuse to use their preferred 473 00:27:54,040 --> 00:27:57,800 Speaker 6: pronouns and that sort of thing, And you know, discrimination 474 00:27:57,960 --> 00:28:00,960 Speaker 6: against same sex couples in terms of going to the 475 00:28:01,000 --> 00:28:05,680 Speaker 6: prom or whatever clearly illegal, and failure to protect students 476 00:28:05,680 --> 00:28:08,760 Speaker 6: from harassment and bullying based on the fact that they're 477 00:28:08,800 --> 00:28:12,639 Speaker 6: gay or lesbian or transgender, he's a violation as well. 478 00:28:12,880 --> 00:28:16,840 Speaker 6: So that's all been clarified and set forth in terms 479 00:28:16,840 --> 00:28:19,800 Speaker 6: that are easy to understand and are specific enough so 480 00:28:19,840 --> 00:28:21,600 Speaker 6: that a lot of the fights we used to have 481 00:28:21,680 --> 00:28:24,080 Speaker 6: about what is discrimination and what isn't a will no 482 00:28:24,200 --> 00:28:25,800 Speaker 6: longer be happening now. 483 00:28:25,920 --> 00:28:28,960 Speaker 3: Is this because in the last few years a lot 484 00:28:29,000 --> 00:28:33,480 Speaker 3: of Republican controlled states have adopted laws restricting the rights 485 00:28:33,520 --> 00:28:39,120 Speaker 3: of transgender children. At least ten states bar trans students 486 00:28:39,160 --> 00:28:43,200 Speaker 3: and staffers from using bathrooms that correspond with their gender identities, 487 00:28:43,360 --> 00:28:47,000 Speaker 3: and then there are restrictions on how LGBTQ issues are 488 00:28:47,040 --> 00:28:52,000 Speaker 3: taught at school. Are these Biden administration updates designed specifically 489 00:28:52,080 --> 00:28:55,640 Speaker 3: to counter those laws, or are they standing on their own. 490 00:28:55,960 --> 00:28:59,160 Speaker 6: They're part of a much broader and longer term effort 491 00:28:59,280 --> 00:29:03,880 Speaker 6: to establish a federal protection for gay and trans people 492 00:29:04,000 --> 00:29:07,640 Speaker 6: against discrimination, in this case, in the school environment. But 493 00:29:07,920 --> 00:29:10,960 Speaker 6: we've already seen a successful effort to establish it. It's 494 00:29:11,000 --> 00:29:14,320 Speaker 6: illegal under federal law. Discriminated employment I was a Supreme 495 00:29:14,360 --> 00:29:18,080 Speaker 6: Court case decided four years ago that interpreted not Title 496 00:29:18,360 --> 00:29:22,680 Speaker 6: nine but Title seven, which covers employment discrimination against people 497 00:29:22,760 --> 00:29:26,520 Speaker 6: based on transgender status or sexual orientation in the workplace 498 00:29:26,840 --> 00:29:30,360 Speaker 6: is sex discrimination and therefore illegal. And so, you know, 499 00:29:30,440 --> 00:29:32,479 Speaker 6: this fight's been going on a long time. I had 500 00:29:32,520 --> 00:29:36,760 Speaker 6: a case nearly ten years ago in North Carolina about 501 00:29:36,880 --> 00:29:40,200 Speaker 6: their bathroom bill that was trying to keep transgender students 502 00:29:40,240 --> 00:29:42,600 Speaker 6: out of the bathroom of gender identity, and we were 503 00:29:42,680 --> 00:29:46,520 Speaker 6: arguing about Title nine and the Fourteenth Amendment. And so 504 00:29:46,880 --> 00:29:49,480 Speaker 6: you know, while literally this I think has been perceived 505 00:29:49,520 --> 00:29:51,840 Speaker 6: by the Red state attorneys general as a kind of 506 00:29:51,840 --> 00:29:54,160 Speaker 6: a pushback against some of their laws, that it does 507 00:29:54,240 --> 00:29:56,680 Speaker 6: have some of that effect. It is part of a 508 00:29:56,720 --> 00:30:01,280 Speaker 6: broader battle to establish basic protections for or transgender and 509 00:30:01,520 --> 00:30:06,680 Speaker 6: lesbian engained bisexual students in federally funded educational institutions, and 510 00:30:06,800 --> 00:30:08,440 Speaker 6: that in turn is part of a broader effort to 511 00:30:08,520 --> 00:30:12,680 Speaker 6: establish protection in all kinds of places for people who 512 00:30:12,720 --> 00:30:14,080 Speaker 6: are experiencing discrimination. 513 00:30:14,840 --> 00:30:18,240 Speaker 3: I believe there are four lawsuits by attorneys general in 514 00:30:18,320 --> 00:30:23,280 Speaker 3: more than twenty Republican control states or Republican attorneys general. 515 00:30:23,520 --> 00:30:26,680 Speaker 3: Are those lawsuits on the same grounds. 516 00:30:26,320 --> 00:30:28,760 Speaker 6: It's pretty easy to figure out what they're arguing. Basically, 517 00:30:28,840 --> 00:30:32,040 Speaker 6: they're going to go into court and say these regulations 518 00:30:32,200 --> 00:30:35,320 Speaker 6: requiring people to have access to the appropriate bathroom and 519 00:30:35,560 --> 00:30:39,880 Speaker 6: changing area or in pronouns or whatever are not properly 520 00:30:40,480 --> 00:30:44,040 Speaker 6: based in the Statute, that the Statute doesn't provide a 521 00:30:44,120 --> 00:30:48,280 Speaker 6: legal basis for protecting people from transgender discrimination and sexual 522 00:30:48,320 --> 00:30:52,720 Speaker 6: orientation discrimination. It's about sex discrimination in the more conventional sense, 523 00:30:53,280 --> 00:30:57,200 Speaker 6: and so it's a basic administrative agency challenge to the 524 00:30:57,240 --> 00:30:59,600 Speaker 6: regulations that is going beyond the Statute. I don't know 525 00:30:59,640 --> 00:31:01,720 Speaker 6: where they these things, but I assume they found courts 526 00:31:01,720 --> 00:31:04,680 Speaker 6: with nice conservative district court judges who may very well 527 00:31:04,680 --> 00:31:06,000 Speaker 6: agree with them, at least initially. 528 00:31:06,320 --> 00:31:08,920 Speaker 3: Yes, they did. They found one of them's into Texas. 529 00:31:09,040 --> 00:31:12,240 Speaker 6: Well, it's almost always the one of Amarillo. 530 00:31:11,800 --> 00:31:15,680 Speaker 3: Texas, from Texas to the Fifth Circuit to the Supreme Court. Perhaps. 531 00:31:15,800 --> 00:31:19,320 Speaker 3: I mean, you refer to the Bostock case and that 532 00:31:19,440 --> 00:31:22,160 Speaker 3: was close. That was five to four, right, right, So 533 00:31:22,480 --> 00:31:24,360 Speaker 3: do you think that if this goes up to the 534 00:31:24,400 --> 00:31:27,400 Speaker 3: Supreme Court that they'll affirm their changes or do you 535 00:31:27,400 --> 00:31:30,360 Speaker 3: think that they'll go along with the Republican Attorney's General 536 00:31:30,400 --> 00:31:31,600 Speaker 3: or too soon to tell. 537 00:31:31,640 --> 00:31:33,880 Speaker 6: It's probably too soon to tell, and it's probably not 538 00:31:33,920 --> 00:31:36,120 Speaker 6: a yes or no answer, because a lot of what 539 00:31:36,200 --> 00:31:38,920 Speaker 6: may happen in these cases may be sort of careful 540 00:31:39,040 --> 00:31:41,920 Speaker 6: parsing of what some of these rules do. One of 541 00:31:41,920 --> 00:31:45,520 Speaker 6: the things we've seen in this Title nine area is 542 00:31:46,040 --> 00:31:50,160 Speaker 6: people wielding Title nine on both sides. And so if 543 00:31:50,200 --> 00:31:55,320 Speaker 6: you're against having transgender girls go into the girls room 544 00:31:55,360 --> 00:31:57,760 Speaker 6: in the junior high school, one of the things I 545 00:31:57,880 --> 00:32:00,280 Speaker 6: argue is that it's discriminatory against the right to the 546 00:32:00,280 --> 00:32:03,120 Speaker 6: other girls. And that's an argument that's been made when 547 00:32:03,200 --> 00:32:05,880 Speaker 6: they might be true about locker rooms or whatever. And 548 00:32:06,080 --> 00:32:08,680 Speaker 6: certainly in the area not covered by these rights, the 549 00:32:08,720 --> 00:32:13,320 Speaker 6: area of transgender athletics, that's another area where Title nine 550 00:32:13,360 --> 00:32:15,480 Speaker 6: gets wielded on both sides of the v And so 551 00:32:15,560 --> 00:32:18,040 Speaker 6: one of the things that might happen in a pretty 552 00:32:18,080 --> 00:32:21,280 Speaker 6: conservative Supreme courters they might say, well, we don't dispute 553 00:32:21,280 --> 00:32:24,800 Speaker 6: the idea that discrimination based the sexual orientation or transgender 554 00:32:24,840 --> 00:32:28,160 Speaker 6: status can't violate Title nine. But what is discrimination? You know, 555 00:32:28,560 --> 00:32:31,360 Speaker 6: if the school says we're going to decide who goes 556 00:32:31,400 --> 00:32:35,560 Speaker 6: to which bathroom based on physical characteristics or gender assigned 557 00:32:35,600 --> 00:32:38,400 Speaker 6: at birth or whatever, and they do that is, is 558 00:32:38,440 --> 00:32:41,960 Speaker 6: that discrimination against somebody that those are issues that have 559 00:32:42,080 --> 00:32:45,280 Speaker 6: been fought out over and over again, and reasonable minds 560 00:32:45,400 --> 00:32:46,600 Speaker 6: kind of disagree about them. 561 00:32:47,400 --> 00:32:52,960 Speaker 3: You mentioned transgender athletes, and the new rules don't address 562 00:32:53,240 --> 00:32:55,680 Speaker 3: transgender athletes, and I've read. 563 00:32:55,480 --> 00:32:57,840 Speaker 6: That yet anyway, well, I've read that. 564 00:32:57,720 --> 00:33:00,240 Speaker 3: They might be avoiding that because of the election action 565 00:33:00,360 --> 00:33:02,640 Speaker 3: coming up, and how that's such a hot button issue, 566 00:33:02,680 --> 00:33:06,160 Speaker 3: even more so than transgender rights as far as bathrooms, 567 00:33:06,160 --> 00:33:06,640 Speaker 3: et cetera. 568 00:33:07,160 --> 00:33:10,000 Speaker 6: Yeah, it's by far the biggest one. I think they 569 00:33:10,040 --> 00:33:13,440 Speaker 6: got one hundred and fifty thousand comments about the proposed 570 00:33:13,480 --> 00:33:16,200 Speaker 6: regulation that was put out two years ago as part 571 00:33:16,200 --> 00:33:21,360 Speaker 6: of this package to establish the principal the transgender athletes 572 00:33:21,520 --> 00:33:23,800 Speaker 6: need access to the teams just like everyone else on 573 00:33:23,840 --> 00:33:28,400 Speaker 6: an equal basis. And you know, with the pure speculation 574 00:33:28,520 --> 00:33:31,040 Speaker 6: on my part, whether they just found this issue harder 575 00:33:31,320 --> 00:33:34,520 Speaker 6: and therefore they're taking a longer time to finalize, or 576 00:33:35,080 --> 00:33:39,560 Speaker 6: whether they've decided this might be better promulgated in December 577 00:33:40,280 --> 00:33:42,840 Speaker 6: twenty twenty four rather than before the election. It's hard 578 00:33:42,880 --> 00:33:44,120 Speaker 6: to say so. 579 00:33:44,320 --> 00:33:48,880 Speaker 3: Now in some Republican led states, governors and education secretaries 580 00:33:48,880 --> 00:33:52,480 Speaker 3: are discouraging state officials from complying with the new federal regulation. 581 00:33:52,600 --> 00:33:54,920 Speaker 3: So let's go to Texas, which is always on the 582 00:33:54,960 --> 00:33:57,800 Speaker 3: outer rim. The Governor, Greg Abbott sent a letter to 583 00:33:57,880 --> 00:34:02,160 Speaker 3: chexas as public university systems in community colleges instructing them 584 00:34:02,200 --> 00:34:05,640 Speaker 3: to disregard the new provisions. Texas will not comply with 585 00:34:05,760 --> 00:34:09,359 Speaker 3: President Joe Biden's rewrite of Title nine. I mean, what 586 00:34:09,360 --> 00:34:12,759 Speaker 3: effect does it have on funding for the schools if 587 00:34:12,760 --> 00:34:15,000 Speaker 3: the schools don't comply, well, in. 588 00:34:14,880 --> 00:34:17,520 Speaker 6: The theory, that could lead to a cutoff of funding, 589 00:34:17,560 --> 00:34:22,200 Speaker 6: although it's a rare situation which schools actually lose their funding. 590 00:34:22,360 --> 00:34:25,040 Speaker 6: But what will really happen here is while the governor 591 00:34:25,080 --> 00:34:30,160 Speaker 6: has made this dramatic statement of disobedience, effectively is that 592 00:34:30,160 --> 00:34:33,640 Speaker 6: they'll be in court within a few days and somebody 593 00:34:33,719 --> 00:34:37,279 Speaker 6: will decide whether these new regulations will be put on 594 00:34:37,360 --> 00:34:40,560 Speaker 6: ice pending the further litigation of the case or not. 595 00:34:40,680 --> 00:34:43,120 Speaker 6: And if they are, they won't have to comply with 596 00:34:43,200 --> 00:34:47,719 Speaker 6: them a preliminary ruling that stays their effect. If they're not, 597 00:34:48,400 --> 00:34:51,880 Speaker 6: and the judges say we think the regulations can take effect, 598 00:34:51,920 --> 00:34:54,160 Speaker 6: now you know why you litigate up through the courts. 599 00:34:54,400 --> 00:34:56,640 Speaker 6: That becomes a more serious manner. But I wouldn't be 600 00:34:56,640 --> 00:34:59,120 Speaker 6: at all surprised, given who got to the sign where 601 00:34:59,160 --> 00:35:02,080 Speaker 6: these cases were filed, that they'll find judges who will say, 602 00:35:02,160 --> 00:35:05,920 Speaker 6: let's just enter a preliminary order stopping these rigs from 603 00:35:05,920 --> 00:35:08,160 Speaker 6: being in effect as we go up through the court. 604 00:35:08,719 --> 00:35:11,959 Speaker 3: These new rules also changed the rules that the Trump 605 00:35:12,000 --> 00:35:17,040 Speaker 3: administration put into place for conducting investigations of sexual assault 606 00:35:17,120 --> 00:35:21,239 Speaker 3: on campuses. Under the Trump administration, the accused had a 607 00:35:21,320 --> 00:35:25,480 Speaker 3: right to cross examine the accuser at open hearings. 608 00:35:25,560 --> 00:35:28,279 Speaker 6: Very clear that there was a perception that the pre 609 00:35:28,400 --> 00:35:31,560 Speaker 6: Trump rules under the Obama administration were too favorable to 610 00:35:31,600 --> 00:35:34,759 Speaker 6: the accuser that Betsy Devas tried to come up with 611 00:35:34,800 --> 00:35:37,680 Speaker 6: a new system that gave greater rights and protections to 612 00:35:37,760 --> 00:35:41,880 Speaker 6: the accused in these cases involving primarily student non student 613 00:35:42,120 --> 00:35:46,279 Speaker 6: sexual violence, date violence, that kind of thing. And this 614 00:35:46,360 --> 00:35:50,040 Speaker 6: does seem to be designed to restore what is viewed 615 00:35:50,040 --> 00:35:52,640 Speaker 6: by the Biden people as a more fair balance of 616 00:35:52,760 --> 00:35:57,520 Speaker 6: rights on both sides of the controversy in those difficult cases. 617 00:35:58,080 --> 00:36:02,480 Speaker 3: You know, it's obvious that as administrations change, these rules 618 00:36:02,560 --> 00:36:05,800 Speaker 3: change back and forth. That doesn't seem like a smart 619 00:36:05,840 --> 00:36:10,120 Speaker 3: way to be establishing rules for schools and having them 620 00:36:10,200 --> 00:36:12,240 Speaker 3: change every four years or so. 621 00:36:12,360 --> 00:36:14,680 Speaker 6: It does show you how political a lot of this 622 00:36:14,760 --> 00:36:18,400 Speaker 6: stuff is, and you know, until this gets settled, you're 623 00:36:18,440 --> 00:36:19,960 Speaker 6: going to see some of this. But what I think 624 00:36:20,000 --> 00:36:22,319 Speaker 6: what usually happens in this kind of situation is that 625 00:36:22,360 --> 00:36:25,160 Speaker 6: after a period of it for tat back and forth, 626 00:36:25,200 --> 00:36:27,640 Speaker 6: eventually things kind of calm down and people get used 627 00:36:27,680 --> 00:36:29,760 Speaker 6: to a rule and it stays in place. 628 00:36:30,600 --> 00:36:34,520 Speaker 3: So you've been litigating in this area of LGBTQ rights, 629 00:36:34,920 --> 00:36:38,359 Speaker 3: are you surprised that seems as if in some respects 630 00:36:38,800 --> 00:36:40,240 Speaker 3: we're going backwards. 631 00:36:40,640 --> 00:36:45,279 Speaker 6: There clearly is a political effort to push back on 632 00:36:45,400 --> 00:36:49,680 Speaker 6: some of the progress that the LGBTQ movement for equality 633 00:36:49,760 --> 00:36:52,879 Speaker 6: seem to be making, looking for vulnerabilities, and the main 634 00:36:52,960 --> 00:36:57,640 Speaker 6: vulnerability that they have found the forces opposed to equality 635 00:36:58,239 --> 00:37:01,760 Speaker 6: is transgender students. It's a newer group that has less 636 00:37:01,920 --> 00:37:05,279 Speaker 6: sort of comfort level and among the general population, and 637 00:37:05,400 --> 00:37:08,560 Speaker 6: so they have looked for ways to kind of turn 638 00:37:08,600 --> 00:37:12,600 Speaker 6: them non transgender students into victims serving privacy in the 639 00:37:12,680 --> 00:37:16,120 Speaker 6: bathroom or in the locker room, Claiming that teachers have 640 00:37:16,200 --> 00:37:19,600 Speaker 6: a religious right not to accept a new pronoun or 641 00:37:19,600 --> 00:37:22,120 Speaker 6: a new name that kind of thing. And so while 642 00:37:22,360 --> 00:37:24,919 Speaker 6: you know, certainly there's still plenty of discrimination against same 643 00:37:24,960 --> 00:37:28,719 Speaker 6: sex couples and gay lesbian people in the school systems, 644 00:37:28,960 --> 00:37:32,640 Speaker 6: transgender students are a particular focus on a real hot 645 00:37:32,680 --> 00:37:36,960 Speaker 6: button issue right now. Transgender people, non binary people, they 646 00:37:36,960 --> 00:37:41,400 Speaker 6: have very high levels of difficulty except themselves. The suicide 647 00:37:41,480 --> 00:37:44,120 Speaker 6: rate is very high, and instead of just trying to 648 00:37:44,160 --> 00:37:46,080 Speaker 6: make it easy as possible for them to get through 649 00:37:46,080 --> 00:37:48,360 Speaker 6: their childhoods and get up wherever they're going to end 650 00:37:48,440 --> 00:37:51,120 Speaker 6: up in life, people are actually making it harder on purpose. 651 00:37:51,160 --> 00:37:52,560 Speaker 6: It's really it is sad. 652 00:37:52,920 --> 00:37:55,480 Speaker 3: It's been wonderful having you on, Paul. I really appreciate 653 00:37:55,520 --> 00:37:59,920 Speaker 3: your insights. That's Paul Smith, a professor at Georgetown Laws 654 00:38:00,160 --> 00:38:02,640 Speaker 3: it for this edition of The Bloomberg Law Show. Remember 655 00:38:02,719 --> 00:38:05,120 Speaker 3: you can always get the latest legal news by listening 656 00:38:05,120 --> 00:38:07,960 Speaker 3: to our Bloomberg Law podcasts. You can find them on 657 00:38:08,040 --> 00:38:12,600 Speaker 3: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and at Bloomberg dot Com, Slash podcast 658 00:38:12,719 --> 00:38:16,440 Speaker 3: Slash Law. I'm June Grosso and you're listening to Bloomberg