WEBVTT - Georgia Election Probe Into Trump Heats Up 0:00:03.200 --> 0:00:07.960 This is Bloomberg Law with June Brussel from Bloomberg Radio. 0:00:09.440 --> 0:00:12.640 So look, all I wanna do is this. I just 0:00:12.800 --> 0:00:20.919 want to find uh thousand seven votes, which is one 0:00:20.920 --> 0:00:24.759 more that we have because we won the state. The 0:00:24.840 --> 0:00:28.160 phone call between former President Donald Trump and the Georgia 0:00:28.280 --> 0:00:32.320 Secretary of State Brad Rathinsburger seems to be the centerpiece 0:00:32.320 --> 0:00:35.879 of the criminal investigation in Georgia into whether Trump and 0:00:35.960 --> 0:00:39.840 others broke the lawn by trying to pressure state officials 0:00:40.000 --> 0:00:43.960 into throwing out Joe Biden's presidential election victory. And now 0:00:44.040 --> 0:00:47.680 Fulton County District Attorney Fannie Willis has gotten the courts 0:00:47.720 --> 0:00:51.280 permission to convene a special grand jury in the investigation, 0:00:51.800 --> 0:00:54.920 joining me as former federal Prosecutor Robert Mintz, a partner 0:00:55.000 --> 0:00:59.160 McCarter and English Bob. Why did the prosecutor request a 0:00:59.240 --> 0:01:03.280 special grand The Fulton County District Attorney made that request 0:01:03.320 --> 0:01:07.120 because she said that key witnesses and the investigation, including 0:01:07.200 --> 0:01:11.000 for example, the Georgia's Secretary of State, would not cooperate 0:01:11.040 --> 0:01:14.600 without being subpoena to testify. So the special grand jury 0:01:14.680 --> 0:01:18.560 was created to give her the power to bring these 0:01:18.600 --> 0:01:23.080 individuals before the grand jury. Interestingly, the special grand Jury 0:01:23.240 --> 0:01:25.959 gives her the power to have a grand jury whose 0:01:25.959 --> 0:01:29.720 sole focus is this investigation, and they're able to meet 0:01:29.720 --> 0:01:32.640 on a more regular basis and will move this investigation 0:01:32.920 --> 0:01:35.640 along at a much quicker pace. Of course, the big 0:01:35.760 --> 0:01:39.039 question is whether Trump's attempts to reverse the outcome in 0:01:39.080 --> 0:01:43.560 Georgia were criminal. What will the prosecutor be looking at? 0:01:43.600 --> 0:01:46.480 The phone Country District Attorney is going to look at 0:01:46.760 --> 0:01:52.120 certain key events that occurred on January See Specifically, at 0:01:52.200 --> 0:01:54.920 three pm on Saturday, there was a phone call which 0:01:55.040 --> 0:01:58.280 was recorded between President Trump on the Secretary of State 0:01:58.760 --> 0:02:02.800 in which prosect shooters may alleged that President Trump tried 0:02:02.840 --> 0:02:06.680 to push and coerce this in Secretary of State into 0:02:06.800 --> 0:02:12.200 counting George's presidential votes in a way that favored President Trump. Specifically, 0:02:12.520 --> 0:02:17.040 the language in the phone call includes President Trump stating 0:02:17.080 --> 0:02:19.920 to the Secretary of State, I think it's pretty clear 0:02:20.040 --> 0:02:23.640 that we won. We won very substantially in Georgia. And 0:02:23.680 --> 0:02:26.880 then the President, according to the tape, went on to say, 0:02:27.000 --> 0:02:30.000 it's more illegal for you than it is for them, 0:02:30.080 --> 0:02:32.960 because you know what they did and you're not reporting it. 0:02:33.440 --> 0:02:36.360 That's a criminal offense and you can't let that happen. 0:02:36.760 --> 0:02:38.960 And then he says, what is probably the key in 0:02:39.120 --> 0:02:42.000 that phone call, the key words in that telephone call. 0:02:42.440 --> 0:02:44.920 All I want to do is this. I want to 0:02:45.000 --> 0:02:49.079 find eleven thousand seven under eight votes, which is more 0:02:49.120 --> 0:02:52.440 than we have because we won the state. That's going 0:02:52.480 --> 0:02:56.679 to be the key fact in that investigation, and prosecutors 0:02:56.720 --> 0:02:59.480 will try to prove that what the president was doing 0:02:59.560 --> 0:03:02.040 was the reatening the Secretary of State that if he 0:03:02.120 --> 0:03:05.440 did not yield to that request, that he himself could 0:03:05.480 --> 0:03:08.840 face criminal charges. That is what the case will be about. 0:03:08.919 --> 0:03:12.680 The particular statutes that the prosecutor in Georgia will be 0:03:12.720 --> 0:03:16.440 looking at our two criminal solicitation to commit election fraud, 0:03:16.880 --> 0:03:21.200 conspiracy to commit election fraud. George's conspiracy to commit election 0:03:21.200 --> 0:03:23.919 frond statute makes it a crime when one conspires or 0:03:23.960 --> 0:03:27.799 agrees with another to violate Georgia's election laws. And what's 0:03:27.840 --> 0:03:30.799 important here is that that crime, as with any conspiracy law, 0:03:31.160 --> 0:03:34.400 is complete when there's an agreement to violate the law 0:03:34.680 --> 0:03:38.520 and one overt act is taken in further into that conspiracy. 0:03:38.760 --> 0:03:41.520 But it is not necessary to prove that the conspiracy 0:03:41.560 --> 0:03:44.480 was consummated In other words, the scheme does not have 0:03:44.560 --> 0:03:48.920 to succeed to be criminal. The second statute that prosecutors 0:03:48.920 --> 0:03:53.160 will be looking at, the Georgia criminal solicitation statute that 0:03:53.200 --> 0:03:55.480 makes it a crime when a person commits the offense 0:03:55.840 --> 0:03:59.440 of criminal solicitation to commit election fraud. When was that 0:03:59.520 --> 0:04:04.040 intent another person engages in conduct that constitutes of felony. Here, 0:04:04.080 --> 0:04:08.240 the underlying felony would essentially be tampering with the election results, 0:04:08.400 --> 0:04:11.160 and what prosecutors would have to show was that Trump 0:04:11.400 --> 0:04:14.960 was demanding that the Secretary of State alter the final 0:04:15.080 --> 0:04:18.159 vote palities so that it would appear that he won 0:04:18.200 --> 0:04:21.640 the election, when in fact he did not. As far 0:04:21.720 --> 0:04:26.320 as the criminal solicitation charge, does it seem as if 0:04:26.320 --> 0:04:30.440 the phone call would almost be enough. That's a great question. 0:04:30.520 --> 0:04:33.640 It does seem like the phone call is quite damning, 0:04:33.680 --> 0:04:36.760 but when you look closely at the words that were spoken, 0:04:36.920 --> 0:04:40.440 it is not nearly as clear cut as it first appears. 0:04:40.760 --> 0:04:43.680 The key language in that phone call is when President 0:04:43.680 --> 0:04:47.359 Trump allegedly said to the Secretary of State, all I 0:04:47.440 --> 0:04:49.840 want to do is this. I just want to find 0:04:50.080 --> 0:04:54.200 eleven thousand, seven eight votes, which is one more than 0:04:54.320 --> 0:04:58.120 we have because we won the state. The key to 0:04:58.200 --> 0:05:01.120 this prosecution is that the date will have to show 0:05:01.520 --> 0:05:05.000 that President Trump knew in fact that he lost the 0:05:05.080 --> 0:05:07.520 election and that he was asking the Secretary of State 0:05:07.520 --> 0:05:11.560 to quote unquote find votes that did not exist. It 0:05:11.600 --> 0:05:14.320 would be a defense to this criminal case if President 0:05:14.360 --> 0:05:17.719 Trump could show that he actually believed he won the 0:05:17.760 --> 0:05:20.480 state of Georgia, even if it turns out that that's 0:05:20.520 --> 0:05:23.480 not incorrect. But if all he was asking the Secretary 0:05:23.520 --> 0:05:26.839 of State to do was to find real votes, was 0:05:26.920 --> 0:05:30.760 to locate votes that actually were made legally for him 0:05:30.920 --> 0:05:33.680 that put him over the top in Georgia, that actually 0:05:33.720 --> 0:05:36.240 would be a defense to these criminal charges. So the 0:05:36.400 --> 0:05:40.039 entire case turns on the intent of the president. Did 0:05:40.040 --> 0:05:43.320 he ask the Secretary of State to find votes that 0:05:43.360 --> 0:05:46.120 didn't exist knowing that he in fact had lost the election, 0:05:46.560 --> 0:05:50.240 or did he have a real, genuine belief that he 0:05:50.279 --> 0:05:52.320 won the election and that he was simply asking the 0:05:52.320 --> 0:05:55.960 Secretary of State to find actual votes in order to 0:05:56.400 --> 0:05:59.400 validate what he already believed that he in fact won 0:05:59.440 --> 0:06:03.239 the election. So now it seems as if the conspiracy 0:06:03.400 --> 0:06:08.200 to commit election fraud would be even more difficult. Who 0:06:08.240 --> 0:06:10.240 would be in on the conspiracy would it be the 0:06:10.279 --> 0:06:14.920 people on the phone with Trump except for Ravensburg. So 0:06:14.960 --> 0:06:17.680 when the President made that call to the Secretary of State, 0:06:17.880 --> 0:06:20.719 there were others on the line, including a team of 0:06:20.800 --> 0:06:24.880 election law lawyers representing the president. If the prosecutors could 0:06:24.960 --> 0:06:28.080 prove that the President conspired with any single one of 0:06:28.120 --> 0:06:31.320 those individuals, then there was an agreement to perform in 0:06:31.320 --> 0:06:33.680 a legal act, and as long as one step was 0:06:33.760 --> 0:06:36.840 taken in further into that conspiracy. That step would be 0:06:37.040 --> 0:06:39.560 the phone call to the Secretary of State to try 0:06:39.600 --> 0:06:42.039 to convince him to overturn the election. That would be 0:06:42.040 --> 0:06:44.000 what prosecutors would have to prove in order to make 0:06:44.000 --> 0:06:47.919 those charges stick. We all know the old saying, I 0:06:47.960 --> 0:06:51.120 think it came from a one time Court of Appeals judge, 0:06:51.200 --> 0:06:54.560 that a prosecutor can get a grand jury to indict 0:06:54.640 --> 0:06:58.120 a ham Sandwich. So does it seem as if this 0:06:58.200 --> 0:07:01.840 prosecutor could bring charge is if she wants to. But 0:07:02.080 --> 0:07:04.880 does the prosecutor consider whether or not you can actually 0:07:04.880 --> 0:07:08.080 get a conviction? Sure? What goes on in the grand 0:07:08.160 --> 0:07:11.440 jury is that prosecutors have to show that there is 0:07:11.560 --> 0:07:14.400 probable cause that a crime has been committed and that 0:07:14.480 --> 0:07:17.840 the individual named in the indictment has committed that crime. 0:07:18.200 --> 0:07:21.120 That's the lowest standard we have in our criminal justice system. 0:07:21.280 --> 0:07:24.320 There's probable cause in order to get the indictment. However, 0:07:24.400 --> 0:07:27.440 in order to get the conviction, it's it's proof beyond 0:07:27.520 --> 0:07:30.120 a reasonable doubt, which is the highest legal standard we 0:07:30.120 --> 0:07:32.880 have in our legal system. While it's relatively easy for 0:07:32.920 --> 0:07:36.800 prosecutors to get an indictment because of the lower criminal standard, 0:07:37.120 --> 0:07:40.040 and because in front of the grand jury, the grand 0:07:40.120 --> 0:07:43.280 jurors only here the prosecutor's side of the case. In 0:07:43.360 --> 0:07:46.320 other words, they only hear the evidence to support if 0:07:46.320 --> 0:07:49.679 finding a probable cause. They don't hear the defense side 0:07:49.680 --> 0:07:52.560 of the case. It's relatively easy to get an indictment, 0:07:52.760 --> 0:07:55.120 but a prosecutor never wants to get an indictment that 0:07:55.160 --> 0:07:57.840 they don't believe they can ultimately prove in court, and 0:07:57.920 --> 0:08:00.680 particularly in a case like this that would be enormously 0:08:01.040 --> 0:08:04.800 high profile, with the stakes enormously high, I don't think 0:08:04.840 --> 0:08:08.160 we're going to see the prosecutor pursue this case unless 0:08:08.200 --> 0:08:11.120 she believes that she can ultimately get a conviction if 0:08:11.120 --> 0:08:13.720 this case were to go to trial. It seems that 0:08:13.800 --> 0:08:18.280 most people looking at all the possible criminal cases against Trump. 0:08:18.720 --> 0:08:23.560 See the Georgia case as the most direct and having 0:08:23.560 --> 0:08:27.040 the most possibilities for conviction. Do you agree with that, Well, 0:08:27.080 --> 0:08:29.480 it is the most clear cut case in the sense 0:08:29.520 --> 0:08:33.559 that the facts are not particularly complicated. It also has 0:08:33.559 --> 0:08:36.520 the virtue from the prosecutor's side of the case, of 0:08:36.640 --> 0:08:40.120 having an actual tape of President Trump speaking to the 0:08:40.160 --> 0:08:43.680 Secretary of State. So, in other words, prosecutors would argue 0:08:44.040 --> 0:08:47.280 that there is an actual recording of the crime in 0:08:47.400 --> 0:08:50.200 real time. They would have to stand up before before 0:08:50.280 --> 0:08:54.440 jurors and convince them that the president in that conversation, 0:08:54.559 --> 0:08:58.360 in that recorded conversation, was attempting to get the Secretary 0:08:58.400 --> 0:09:02.040 of State to find non existent votes, and that President 0:09:02.040 --> 0:09:04.320 Trump knew at the time that he had lost the 0:09:04.360 --> 0:09:07.600 election and was seeking to have it overturned by asking 0:09:07.840 --> 0:09:11.240 the Secretary of State to intervene at the Tampa with 0:09:11.280 --> 0:09:14.400 the results of that election. Let's turn out to New York, 0:09:14.640 --> 0:09:18.400 And of course there are parallel investigations by the New 0:09:18.480 --> 0:09:22.120 York Attorney General and the Manhattan But the Attorney General 0:09:22.200 --> 0:09:27.680 is fighting to get testimony from the eldest Trump children, 0:09:27.760 --> 0:09:31.679 and so she released a hundred fifty seven page court document. 0:09:32.160 --> 0:09:34.959 What did you see that struck you there. What's important 0:09:34.960 --> 0:09:38.000 to note here is that the New York Attorney General 0:09:38.120 --> 0:09:41.440 filed a motion to compel the former president along with 0:09:41.480 --> 0:09:44.599 his son Donald Trump Junior, and Ivanka Trump, the handover 0:09:44.840 --> 0:09:48.720 documents and answer questions about the series of valuations of 0:09:48.840 --> 0:09:53.000 key properties part of the New York based Trump organization empire. 0:09:53.600 --> 0:09:56.840 That was meant was a motion to quash from the 0:09:56.840 --> 0:10:00.440 Trump team, and that resulted in this filing by the 0:10:00.440 --> 0:10:03.560 New York Attorney General in which she detailed a lot 0:10:03.600 --> 0:10:07.120 of the evidence that they had already gathered in this investigation. 0:10:07.360 --> 0:10:10.480 But it's important to note that the Attorney General's investigation 0:10:10.480 --> 0:10:13.720 in New York is a civil case, which means nobody's 0:10:13.720 --> 0:10:16.920 going to jail as a result of that investigation. All 0:10:16.960 --> 0:10:19.080 that can result there is that there will be an 0:10:19.080 --> 0:10:21.520 imposition of a fine at the end of that case. 0:10:22.240 --> 0:10:26.960 So the Attorney General claims that Trump's financial filings have 0:10:27.160 --> 0:10:31.559 misstated objective facts, that the Trump organization used fraudulent or 0:10:31.640 --> 0:10:35.880 misleading asset valuations to obtain a host of economic benefits, 0:10:35.920 --> 0:10:40.520 including loans, insurance coverage, and tax deductions. She's been investigating 0:10:40.600 --> 0:10:45.720 since is the problem? How hard it is to convict 0:10:46.320 --> 0:10:50.400 someone of fraud in a case like this. Sure well, 0:10:50.600 --> 0:10:53.560 in the civil case, the standard of proof is merely 0:10:54.040 --> 0:10:56.839 preponderance of the evidence. So unlike the criminal case that's 0:10:56.880 --> 0:10:59.280 going on with the Manhattan District Attorney's office or the 0:10:59.280 --> 0:11:03.439 criminal case that's going on in Georgia, the Attorney General 0:11:03.480 --> 0:11:06.040 in New York only has to prove the case by 0:11:06.040 --> 0:11:09.000 a preponderance of the evidence, which means slightly more than 0:11:09.040 --> 0:11:13.240 fifty percent. But they're still difficulties even improving that case. 0:11:13.600 --> 0:11:17.200 For one thing, it's a complicated financial fraud case, and 0:11:17.240 --> 0:11:21.079 it's difficult to prove criminal intent unless the documents are 0:11:21.120 --> 0:11:24.120 crystal clear that there was an intent to mislead into fraud, 0:11:24.280 --> 0:11:27.839 and unless you have someone on the inside, a co conspirator, 0:11:28.040 --> 0:11:30.079 who can take jurors by the hand through all these 0:11:30.120 --> 0:11:33.600 complicated documents and show them that, in fact, there was 0:11:33.720 --> 0:11:36.199 criminal intent here, there was knowledge that what was being 0:11:36.240 --> 0:11:38.480 done was wrong, there was knowledge that the information that 0:11:38.559 --> 0:11:41.760 was being filed was false. They don't have that here 0:11:41.800 --> 0:11:44.240 in terms of a cooperator as far as we know. 0:11:44.640 --> 0:11:49.840 And the documents themselves are complicated. They're complicated financial documents 0:11:49.880 --> 0:11:53.480 that also have the added difficulty of having been reviewed 0:11:53.679 --> 0:11:57.080 and approved by attorneys. So one of the defenses that 0:11:57.120 --> 0:12:00.120 the Trump organization can raise is that they rely in 0:12:00.240 --> 0:12:04.280 good faith on professional advice, that these documents were reviewed 0:12:04.280 --> 0:12:07.840 by lawyers and by accountants, and even if ultimately they 0:12:07.840 --> 0:12:11.040 were wrong, they were allied in good faith on those professionals, 0:12:11.040 --> 0:12:14.840 and therefore they're not guilty of committing that offense. Another 0:12:15.000 --> 0:12:18.920 challenge for the New York Attorney General's Office investigation is 0:12:18.920 --> 0:12:23.319 that she is trying to prove objectively that these valuations 0:12:23.400 --> 0:12:27.600 were incorrect. So she's trying to find discrepancies in all 0:12:27.679 --> 0:12:31.280 these financial filings and show that at one time and 0:12:31.360 --> 0:12:34.120 for one purpose, a certain property was valued at X, 0:12:34.400 --> 0:12:36.920 and that the same property for at another time, for 0:12:36.960 --> 0:12:41.199 another purpose was valued at Why. These are objective discrepancies 0:12:41.440 --> 0:12:44.000 in the valuations, and she's trying to use that to 0:12:44.120 --> 0:12:47.040 show that they had to note that these valuations were 0:12:47.080 --> 0:12:49.760 not correct and that they were being manipulated for various 0:12:49.800 --> 0:12:54.320 purposes in order to obtain economic advantages for the Trump organization. 0:12:54.559 --> 0:12:58.080 But even that argument can be challenging because it is 0:12:58.160 --> 0:13:03.400 perfectly permissible to value different properties at different amounts based 0:13:03.480 --> 0:13:06.280 upon the context that the valuation is being done, so 0:13:06.480 --> 0:13:09.560 the rules may differ if the valuation is being done, 0:13:09.600 --> 0:13:13.840 for example, for a mortgage or loan application, as opposed 0:13:13.880 --> 0:13:18.240 to some other circumstance. So even the discrepancies alone may 0:13:18.280 --> 0:13:20.559 not be enough to prove that there was an intent 0:13:20.679 --> 0:13:23.640 to defraud here. Those are additional challenges that the New 0:13:23.679 --> 0:13:26.320 York Attorney General will have to overcome if she's ultimately 0:13:26.360 --> 0:13:28.960 going to bring a case of fraud against President Trump 0:13:29.040 --> 0:13:32.520 or anybody else in the Trump organization. Thanks Bob, that's 0:13:32.640 --> 0:13:37.640 Robert mans of McCarter and English. Gun violence is on 0:13:37.679 --> 0:13:41.720 the rise in Manhattan. Last Friday, two police officers were 0:13:41.760 --> 0:13:45.040 shot and killed in Harlem. There have been thirteen shootings 0:13:45.080 --> 0:13:48.480 in Manhattan so far this year, compared to seven during 0:13:48.480 --> 0:13:53.120 the same period in according to New York Police Department statistics. 0:13:53.440 --> 0:13:56.880 Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Brad, who has been under pressure 0:13:57.200 --> 0:14:01.200 over a memoy issued for swearing prosecution of certain crimes, 0:14:01.559 --> 0:14:04.560 said addressing gun violence will be a top priority for 0:14:04.640 --> 0:14:08.560 his office. Joining me as Bloomberg Legal reporter Patricia Hurtado, 0:14:08.760 --> 0:14:12.080 pat tell us about this memo from brag that has 0:14:12.200 --> 0:14:15.640 gotten so much attention. Well, it was a law enforcement 0:14:15.720 --> 0:14:20.200 memo to his staff prosecutors. They're called the system district attorneys, 0:14:20.240 --> 0:14:23.000 and this was a memo that laid out how they 0:14:23.040 --> 0:14:26.600 were going to pursue certain crimes and not seek certain 0:14:26.680 --> 0:14:31.800 penalties automatically, you know, not pursue fair beating cases or 0:14:32.080 --> 0:14:36.440 sex worker cases like aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor 0:14:36.560 --> 0:14:39.320 vehicle can only be charged if a motorist is also 0:14:39.360 --> 0:14:42.400 accused of being involved in the dangerous driving or crashes 0:14:42.440 --> 0:14:46.080 that injure someone. They can't be used against people who 0:14:46.080 --> 0:14:50.119 don't pay their fine. People who burglarize apartments or buildings 0:14:50.240 --> 0:14:53.560 or basements of a commercial building or an apartment would 0:14:53.560 --> 0:14:57.640 face burglary charges, but they would carry lesser punishments that 0:14:57.960 --> 0:15:03.240 cautions that don't automatic. We seek to have someone incarcerated 0:15:03.440 --> 0:15:06.480 when they get arrested. You know, that only pursued those 0:15:06.560 --> 0:15:10.080 kinds of cases there's an imminent threat of harm. Resisting 0:15:10.160 --> 0:15:12.800 arrest could only be charged if the person is arresting 0:15:12.840 --> 0:15:16.200 for a serious crime, not just standing around when the 0:15:16.240 --> 0:15:20.280 cops are telling them to move. And Brag's theories apparently 0:15:20.320 --> 0:15:24.680 behind us, were that he wanted to stop police from 0:15:24.680 --> 0:15:30.080 basically arresting black and list Latin neck and minorities that 0:15:30.360 --> 0:15:35.440 are targeted typically under these kinds of cases. What has happened, though, 0:15:35.760 --> 0:15:38.680 is there's been a lot of interpretation of the memo. 0:15:39.280 --> 0:15:42.920 Miss memo. It was basically sort of suggesting a little 0:15:42.960 --> 0:15:47.480 more leniency or giving the prosecutors more discretion and don't 0:15:47.480 --> 0:15:51.560 automatically charge everything that gets arrested and make it a felony. 0:15:52.080 --> 0:15:55.200 Was basically came at a time right head up into 0:15:55.800 --> 0:15:59.520 an increase in crime. There's been a spike and recent 0:15:59.640 --> 0:16:03.920 violence crimes including shootings and gun violence. So this policy 0:16:04.000 --> 0:16:08.480 Day one memo came head on into shootings and the 0:16:08.640 --> 0:16:12.280 pushing of the woman Michelle go office worker who was 0:16:12.320 --> 0:16:14.680 shoved to her death in front of an oncoming subway 0:16:14.680 --> 0:16:18.280 car in Manhattan. And there was a girl fatally shot. 0:16:18.360 --> 0:16:21.400 She was a Burger King worker. She was fatally shot 0:16:21.680 --> 0:16:24.040 at the bear robbery at the at the Burger King. 0:16:24.640 --> 0:16:27.640 So these kinds of crimes, of course, are getting a 0:16:27.680 --> 0:16:31.920 lot of headlines, and Bragg's policies seemed to have collided 0:16:32.040 --> 0:16:35.200 head on with this spike. I mean, the New York 0:16:35.200 --> 0:16:38.360 Police Commissioner, the first black woman to hold that job, 0:16:38.800 --> 0:16:42.680 criticized his policies. They were even starting to be calls 0:16:43.240 --> 0:16:47.800 for removing him from office. Yes, and Tom Squazzy, who's 0:16:47.880 --> 0:16:52.680 running for governor the Republican he is called upon Kathy 0:16:52.760 --> 0:16:55.800 Hokel to remove Brag and she apparently has the power 0:16:55.840 --> 0:16:59.760 to do so. And she's running for re election after 0:16:59.800 --> 0:17:03.600 she was appointed to replace Andrew Cuomo, so she's having 0:17:03.640 --> 0:17:06.439 to deal with this issue where she's being asked to 0:17:06.600 --> 0:17:10.199 review Bragg and possibly remove him. So she's going to 0:17:10.280 --> 0:17:14.000 be meeting with him, it's been reported. So you know, 0:17:14.240 --> 0:17:17.399 it's a lot happening in three weeks where you have 0:17:17.520 --> 0:17:21.080 a new police commissioner and then you have a new 0:17:21.119 --> 0:17:24.560 mayor who is a former cop who's dealing with this 0:17:24.680 --> 0:17:30.160 spike in crime citywide. Mayor Adams has given his support 0:17:30.320 --> 0:17:33.640 and says that he thinks that Bragg is a brilliant prosecutor. 0:17:33.960 --> 0:17:36.400 But you know, there was something interesting I covered yesterday. 0:17:36.480 --> 0:17:39.600 There was a conference with the New York State Bar 0:17:39.680 --> 0:17:45.840 Association with four District Attorneys around the state, including the 0:17:45.920 --> 0:17:50.399 Erie County d A. Flynn as well as Mimi Roca 0:17:50.480 --> 0:17:55.359 of Westchester d A and Eric Gonzalis the Brooklyn d A. 0:17:55.760 --> 0:17:59.480 And it was interesting because some of them have accomplished 0:18:00.000 --> 0:18:05.440 into progressive policies, ameliorating you know, the harm that incarceration 0:18:05.560 --> 0:18:09.960 does to you. They were talking about different policies they've instituted. 0:18:10.040 --> 0:18:13.360 So for example, Alvin brad gets a lot of attention 0:18:13.560 --> 0:18:15.800 yesterday for announcings and he was going to have like 0:18:15.840 --> 0:18:20.760 a guns are prosecutor to handle gun cases. And Arinzale 0:18:20.800 --> 0:18:24.399 said that last August and no one said anything, you know, 0:18:24.920 --> 0:18:28.600 and Erik Gonzalez was talking about policies that he's enacted 0:18:28.640 --> 0:18:31.440 because there was such a rise in crime when he 0:18:31.480 --> 0:18:35.680 took over when Ken Thompson died in sixteen and then 0:18:35.760 --> 0:18:39.760 ran for d a in Seen, and he said he 0:18:39.880 --> 0:18:43.920 was managed with some policies. They've been focused on certain crimes, 0:18:43.920 --> 0:18:49.520 certain resentivis, balons who have violent backgrounds. They basically focused 0:18:49.520 --> 0:18:53.480 on certain gang cases and made these cases against he said, 0:18:53.520 --> 0:18:55.720 the ones that pulled the triggers. And they've been out 0:18:55.880 --> 0:19:00.080 actually able to bring down crime and there's been a 0:19:00.160 --> 0:19:03.320 reduction in crime in Brooklyn and the d a in 0:19:03.760 --> 0:19:08.159 Erie County was talking about certain alternatives to incarceration cases 0:19:08.160 --> 0:19:12.440 where they take young people who have possibly been involved 0:19:12.440 --> 0:19:14.680 in the shooting. They may have been victims, they were 0:19:14.680 --> 0:19:18.639 not the defendant the person who was arrested for the 0:19:18.720 --> 0:19:22.520 gun possession. But they target them and work with them 0:19:22.800 --> 0:19:25.000 to get them out of the system. So they will 0:19:25.040 --> 0:19:27.200 take them out. And you know, it could be that 0:19:27.320 --> 0:19:31.160 this kid was the victim of a shooting and may 0:19:31.280 --> 0:19:35.560 go get a gun, and with this program, they intervened 0:19:35.640 --> 0:19:38.760 with the kids and to get them out of the system. 0:19:38.800 --> 0:19:42.920 It seems like in some interviews I've seen that Bragg 0:19:42.960 --> 0:19:46.679 has backed off a little on that memo, or tried to. 0:19:47.640 --> 0:19:51.560 He has given It was a two hour seminar last 0:19:51.720 --> 0:19:55.720 week at n y U Law School and where he's 0:19:55.760 --> 0:19:59.720 an adjunct, and he was asked by a law professor 0:19:59.760 --> 0:20:02.840 at n y U Law School that's the former federal 0:20:02.880 --> 0:20:06.840 prosecutor in the Southern District that used to work with him. 0:20:06.880 --> 0:20:10.120 And he has spoken that, you know, he business interpreted 0:20:10.440 --> 0:20:13.680 and that it was a problem. He received criticism from 0:20:13.760 --> 0:20:17.720 the his memo, his Day one memo. It was a 0:20:17.800 --> 0:20:21.560 failure to communicate properly what the memo was really about, 0:20:21.640 --> 0:20:24.880 and he said he called it maybe too legalistic and 0:20:25.080 --> 0:20:30.080 confusing to to the public. Some people have said that 0:20:30.240 --> 0:20:33.040 was the problem, or perhaps you know, it was a 0:20:33.080 --> 0:20:37.639 little and artfully done. Other people have not had this 0:20:37.720 --> 0:20:40.680 issue in the first three weeks of work and also 0:20:40.880 --> 0:20:46.640 didn't at least nine Manhattan prosecutors quit after he took over. Well, 0:20:46.680 --> 0:20:50.359 I mean one series. We had a Bloomberg meeting with 0:20:50.480 --> 0:20:53.000 him on Friday of last week and ed board meeting, 0:20:53.280 --> 0:20:56.600 and that, you know, he said, insisted that some of 0:20:56.640 --> 0:20:59.960 those nine that were counted, that top people that quit 0:21:00.560 --> 0:21:04.520 included the DA himself, Uh Divance, who was obviously going 0:21:04.560 --> 0:21:08.040 to leave. And he said, it's always when there's a 0:21:08.119 --> 0:21:10.359 change in regime happens, there will be a change in 0:21:10.359 --> 0:21:13.360 the top management. And he said the same thing had 0:21:13.359 --> 0:21:16.639 happened when he was in the New York Attorney General's Office. 0:21:16.760 --> 0:21:19.879 All the top managers had left. However, one of the 0:21:19.960 --> 0:21:23.760 key people that the Manhattan DA's office lost is the 0:21:23.800 --> 0:21:28.240 spectacular prosecutor. She's a veteran and she's a fierce, fierce 0:21:28.440 --> 0:21:32.960 child prosecutor. Her name is Jonah Lucy, and she prosecuted 0:21:33.000 --> 0:21:37.400 Harvey Weinstein. So now they've lost her. And the Court 0:21:37.440 --> 0:21:41.919 of Appeals was voicing some criticism of the way the 0:21:42.000 --> 0:21:46.040 case was handled in the use of these witnesses that 0:21:46.200 --> 0:21:49.320 are not direct victims, but they're kind of out Pride witnesses. 0:21:49.480 --> 0:21:53.800 So the if the court appeals court reverses the conviction 0:21:53.840 --> 0:21:56.960 of Harvey Weinstein, now one of the most senior people 0:21:57.080 --> 0:21:59.840 in the office, who's been there for like thecover case 0:21:59.880 --> 0:22:02.560 of where fully twenty five years, you know, she is 0:22:02.600 --> 0:22:05.359 no longer there. He would not answer what they would do. 0:22:05.400 --> 0:22:09.120 He said, there's many talented staffers that can that can 0:22:09.160 --> 0:22:12.480 handle the prosecution. So what does he say he's going 0:22:12.560 --> 0:22:16.640 to focus on. Well, he wants to do a lot 0:22:16.680 --> 0:22:19.520 of things. He wants to focus on gun violence. He 0:22:19.600 --> 0:22:24.359 wants to focus on you know, lowering uh, you know, 0:22:24.600 --> 0:22:28.840 the number of youth and black and Latin Neck people 0:22:28.880 --> 0:22:33.159 who get arrested that he thinks they've been lawfully targeted 0:22:33.240 --> 0:22:37.159 for law enforcement and put a little more parity into 0:22:37.400 --> 0:22:41.520 the into the system, the criminal justice system. But it's 0:22:41.560 --> 0:22:44.399 a lot on his plate right quickly in the middle 0:22:44.520 --> 0:22:48.040 of what many people perceive as a crime wave. And 0:22:48.119 --> 0:22:50.720 you know, he's gotten there's been some criticism. In fact, 0:22:50.840 --> 0:22:53.320 you know, there's been stories. I think people see if 0:22:53.359 --> 0:22:56.520 you go to the Dwayne Read or a local drug store, 0:22:56.880 --> 0:23:00.920 you can't buy anything on the shelves, including toothpaste because 0:23:01.000 --> 0:23:05.080 of you know, people are shop raising shoplifters, and so 0:23:05.240 --> 0:23:07.919 if that's happening in the Manhattan store, and then you 0:23:08.000 --> 0:23:10.679 read a memo that says, hey, let's not arrest everyone, 0:23:10.720 --> 0:23:14.440 let's think about maybe an alternative through this process criminal 0:23:14.480 --> 0:23:17.320 justice system process, you can see people getting a little 0:23:17.359 --> 0:23:21.720 frustrated that, you know, they're worried about getting mugged, or 0:23:21.880 --> 0:23:25.040 some people say that it's not necessarily as bad in 0:23:25.200 --> 0:23:27.840 certain crimes are not as bad as it was in 0:23:27.960 --> 0:23:32.600 the nineteen eighties and nineties during the crack epidemic, but 0:23:33.240 --> 0:23:36.320 it's not good. What about the prosecution of Trump, which 0:23:36.359 --> 0:23:40.879 he inherited from civants the former d A. That was 0:23:40.920 --> 0:23:44.720 an interesting question. My colleagues aggressively questioned him on that, 0:23:44.960 --> 0:23:47.560 and he will not say he will not talk about it. 0:23:47.840 --> 0:23:50.520 And I guess we have to understand that there is 0:23:50.560 --> 0:23:55.600 a grand jury involved in this investigation, and prosecutors are 0:23:55.600 --> 0:24:00.680 prohibited from discussing grand jury matters. But he has said 0:24:00.720 --> 0:24:03.760 repeatedly that he has this expertise when he was on 0:24:03.800 --> 0:24:07.320 the campaign, that he had these this expertise, and as 0:24:07.480 --> 0:24:11.480 in the New York Attorney General's Office prosecuting Trump organization 0:24:11.560 --> 0:24:15.200 in Trump University. So these are kinds of background cases 0:24:15.240 --> 0:24:19.639 that he has, so he has the wherewithal and the skill. 0:24:19.760 --> 0:24:23.040 He's also kept the same people in place that we're 0:24:23.040 --> 0:24:27.919 doing the prosecution under his predecessors. Ivan, And what's his 0:24:27.960 --> 0:24:31.680