Democracy on Trial, Part One: A Blueprint For the Case Against Trump

The FRONTLINE Dispatch

GBH

News

4.6 • 1.1K Ratings

🗓️ 9 February 2024

⏱️ 46 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

With the 2024 presidential race underway, FRONTLINE investigates the roots of the federal criminal case against former President Donald Trump stemming from his 2020 election loss. In this special audio version of Democracy on Trial, veteran political filmmaker Michael Kirk and his team examine the House Jan. 6 committee’s evidence, the historic charges against Trump and the threat to democracy.

In this first installment, former President Donald Trump is charged with crimes in office — an unprecedented event in American history. The Jan. 6 Select Committee report starts to build a case against former President Donald Trump, which will go on to become a blueprint for special counsel Jack Smith. And a central question emerges for the committee: What did former President Trump know about the 2020 election results, and when did he know it?

Tune in next week for the second installment of the audio-only version of the documentary here on The FRONTLINE Dispatch. Watch Democracy on Trial in full on FRONTLINE’s website, YouTube or the PBS App.

Transcript

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0:00.0	The president's intent was to stay in power at all costs.
0:06.0	This election was stolen.
0:08.0	I'm not going to break it. I'm not putting on no stinking circus.
0:11.0	They put their faith in Donald Trump and he deceived them.
0:13.7	The select committee laid the path down for the Department of Justice.
0:17.0	Donald Trump is going to be the defendant and the candidate.
0:20.1	It's hard to imagine how it's going to play out.
0:23.0	I'm Rainierrinson Roth, editor-in-chief,
0:25.4	and executive producer Frontline.
0:27.7	Today, we're bringing you part one of an audio version
0:31.1	of our film Democracy on Trial.
0:39.8	The Front Line Dispatch is made possible
0:41.8	by the Abrams Foundation committed to excellence in journalism and by the Frontline Journalism Fund with major support from John and Joanne Hagler.
0:51.0	Support for Frontline Dispatch comes from the Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center,
0:54.8	dedicated to providing compassionate care and cancer specialists who are experienced in the cancer you have.
0:59.7	When you hear the word cancer, their team is ready.
1:02.4	Learn more at mass general.org
1:04.8	slash cancer.
1:06.5	An historic day here in Washington.
1:12.1	A federal grand jury here has indicted
1:14.4	former President Donald Trump.
1:15.8	Mr. Trump is charged with three counts of conspiracy and one count of obstruction.
	...

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