Trump on the witness stand
Post Reports
The Washington Post
4.4 • 5.1K Ratings
🗓️ 7 November 2023
⏱️ 18 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
It was a historic scene: In a Manhattan courtroom Monday, former president Donald Trump took the stand in a civil trial that threatens his real estate empire. We break down the case, one of many court battles facing Trump as he runs for president again.
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It has been more than a century since a former U.S. president has testified, under oath, as a defendant in a court trial. That all changed on Monday, when former president Donald Trump took the witness stand in a civil trial brought by the New York attorney general’s office. It is accusing Trump and others, including his two adult sons, of committing rampant fraud.
The case comes on top of other lawsuits Trump faces, which include four criminal indictments — two in federal court, one in New York and one in Georgia.
Today on “Post Reports,” we hear what the scene was like inside the New York City courthouse from reporter Shayna Jacobs, who covers courts and criminal justice for The Post.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | It has been more than a century since a former US president has testified under oath as a defendant in a court trial. |
| 0:09.0 | That all changed yesterday. We're striking about this scene is that none of us have ever really seen Trump testify |
| 0:20.5 | before and we're witnessing history. |
| 0:23.0 | Shaina Jacobs covers courts and criminal justice for the post. |
| 0:27.0 | There's, you know, there's an energy through the room because it's just such a |
| 0:31.0 | momentous thing and we have to try to catch every second of it and then Trump takes the stand and it's wild. |
| 0:39.3 | Yesterday she was inside the packed New York courtroom as former President Donald Trump took the stand. |
| 0:46.0 | He looks unhappy, he looks agitated at times, shaking his head, folding his arms and leaning back, he just looks disgruntled. |
| 0:55.9 | After, Trump told reporters, the whole trial is a scam. |
| 1:00.5 | I don't have to be here for the most part but I certainly do have to be here because I want to be here. |
| 1:06.0 | This is a scam and this is the case that should have never been brought and it's a case that now should be dispensed. |
| 1:13.0 | New York's attorney general Latisha James had a different take. |
| 1:17.0 | He rambled, he hurled insults, but we expected that. |
| 1:25.0 | At the end of the day, the documentary evidence demonstrated that in fact he falsely inflated |
| 1:31.6 | his assets to basically enrich himself and his family. |
| 1:35.0 | From the newsroom of the Washington Post, this is Post Reports. |
| 1:42.0 | I'm your guest host Kim Belware. |
| 1:44.0 | It's Tuesday, November 7th. |
| 1:47.0 | Today, we make sense of Trump's legal fight in New York and why it matters. |
| 1:52.0 | We'll also check in on the head spinning list of other |
| 1:55.3 | court challenges that Trump is facing. |
| 1:59.4 | Shane of former President Donald Trump has been in the legal spotlight for a lot of these |
... |
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