This message comes from NPR's sponsor, Organic Valley, the farmer-owned cooperative dedicated to providing ethically sourced food from small organic family farms.

Discover how you can support local organic farmers at o v. coop slash ethically sourced. We've never been here before. A former president is being tried in criminal court

and he's running for re-election. This is a persecution like never before.

Nobody's ever seen anything like it.

And again, it's a case that should have never been brought.

It's an assault America.

That was Donald Trump speaking outside a Manhattan courtroom yesterday.

New York prosecutors charged Trump with 34 counts of falsifying business documents ahead of the 2016 election. They say he was covering up payments he made to adult film star Stormy Daniels.

34 false statements made to cover up other crimes.

These are felony crimes in New York State.

No matter who you are, we cannot and will not normalize serious criminal conduct.

That was Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg speaking at the arraignment for Donald Trump.

The former president is also facing three other criminal cases across the country, one over federal

election interference, one over Georgia election interference, and another

federal case over classified documents. The case in Manhattan is the first and

could be the only to go to trial before the election.

What else sets this case apart?

And what does the treatment of a former president by our courts reveal about our legal system more broadly?

We get into those questions and more after the break.

I'm Jen White.

You're listening to the 1A podcast,

where we get to the heart of the story.

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