Trump forsaken by family? Attorneys paint him as ‘family man’ while he stands on my own at trial

But we begin tonight with the historic first ever criminal trial of a former US president which was almost not the first in fact the world seemed to stop on its hinges on August 8th 1974 as America's 37th president Richard Nixon became the first US President to resign before the end of his term I have never been a.

Quitter to leave office before my term is completed is a horren to every Instinct in my body but as president I must put the interests of America First therefore I shall resign the presidency effective at noon tomorrow Nixon resigned because he had committed crimes misusing government agencies including.

The FBI the CIA and the IRS to cover up the burglary of the Democratic National Committee by his hired goons the motive to ensure his reelection Nixon was reelected but halfway through his second term the Scandal known as Watergate erupted transfixing the public as it played out on broadcast television in the end more than 40 Nixon.

Co-conspirators inside and outside the administration including White House staff his White House councel and the Attorney General of the United States would be indicted or go to prison but Nixon himself would avoid prison due to a decision by his successor Gerald Ford who issued a full pardon now therefore I Gerald R.

Ford president of the United States pursuant to the pardon power conferred upon me by Article 2 Section two of the Constitution have granted and by these presents do Grant a full free and absolute pardon unto Richard Nixon and while Nixon would for the rest of his life deny having.

Been a crook he knew and we knew that but for his resignation he would have been indicted the men and women who investigated Nixon have said as much including on the show and so Nixon was the closest America ever came to seeing a US president or former president criminally indicted until now this morning opening.

Statements began in the New York criminal trial of Donald J Trump America's 45th president and the current Republican nominee to be president again at issue did Trump like Nixon try to cheat to win the presidency in his case by paying off women he had conducted extramarital affairs with decades earlier in order to keep them quiet and.

Keep the information from voters and did he drag his then lawyer Michael Cohen and David pecker then publisher of the national Inquirer tabloid into the scheme the way the committee to reelect President Nixon which literally was called creep dragged in the Watergate burglars Trump faces 34 felony counts of falsifying business records for.

Reimbursement payments he made to Michael Cohen including checks handed to Cohen inside the Oval Office he has pleaded not guilty and his fate will be decided by 12 Manhattan jurors the prosecution began this morning by setting up for those jurors what they should expect to see and hear over the next number of weeks for what the.

Prosecution is calling a criminal conspiracy and a coverup to conceal election fraud that counter to Trump's claims to the contrary he was intimately aware of and involved in the coordination of the hush money payment to Stormy Daniels to silence her story in an attempt to bolster his chances in the 2016 election now remember the.

Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg who was in the courtroom today laid out the case just over a year ago when announced ing Trump's indictment writing from August 2015 to December 2017 the defendant orchestrated a scheme with others to influence the 2016 presidential election by identifying and purchasing negative information about.

Him to suppress its publication and benefit the defendants electoral prospects in order to execute the unlawful scheme the participants violated election laws and made and caused false entries in in the business records of various entities in New York the participants also took steps that mischaracterized for tax purposes the.

True nature of the payments made in furtherance of the scheme the prosecution says that they will be able to show Trump's involvement Beyond just the testimony of Michael Cohen whose credibility the Trump defense plans to put on trial through other witnesses as well as documentary evidence that process began with the first witness.

Called former publisher of the national Inquirer David pecker and we'll get to that testimony in just a bit as for Trump's defense they tried to claim that while Trump in some ways is larger than life he's also just an ordinary man a husband and father who was just worried about shielding his family from the embarrassment of Daniel's claims that.

They had a sexual encounter just months after Trump's thirdd wife Melania gave birth to his fifth child a claim Trump denies the defense claims Trump was not involved in any way with Cohen's payment the reimbursement checks being generated or the entry in his company's business ledger it was someone else's doing they told the jury that non-disclosure.

Agreements are used all the time and are perfectly legal and in Trump's overused Playbook his lawyers claim that even if he did try to influence an election there's nothing wrong with it it's called democracy of course that will be what the 12 member jury will ultimately have to decide joining me now is MSNBC reporter Adam ree who was at the.

Courthouse today Danny savalos criminal defense attorney and Ms NBC legal analyst and Jill weine Banks former assistant Watergate special prosecutor and MSNBC contributor and I while I cannot and refuse still to believe that you were old enough to be involved in the Nixon uh investigation Jill I do I wanted to have you here because I just.

Wanted you to please reflect on the fact that we are now having what didn't happen in the case that you investigated with Nixon the prosecution of a former president in this case I have two things to say about that Joy one I fought very hard to make sure that Richard Nixon got indicted while he was a sitting president because I do not.

Believe that the office of legal counsel opinion is correct but I thought even harder to make sure he was indicted as soon as he resigned and was an ordinary president not the sitting president if we had succeeded at that we wouldn't be having all this angst about what is going on now it would have been shown that the country can survive an.

Indictment and conviction of a former president but the other thing I want to say is that we have to learn to say the right words this is not a hush money trial there was Hush money in Watergate and the hush money in Watergate was illegal because it was part of an obstruction of justice it was to keep defendants from telling who had hired.

Them at the White House and at the campaign here the hush money was not illegal but the cover up of it was the use of it to avoid taxes the use of it to avoid Americans knowing before they voted what had happened so I I just want us to be calling this an election interference trial that's what it is there was Hush money in both but they.

Were very different and I'm so glad that you said that because I I have been calling it Danny the the hush money election interference case because I think that's what it is the hush money was toward another goal talk about the way the opening argument on the part of the the of the prosecution has to make that case because it's true having.

Someone signed an NDA because you bought their life rights isn't illegal they have to prove that there's a crime here the prosecution essentially has to prove two major things number one that Trump falsely was involved in the making of these false entries and documents and business records but also that the intent the intent was to influence the.

Election and that's why in opening statements the defense somewhat surprised me and maybe it's a little taken out of context but the the idea that they would come out and say hey there's nothing wrong with wanting to influence an election that's called democracy I thought that to me that's exactly the kind of thing that the.

Prosecution will in closing arguments turn around and hit them over the head like it's a folding chair in their own closing they'll say something like you heard Council tell you that it's okay to influence an election that's the kind of thing that might come back to bite Trump even if blanch meant it in a different way and maybe he was trying to thread a.

Needle there and blasing the the the defense attorney exactly right Trump's defense attorney I thought that was risky I also thought it was a little risky to come out of the gate and announc for the defense my client is innocent to a defense attorney that seems like taking on a burden that you simply don't have to take on we have no.

Burden on the defense we need to prove nothing in other words often times I more often than I'd like to say if you have a really tough case your argument in closing is well essentially they have a good case but good isn't enough they didn't get to Beyond A Reasonable Doubt when you come out and say my client is innocent you're essentially Shifting the.

Burden onto yourself and maybe you'll see the people in their closing say you know defense Council came out in their opening and then he said my client is innocent has he proven innocent does this look like an innocent man to you how do I do does that sound like a good yeah it was well done but I mean this brings me to you Adam because right the.

What when I read uh the Google Doc where we were all sort of following along what was happening those of us who weren't in court as you were what I took from it without even seeing Mr blanch was that he is constrained to say the things Trump wants to hear not to give the defense that he would probably give if he were free to give a defense of his.

Own making it it feel I mean even saying you know he's a a family man well where was his wife if he's a family man and a father there was no Melania there there was no family there but it felt like he was saying what Trump wanted him to say right he said this is Mr President we're we're calling him that because he earned that and there's nothing to look at here.

Keep moving along things like he's just protecting his family uh Michael Cohen really is out for Revenge he wants to see Mr Trump in an orange jumpsuit he's written about it he's making money off of it Stormy Daniels for her part yes there may have been some Communications but there's never been any allegation that was there was any sexual assault.

She also is trying to extort him and ndas everybody does ndas rich people do ndas and this was not any type of an effort to corrupt the election and even to influence the election there's nothing wrong with that that's what a democracy is all about yeah hey everyone MSNBC has a new and improved app you'll get realtime alerts and Analysis live.

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