Why Read the Indictment?
"If criminal charges against Donald Trump are brought to trial, it’s important for you to understand them."
By Roberta Baskin and Jim Trengrove
Mention the federal indictment against Donald Trump for election interference and many people think you’re talking about the attack on the Capitol. You’re not.
January 6th is but a part of Jack Smith’s indictment, almost an afterthought. Most of it is about emails and tweets, phone calls and threats, hastily-arranged meetings with lawyers and advisors inventing strategies one Trump staffer called “conspiracy shit beamed down from the mothership.”
The scenario that is emerging is that of a former President of the United States going to trial for crimes that could put him in prison.
And he’s running again for President.
While unprecedented in American History, rebellious events like this in other countries have brought down democracies. If you’re an American citizen with any sense of civic responsibility, you should care about this.
It’s why Special Prosecutor Jack Smith, after announcing the indictment, invited Americans to read it.
“…to read it in full to understand the scope and the gravity of the crimes charged.”
So that night, we did. Taking turns reading the 45-page indictment out loud to each other in bed. One hour and 45 minutes later, we turned to each other; impressed with the detailed storytelling and felt somewhat empowered now with a clearer understanding of the case against Donald Trump. But we also realized that few Americans would, or could, take time to read the indictment.
So we turned the indictment into a script and produced a video of ordinary Americans – young & old, different faces, different voices – reading the entire criminal indictment to camera. You’ll recognize a few of the readers.
Environmental activist Bill McKibben, Former Senator Al Franken, former NPR Morning Edition anchor Robert Siegel, political analyst Norman Ornstein, and DeNora Getachew, DoSomething.org’s CEO are among the 83 Americans who we recorded reading the indictment. There are also teenagers from Compton, California, leaders from NextGen America, Souls to the Polls activists in Milwaukee, volleyball players from Fort Valley State College in Georgia.
The completed Read the Indictment video will be available on our partners4democracy website. The video also will be presented in digestible episodes so no one feels compelled to watch, listen and read it all at once.
If criminal charges against Donald Trump are brought to trial, it’s important for you to understand them. And if the former president is convicted, it’s important to understand why.
Roberta Baskin is former Chief Investigative Correspondent for CBS News
Jim Trengrove is former Senior Producer for Politics for the PBS News Hour
Why Read the Indictment?
"If criminal charges against Donald Trump are brought to trial, it’s important for you to understand them."
By Roberta Baskin and Jim Trengrove
Mention the federal indictment against Donald Trump for election interference and many people think you’re talking about the attack on the Capitol. You’re not.
January 6th is but a part of Jack Smith’s indictment, almost an afterthought. Most of it is about emails and tweets, phone calls and threats, hastily-arranged meetings with lawyers and advisors inventing strategies one Trump staffer called “conspiracy shit beamed down from the mothership.”
The scenario that is emerging is that of a former President of the United States going to trial for crimes that could put him in prison.
And he’s running again for President.
While unprecedented in American History, rebellious events like this in other countries have brought down democracies. If you’re an American citizen with any sense of civic responsibility, you should care about this.
It’s why Special Prosecutor Jack Smith, after announcing the indictment, invited Americans to read it.
“…to read it in full to understand the scope and the gravity of the crimes charged.”
So that night, we did. Taking turns reading the 45-page indictment out loud to each other in bed. One hour and 45 minutes later, we turned to each other; impressed with the detailed storytelling and felt somewhat empowered now with a clearer understanding of the case against Donald Trump. But we also realized that few Americans would, or could, take time to read the indictment.
So we turned the indictment into a script and produced a video of ordinary Americans – young & old, different faces, different voices – reading the entire criminal indictment to camera. You’ll recognize a few of the readers.
Environmental activist Bill McKibben, Former Senator Al Franken, former NPR Morning Edition anchor Robert Siegel, political analyst Norman Ornstein, and DeNora Getachew, DoSomething.org’s CEO are among the 83 Americans who we recorded reading the indictment. There are also teenagers from Compton, California, leaders from NextGen America, Souls to the Polls activists in Milwaukee, volleyball players from Fort Valley State College in Georgia.
The completed Read the Indictment video will be available on our partners4democracy website. The video also will be presented in digestible episodes so no one feels compelled to watch, listen and read it all at once.
If criminal charges against Donald Trump are brought to trial, it’s important for you to understand them. And if the former president is convicted, it’s important to understand why.
Roberta Baskin is former Chief Investigative Correspondent for CBS News
Jim Trengrove is former Senior Producer for Politics for the PBS News Hour