We have been saying, today, he will be formally charged. The Court Hearing is on charges of plotting to overturn the Election Defeat in 2020. Earlier on, we saw him leave his golf course in bedminster travelling to the airport, where you can see him there. Lets speak to our correspondent, this, of course, the court where the former president is going to make his appearance in a couple of hours now, just set the scene for us. Tell us what you can see around you, and presumably people are gathering because this, as we have been hearing of all of the three indictment so far, people have been saying really, this is the most serious. , � , saying really, this is the most serious. , � , , serious. The it is. Its probably the single serious. The it is. Its probably the single most serious. The it is. Its probably the single most important serious. The it is. Its probably the single most important and| the single most important and serious criminal indictment thats been handed down in american political history. He got a former president s who is being accused of when he was president of trying to overturn democracy, of trying to subvert the 2020 Election Results. He is due here at the courthouse about a couple hours time. In terms of what it is like here, what it was like with the last arraignments from a huge media spectacle, lots of media camped out here waiting for him to arrive. Security commands you can imagine, is really tight. He got the Capitol Police surrounding the area. Barricades up as well. People were also queuing overnight around the block around the court to get inside the courtroom. Media and also members of the public are allowed to, but it is a Federal Courthouse which means no cameras are allowed in. So when he does enter the courtroom in the same way that we saw in miami, we wont get any pictures from cameras or anything like that, we willjust get sketch art. Donald trump tends to use these arraignments chemically look at the last two as part of his campaign. He leans into it, he uses it to boost his standing amongst the Republican Party and its voters, which we know works. Donald trump used to live here. This is the second time he is returning to washington, dc since leaving on January The 20th 2020 returning to washington, dc since leaving onJanuary The 20th 2020 2021 when he was no longer president. But, yes, he is due to appear in the next couple of hours here at the courthouse in washington, dc in the nations capital. It washington, dc in the nations caital. , ,. , capital. It is interesting, you were talkin capital. It is interesting, you were talking there capital. It is interesting, you were talking there about capital. It is interesting, you were talking there about the capital. It is interesting, you were talking there about the fact capital. It is interesting, you were talking there about the fact that l talking there about the fact that there are no cameras in the court. I think perhaps other countries, certainly in britain commit is not usual at all to have cameras in courts, but we are used to seeing that in the us. So has there been a specific decision made to not televise these particular Arraignment Hearings . I televise these particular Arraignment Hearings . Televise these particular Arraiunment Hearinas . ,. , Arraignment Hearings . I mean, you tend to get Arraignment Hearings . I mean, you tend to get cameras Arraignment Hearings . I mean, you tend to get cameras in Arraignment Hearings . I mean, you tend to get cameras in if Arraignment Hearings . I mean, you tend to get cameras in if it Arraignment Hearings . I mean, you tend to get cameras in if it is tend to get cameras in if it is like, if he was facing state charges, its a Federal Courthouse. There are always drills of no cameras allowed in. Donald trump tends to use them as part of his campaign. No cameras allowed in the courthouse in miami, but after he had finished his court appearance, he went to a very famous restaurant in miami, he went in and met his faithful supporters, promised them all free food, turned out he didnt actually pay for the food, but people were talking about it, it was all over the media, so whilst theres no cameras inside the courtroom, it might be that donald trump will somehow, we will see pictures of him somewhere, perhaps in dc, maybe he will speak to the press we dont know. But in terms of the actual moment inside, all we will get our Sketch Drawings of that. Do will get our Sketch Drawings of that. P, will get our Sketch Drawings of that. ~. , will get our Sketch Drawings of that. ~. ,. , that. Do we know whether the mother havin been that. Do we know whether the mother having been mug that. Do we know whether the mother having been mug shots that. Do we know whether the mother having been mug shots taken that. Do we know whether the mother having been mug shots taken at having been mug shots taken at previous arraignments, are we expecting fingerprints, you know, what sort of physically will happen, if you like . He what sort of physically will happen, if ou like . , if you like . He will be fingerprinted. If you like . He will be fingerprinted. That i if you like . He will be fingerprinted. That is| if you like . He will be fingerprinted. That is protocol. There were no mug shots the last two times, and if they were, we never got hold of them. There wont be any mug shots this time either. This got hold of them. There wont be any mug shots this time either. Mug shots this time either. As you say it. What mug shots this time either. As you say it. What has mug shots this time either. As you say it, what has been mug shots this time either. As you say it, what has been fascinating l say it, what has been fascinating but all of this is when one might have expected this to dent his popularity. Actually what we have seen from the two previous arraignments as there has been a boost to the Campaign Finances and a boost to the Campaign Finances and a boost to the Campaign Finances and a boost to his popularity. Hat boost to the Campaign Finances and a boost to his popularity. Boost to his popularity. Not only does it help boost to his popularity. Not only does it help him boost to his popularity. Not only does it help him to boost to his popularity. Not only does it help him to solidify boost to his popularity. Not only i does it help him to solidify support in the Republican Party with his voters, it actually increases his support amongst Republican Voters. They believe his narrative, which is that he is a victim of a political witchhunt. He sends this powerful message out that resonates with many americans, which is that the system is rigged against me, its rigged against you and im the only one that can fix it. If you put me back in the white house, i will fix it. That resonates with a lot of americans who have a natural cynicism about the government, perfectly healthy to question your government, but he does take it that much further and people question institutions and he really does tap into that message. His support does increase, but its important to emphasise that that is the case with replicant voters. It will be a miracle if he doesnt get the republican nomination for the presidency. However, how he does with the rest of the american electorate is something we dont know yet because of course, he cant just rely on Republican Voters to get him back into the white house. He needs swing voters, independent voters, and there are some polls that suggest certainly after the congressional investigation into January The 6th that nearly half of americans do think that he is culpable in some way for what happened onjanuary culpable in some way for what happened on January The 6th. Culpable in some way for what happened onJanuary The 6th. Whilst, yes, this boosted support when it comes to Republican Voters in terms of the rest of the American Public, we dont know folate yet. There will be lots of polls, lots of testing on that as we head into the election year. That as we head into the election ear. ,. ,. , ~ ,. , that as we head into the election ear. ,. ,. , ~ i. Year. For the moment, thank you so much at the year. For the moment, thank you so much at the courts year. For the moment, thank you so much at the courts where, year. For the moment, thank you so much at the courts where, as year. For the moment, thank you so much at the courts where, as we year. For the moment, thank you so l much at the courts where, as we say, we think the former president should be there in the next couple of hours. Hesjust be there in the next couple of hours. Hes just at the airport in newark at the moment. So going to travel from there to washington, dc airport and then travel to the court itself. So still a bit of time. Lets talk to donte mills, east coast criminal attorney. Thank you so much forjoining us. Can we talk about with specifics about the court case itself. Ijust want to ask a couple of things about the characters involved. First of all, special counseljack smith, what do we know about ten and how he wants this case to progress . Absolutely, thank you for having me. This is a very, very monumental case, probably one of the biggest indictments brought down in us history, and jack smith was the person behind it. He is very well educated, he was brought in because they knew what ever the result of his investigation was, it would be scrutinised. So he was someone who was brought in because he doesnt lean one way or the other as far as the political party. He is very down the political party. He is very down the middle. He has a very, very well known reputation for being trustworthy, for being consistent, so it is going to be hard to say that jack smith so it is going to be hard to say Thatjack Smith brought so it is going to be hard to say that jack smith brought these allegations because, you know, hes allegations because, you know, hes a democrat, because he is not. Somebody got to them, because thats not who he is. Hes very determined. He has a stellar reputation. Its going to be hard to challenge these charges because of who brought them. So now we turn to the charges. The charge is that donald trump conspired to defraud the Us Government. That is huge. Hes a former president and president at the time that this happened and they are saying he reached out to states and asked them to change votes from biden to himself. That is a direct allegation. They are saying he reached out to change votes. That is how direct this is. The problem that donald trump is going to have from a former President Trump, he always says that this is a witchhunt, people are out to get me. The problem here is the biggest witness in this case is his former Vice President. Why would he turn on hannah if he didnt believe this was true . He is going to have a hard times and, oh, this is a witchhunt, people are against me, because this is a person you chose to be your running mate, to govern the country with, and now he is reporting what happened. He is saying donald trump gave me false certificates, they try to say that the election wasnt fair and that the results were wrong, but in fact they were, and when i told him that, he tried to stop the Election Results from being certified. And that his direct testimony, direct evidence from his Vice President how former President Donald Trump gets away from this or finds a way to say he didnt do it, it is going to be tough, very tough. 0k, it is going to be tough, very tough. Ok, i should say that the former president has now taken off from the airport in newark, so he is very much on his way to the court in washington, dc, expected to arrive certainly in the next couple of hours for court in the next couple of hours, so we will keep you across all of the developments on that front. Ijust want all of the developments on that front. I just want to, all of the developments on that front. Ijust want to, if all of the developments on that front. I just want to, if we could just talk about the timetable, if you like. We are looking at, weve got three indictments against the former president at the moment. So we have the classified documents case, these were the documents that were allegedly found seized by the fbi at his florida estate. Were looking at potentially in may of 2024. If at the new york Hush Money Case due potentially march 2024. Where does this particular case, jack smith talks about the fact that he wants us to be a speedy trial. Where does that leave us in terms of timetable . Speak in such a trial b, bearing in mind there will be a vast of evidence. I bearing in mind there will be a vast of evidence of evidence. I can tell you, ust so the world understands, of evidence. I can tell you, just so the world understands, federal. Of evidence. I can tell you, just so i the world understands, Federal Court in the United States works very, very well. Its very streamlined. A lot of the process is very streamlined where things can happen fairly quickly. Jack smith says he wants that to happen. Before the indictment came down, they completed the bulk of their investigation, so theres not much more for him to do now that the indictment is here. Hes going to push for a peak to speedy trial. Im expecting that this trial may happen before the state cases, before the other cases. They want is to be resolved because if you have someone who defrauded the Us Government in an election, you dont want them in the election, and i think if this is allowed to wait until the election happens, it really complicates things because this is a situation where if donald trump is elected president , he could, in theory, he could remove the charges. On himself. And we dont want that to happen. Flan the charges. On himself. And we dont want that to happen. Can you ust, dont want that to happen. Can you just. Because dont want that to happen. Can you just. Because i dont want that to happen. Can you just, because i think dont want that to happen. Can you just, because i think that dont want that to happen. Can you just, because i think that is dont want that to happen. Can you just, because i think that is what. Just, because i think that is what people find incredibly difficult to get their heads around, so if the case happens when, well, if he is elected president , he could effectively pardon himself, is that correct . ~ ,. , correct . Absolutely. The pardon rules, correct . Absolutely. The pardon rules. And correct . Absolutely. The pardon rules. And if correct . Absolutely. The pardon rules, and if you correct . Absolutely. The pardon rules, and if you look correct . Absolutely. The pardon rules, and if you look at correct . Absolutely. The pardon rules, and if you look at them, i rules, and if you look at them, obviously this was never considered that a sitting president would be indicted or have federal charges against himself or herself, and that they could use the pardon power to get themselves out of trouble. But since it was never considered there is no rules against it. So if former President Trump has been indicted, if he is found guilty and is elected president when he takes office, he could pardon himself, and i would reallyjust could pardon himself, and i would really just throw the rule of law of the window. If youre determined to be guilty of something and you have the power to say im to remove that from me, we dont want to be in that situation as a country, so i think it is good to have this go forward right away so if he is found in a sense, then he can move forward and have that election, but if he is found guilty, he cannot be put in a position where he has the ability to pardon himself. So it position where he has the ability to pardon himself. Pardon himself. So it is basically the timetable pardon himself. So it is basically the timetable potentially, pardon himself. So it is basically the timetable potentially, when| pardon himself. So it is basically i the timetable potentially, when is the timetable potentially, when is the closest that it could actually happen . As in the quickest that this speedy trial that jack smith allegedly says he wants, when could this happen . 50 i allegedly says he wants, when could this happen . This happen . So i have a lot of cases in federal this happen . So i have a lot of cases in Federal Court, this happen . So i have a lot of cases in Federal Court, and this happen . So i have a lot of i cases in Federal Court, and when this happen . So i have a lot of cases in Federal Court, and when you invoke that speedy trial rule, generally it is on the defendant to do that, to say, i have the right for my child to go forward as soon as possible, thats generally the defendants tool that they use. When ive used that to ive got a trial anywhere from three to six months. I think thats available here, but i also believe that Donald Trumps team will not share that same excitement to push for this trial. I think it serves them better hopefully notjust think it serv