(dramatic music) - [Narrator] Former President Donald Trump has been in court a lot lately. - [Reporter 1] Hush money payments. - [Reporter 2] Illegally possessed classified government materials. - His attempt to overturn
the results of an election. - We have seen nothing
approaching this before, with respect to these
indictments of Donald Trump. - [Narrator] Trump, now faces four trials from two federal indictments and two state indictments. Here's how Trump's legal team could mount their defense, and how these charges could
influence his 2024 bid and those of his rivals. - A Fulton County Grand Jury returned a true bill of indictment. - [Narrator] The Georgia Indictment charges the former
president with 13 felonies for trying to undo his 2020
election defeat in the state. The probe hinges on a
key piece of evidence, a recorded phone call, then, President Trump made to Georgia's Top Elections
Official, Brad Raffensperger, - [Trump] I just wanna find 11,780 votes, which is one more that we have. - [Narrator] Trump has said
that, "He did nothing wrong, and the call was quote
'Absolutely perfect.'" - I think that the strategy here sort of the umbrella strategy that it's a quote-unquote,
"Witch hunt on multiple fronts to stop him from
regaining the presidency." That's not really a legal defense that's more of a public relations defense, but, you know, he obviously has people who are buying into that theory. - [Narrator] One reason
the Georgia Indictment is different from the federal cases is that even if Trump were
reelected as president. - Let's presume he's convicted in Georgia, the Federal Government
President has no pardon power over those state convictions. - [Narrator] In Georgia, the State Board of Pardons and Paroles, doesn't consider pardon
applications until five years after an individual has
completed their sentence. - So he could be conceivably, under the most outlandish scenario, sitting in prison and still being the President
of the United States. - [Narrator] Trump's
alleged conduct in Georgia, also plays a role in a federal case, accusing him of trying to subvert the will of American voters. On August 1st, Trump was indicted by a Federal
Grand Jury in Washington. The indictment brought by
Special Counsel Jack Smith, charges the former president
with four criminal counts for his actions that culminated in the January 6th Capitol Riot. [Crowd] We want Trump. We want Trump, we want Trump! - [Leslie] The January 6th case is clearly the most significant case. It's the most comprehensive. - The attack on our nation's Capitol, on January 6th, 2021 was an unprecedented assault on the seat of American democracy. - Trump has a right to
challenge the election results. Trump has a right to speak out, even lie about the election results. Trump took his right and went to court, and lost every single significant case! That should have been the end of it. - We fight like hell, and if you don't fight like hell, you're not gonna have a country anymore. - For the defense, they've already laid some
seeds for their approach. One is to delay the case
as long as possible. The second thing is to
allege that he was merely exercising his First Amendment Rights. And I think, you know, as in
most criminal defense cases, and I've been a criminal defense lawyer for a number of years myself, you try to distract the
jury from the evidence by raising things like the First
Amendment and other issues, which I think they'll do - [Narrator] In a social media post. Trump said, "The case
was a pathetic attempt by the Justice Department to interfere with the 2024
Presidential Election. - When you look at what's happening, this is a persecution
of a political opponent. This was never supposed
to happen in America. - [Narrator] In June, Trump was indicted for his handling of classified documents, marking the first time in history that the federal government has brought charges
against a former president. The case, also led by
Jack Smith, alleges that, "Trump deliberately
withheld sensitive documents at his Mar-a-Lago Resort in Florida, even after prosecutors requested
their return last year." - This is really an
obstruction of justice case, this is not a possession of
classified documents case. Yes, you could have left office and accidentally, or on purpose, taken some documents
that you shouldn't have, but once you know you're
supposed to give them back, you can't then lie about it and hide them, and engage in various schemes, enlisting other people
to help you do that. - [Narrator] Trump has complained that, "He is being treated unfairly. Since classified documents have been found in the possession of other
high-ranking politicians." - They've tried to create
a false equivalency between Trump's handling of documents and the handling of documents by others. Okay, while Mike Pence and Joe Biden had classified documents, which they immediately returned as soon as they were alerted. - [Narrator] Smith added
new charges on July 27th, alleging that, "Trump
and a maintenance worker sought to delete surveillance
footage from Mar-a-Lago so it couldn't be turned
over to a grand jury." Trump has said, "He's an innocent man." The April indictment of Donald Trump for allegedly falsifying business records marked the first time in US history that a former president
has faced criminal charges. - The Manhattan DA's case is a case that doesn't necessarily have anything to do with the fact that Trump was President
of the United States, it has to do with the fact that he, apparently paid hush money
to a pornography actress, and tried to conceal it, which, you know, at the end of the day, he's not the first person, nor will he be the last who
does something like that. - [Narrator] Trump has pleaded not guilty in the New York, Florida,
and Washington D.C. Cases. It remains to be seen how each
trial will play out in court. - Trump's team, I think
that their strategy has gotta be to delay as long as possible. The other strategy that they have is to try to try this case in
the court of public opinion, as opposed to in the courtroom, where they can make these arguments that aren't really legal defenses, like "Trump believed
that he actually won," and I think that's gonna be hard for them to convince a jury unanimously, that that was the case here. - [Narrator] Even if the defense doesn't convince the entire jury, a hung jury could still be
considered a win for Trump. - All that Trump has to
achieve in any of these cases, is one juror who's voting
against the other jurors. So 11 to 1 for him would be a victory, and then the prosecutor
would have to decide "Do I wanna retry this case?" - [Narrator] While recent polls show Trump has a commanding lead over the
rest of the Republican field, his legal troubles have taken a chunk out of his campaign finances. Recent data show that his main political
committee Save America, shelled out more than $20 million on legal-related expenses
so far this year. But the indictments have
also helped Trump fundraise, in the days following the indictments, his campaign contributions
increased by millions. - The critical thing will be the trials, and whether he is convicted, and the conventional wisdom is, you know, this may help him, his base will unite behind him. They've softened a bit, "Yes, we still love Trump, but do we really want to go
through all of this again or do we want to look forward?" - [Narrator] Trump may
also have to navigate attending various court
dates while he's campaigning. - It's possible, he could have four trials before the November Election, each of which, could take many weeks. In other words, during
the prime campaign season, he could be tied down in court. - [Narrator] And as for
his political opponents on the 2024 Campaign Trail? - You know, if DeSantis, and Nikki Haley, and Tim Scott, and others, hope to bring down Trump,
they have to go after him. Kind of what they've done so far, tiptoeing around these
incredibly serious charges against Donald Trump is gonna do absolutely nothing for them. (crowd cheering)
(playful music)
