donald trump is meeting wit his lawyers this weekend i florida to discuss and urgen matter whether to accept an invitatio from the manhattan distric attorney to testify before a grand jury and the probe examining hush money payment made to porn star stormy daniels back in 2016 this is huge because of what i portends according to the new york times, quote, such offers almos always indicate an indictmen is close it would be unusual for th district attorney, alvin ill brag, to notify a potentia defendant without ultimately seeking charges against him. and if that happens, that twic impeached former president would make history again as th first president sitting or otherwise to be criminally indicted now, while trump s current attorneys have not said whethe the former president wil accept the invitation to testify, trump s former lawyer
joining me now is charle coleman, junior. civil rights attorney, host of the charles coleman podcast. and msnbc legal analyst. charles, always great to see you. the manhattan da has invited trump to testify it wouldn t be unusual for him to decline, what it? no, it wouldn t jonathan, to your attorney, yo have to be wondering if it s a good idea for your client to testify. i think ultimately, what d brian casten s signal to donal trump thatyes, you are the subject of this or potentially a subject, and anything he say in a grand jury could be use against him, ultimately. so, it s usually not a goo idea to have - almost ended testify potentially if they ar potential subject. i don t think we will se donald trump appear before thi manhattan grand jury okay. so, then, charles, right not t subpoena him - i asked the question because,
indict trump what does that mean exactly? would such a move take trump off the campaign trail the first thing that has to happen is the grand jury has t actually return a truth bill most of us don t consider that to be a significant hurdle because, as the whole saying goes, you can indict a ham sandwich, but assuming tha takes place, the a bragg would have to file the indictment, donald trump would be arrested brought in, and arrange when the charges on the indictment. from there, it becomes a logistical nightmare, becaus everything about this case i going to be watched on the public like nothing we ve ever seen before. we are going to have court updates literally every turn, suspect that donald trump attorneys will fight it with a myriad number of motions trying to dismiss this and o change the nature of the actua trial itself if this effort were to see trial it s, again, there s a number of different logistical considerations that would make this a mess. well, i mean, i look for
is it because he is a former president that might not happen? now, it s not, that jonathan it s more so that again, thi is another indication on alvin bragg s intention here you can t subpoena someone t testify against themselves because i have the right t prevent itself incrimination subpoenaing him will only be a issue if he s a potentia witness. you re talking about a local grand jury here. this is not state. this is not federal. the subpoena power doesn t necessarily work the same as for example, heat where jack smith or congress. the subpoena power for a local da is not necessarily as enforceable. it creates more of a hurdle in its office to subpoena him and ultimately, he could plead the 15, or if you get the subpoena to be in force and that is a very good distinction. i will keep that in mind this is not a federal, thi wouldn t be a federal subpoena or federal indictment. this is local. okay, so, talk about wha happens if the manhattan d makes the unprecedented move t
and a quick programming now today, manhattan distric attorney alvin bragg joins reverend al sharpton to discus donald trump s invitation to appear before a grand jury watch politics nation with reverend al sharpton today, at 5 pm eastern, only on msnbc. but first, new findings i the federal investigatio revealed the pattern o excessive force and unlawful searches by the louisville metro police departments now, the department of justice is demanding reform. we ll dig into what that looks like, after the brea k. daylight saving time. what s the big deal? gasp! what s the big deal? what s the big deal? what s the big deal? what s the big deal? marching band music marching band music i ll get a cart. get two! scotts daylawn saving is the biggest deal of the year. stock up early and save up to $20 dollars on the best scotts products.