History in the Making: David Cay Johnston on Why Trump's Arraignment May Renew American Democracy

This clip is from the April 4, 2023 broadcast.

On the day of Donald Trump's historic arraignment in New York, making him the first former president ever to be criminally charged, "Democracy Now!" speaks with the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist David Cay Johnston, who has covered Trump for decades. Trump is said to face 34 felony counts for falsifying business records. The case centers in part on hush-money payments Trump made during the 2016 presidential campaign to adult film star Stormy Daniels. After his appearance before a judge in Manhattan, where he is expected to plead not guilty to all charges, Trump will fly back to his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, where he will speak publicly later in the day. "Hopefully this is the beginning of a revival and a renewal of American democracy," says Johnston, co-founder of the news site DCReport and author of "The Big Cheat: How Donald Trump Fleeced America and Enriched Himself and His Family." Johnston also teaches at Syracuse University College of Law.