WASHINGTON (April 15, 2024)— Former President Donald Trump’s Hush Money Trial begins today with Jury Selection in New York. Trump is making history as the first former president to be charged in a criminal trial case.
Experts at the George Washington University Law School are available to provide explanation, commentary and analysis on these historical cases. If you wish to speak with an expert, please contact Media Relations Specialist Shannon Mitchell at [email protected].
Law
Stephen A Saltzburg, Wallace and Beverley Woodbury University Professor of Law; Co-director of the Litigation and Dispute Resolution Program at the George Washington University Law School. Professor Saltzburg is an expert on evidence, procedure and litigation. Professor Saltzburg has held numerous governmental positions and continues to serve as a mediator for the U.S. Court of Appeals for DC. Additionally, Saltzburg is one of the leading voices on Trump’s criminal trials and manner.
Catherine Ross is the Lyle T. Alverson Professor of Law at the George Washington University Law School. She specializes in constitutional law (with particular emphasis on the First Amendment) and family law. Professor Ross' book A Right to Lie? Presidents, Other Liars, and the First Amendment (University of Pennsylvania Press) was published in November 2021.
Race & Politics
Andrew Thompson is an assistant professor of political science at George Washington University. His research studies how racial demographic changes alter political perceptions and democratic commitments. Further, he explores how racial demographic changes motivate stronger support for anti-democratic practices among the American public. He shows that partisan considerations are central to understanding how Americans process information about the changing U.S. demographic landscape, and how supportive they are of anti-democratic policies.
Jasmine Smith is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Science at George Washington University. She studies American Politics with a focus on Race, Ethnicity and Politics, political behavior, and representation. Smith’s work examines how Black American’s racial identity shapes political attitudes and behavior, and interactions with political institutions. Her most recent book project, Electability Politics: How and Why Black Americans Vote in Primary Elections asks: How do Black Americans make vote choice decisions in primary elections?
Domonic A. Bearfield is a professor of public policy for the Trachtenberg School of Public Policy and Public Administration at The George Washington University. A well-known scholar of race, gender, and public sector personnel, his work has appeared in many of the field's leading journals. He is currently an editor at Public Administration Review and previously served as the forum editor at Administrative Theory and Praxis. Bearfield is a lead author on numerous articles that delve into race dynamics within public policy and politics, such as The Disenfranchisement of Voters of Color: Redux and The Myth of Bureaucratic Neutrality: Institutionalized Inequity in Local Government Hiring.
News Coverage
Jesse J. Holland is an assistant professor and the associate director of the GW School of Media & Public Affairs. He is an award-winning journalist and the author of the first novel featuring comics’ most popular black superhero, The Black Panther. He is a former Race & Ethnicity writer for The Associated Press, having been recognized as one of the few reporters to be credentialed to cover all three branches of the American government during his career: the White House, the Supreme Court and Congress. Holland can discuss how media coverage can affect what’s going on in the courtroom and how coverage will define the impact of this case.
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