On today’s episode of the 5 Things podcast: The Trump indictment has been unsealed. USA TODAY Justice Department Correspondent Bart Jansen has the latest. Four children have been found after surviving 40 days in the Colombian Amazon following a plane crash and USA TODAY Video Producer Callie Carmichael speaks with Kelly Sanders Moffat, the co-founder of a fashion brand centered on non-gender-conforming clothes. The French Open wraps up. And finally, if you’re taking a cruise, you might want to pack a rubber duck.
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Hit play on the player above to hear the podcast and follow along with the transcript below. This transcript was automatically generated, and then edited for clarity in its current form. There may be some differences between the audio and the text.
Taylor Wilson:
Good morning. I’m Taylor Wilson, and this is Five Things You Need to Know, Saturday the 10th of June 2023.
Today we outline the latest charges against former President Donald Trump, plus the miraculous story of young children who survived an Amazon plane crash, and we hear about non-gender conforming clothing.
Former President Donald Trump and one of his Mar-a-Lago staffers, a personal valet, have officially been charged with dozens of counts of allegedly violating federal statutes related to the handling of classified documents after Trump left the White House. That’s according to a 44-page indictment unsealed yesterday. I spoke once again with USA Today Justice Department correspondent Bart Jansen for the latest.
Hello, Bart.
Bart Jansen:
Thanks for having me.
Taylor Wilson:
We now know the latest charges against the former president. So Bart, what are they?
Bart Jansen:
Well, the 44-page indictment carries 31 counts of retaining government classified documents, some of the most secret records we have in the government. 31 counts under the Espionage Act. And in addition, there are other charges for trying to conceal those documents from the FBI and from the grand jury and also making false statements. So, it’s quite a thorough recitation of charges for the documents that were found at Mar-a-Lago.
Taylor Wilson:
And Bart, in going through the indictment itself, I know you and I spoke a day ago, did anything surprise you? Anything stand out?
Bart Jansen:
The indictment was fairly detailed. It’s called what legal experts call a speaking indictment. So, it gave some narrative about some of the different crimes that are alleged. And so some of the statements that it makes is that, for instance, Trump was showing some documents to a writer and his publisher and some staffers in Bedminster, New Jersey, and saying that they showed a plan of a attack, and so they appeared to show military plans. Another document showed what appeared to be a map of a military installation. And so, the indictment reveals basically that not only did he keep the documents, he’s charged with hiding the documents from people searching at Mar-a-Lago, but he also is charged with showing them to people and revealing secrets would be even more inflammatory than just keeping the documents for himself.
Taylor Wilson:
And Bart, Trump announced changes to his legal team this week. What changes is he making there and what could this tell us about his strategy on this indictment and also the other legal issues that he faces?
Bart Jansen:
Yeah, it’s hard to know why he changed lawyers. He’s had a couple of lawyers, Jim Trusty and John Rowley, who have been leading his team for the federal investigations that he’s been facing. But on Friday, he announced that he was swapping them out for a lawyer, Todd Blanche, who is one of the lawyers who represented him in the New York State case of criminal charges for allegedly falsifying business documents there in a hush money case. So, he’s familiar with Blanche. Blanche has been working on as one of his lawyers already, but he is now basically being given a much broader portfolio. Trump also said that he will be hiring more lawyers in the coming days. So, it’s interesting to us observers that he’s changing horses here, but it is before the initial court appearance scheduled for Tuesday, and it’s hard from the outside to know what to make of the change in lawyers.
Taylor Wilson:
And Bart, maybe a tough question to answer right now, but how likely is it that the former president could see prison time based off of this?
Bart Jansen:
What I would say from the federal prosecutor’s perspective is that they wouldn’t bring charges if they didn’t think they had probable cause to win a conviction in this case. They think they’ve gathered enough evidence through the searches and subpoenas that they’ve issued Trump to prove that he was holding documents that he shouldn’t have after leaving the White House and that he was concealing them and trying to prevent the FBI from retrieving them for the government. But Trump proclaims his innocence. He’s going to fight these charges aggressively. He calls the charges politically motivated, and he basically argues that President Joe Biden is wielding the Justice Department to prosecute him criminally and basically, try to prevent him from reclaiming the White House in 2024. He is again a rival of President Biden, and they could very well be the nominees for their respective parties facing off in the November 2024 election. Legal experts tell me that they expect that this case could be tried before that election, so we may have an answer of whether he is acquitted or convicted before people start casting their votes.
Taylor Wilson:
All right. USA Today Justice Department correspondent Bart Jansen, great insight as always. Thanks, Bart.
Bart Jansen:
Thank you.
Taylor Wilson:
Four children who disappeared 40 days ago after surviving a plane crash in the Colombian Amazon have been found alive. The children were alone when searchers found them, and are now receiving medical attention according to Columbia’s president, Gustavo Petro. The crash happened on May 1st, when a single engine propeller plane with seven passengers and a pilot declared an emergency due to engine failure. The plane fell off radar a short time later. Three adults were killed and their bodies were found more than two weeks after the crash. But the small children ranging in age from 13 to 11 months were nowhere to be found. Still, instead of calling off the search, Columbia’s military stepped up the search for the children and dozens of volunteers from indigenous tribes joined in. Authorities in recent weeks grew hopeful after finding footprints and other indications that the children might still be alive. Yesterday, the military tweeted pictures of soldiers and volunteers with the children who were wrapped in blankets. President Petro said the children survived thanks to knowledge of how to live in the jungle from their indigenous families.
For many, it can be a challenge finding clothes that fit who you are. That’s how couple Laura Moffat and Kelly Sanders Moffat felt as women who tend to prefer button up shirts and bow ties. Realizing that they probably weren’t alone in this, they decided to start a clothing company. Kirrin Finch now produces several lines of gender defying fashion from suits to sweaters and casual wear. USA Today video producer Callie Carmichael recently spoke with Founder Kelly to learn more.
Callie Carmichael :
Thank you so much for joining us this morning. I really appreciate it.
Kelly Sanders Moffat:
Happy to be here.
Callie Carmichael :
Tell me what was the inspiration behind starting Kirrin Finch?
Kelly Sanders Moffat:
We started Kirrin Finch really out of our own personal frustration. We were tired of walking into the men’s section saying, “Hey, we really like those styles, but they don’t fit our bodies.” And so we had this idea to start a company. My wife, Laura and I, we had never really figured out what it was. And then one day there was this aha moment when we were getting ready to get married in 2014, and neither of us present in a way that we felt comfortable wearing dresses. And so all of a sudden it was like, “Oh.” We got these suits made and they made us feel like ourselves, right? Able to express ourselves in a way that felt authentic in front of all these people that we loved and cared about. And so we figured, “Oh, actually maybe it’s not just us.” And we did a whole bunch of market research and reached out to a bunch of people, and it’s now many, many moons later. And obviously it is not just us. Generally speaking, we are catering to folks that feel more authentic wearing a more masculine aesthetic.
Callie Carmichael :
And what’s some of the feedback you’ve gotten from some of your clients?
Kelly Sanders Moffat:
Yeah, I think that shopping and finding outfits for folks like myself has been really traumatic. The thing that was interesting to me as we were speaking to people early on is it was really not often top of mind. And I think that it was really because people didn’t feel like there were options out there. And so as they were constantly put in these situations, maybe these big life events, your wedding or your graduation or your bat mitzvah, those more formal events and then those everyday life experiences where literally when you wake up and you went to go put on clothes and it didn’t make you feel like you. And so maybe it was too tight around the hips or there was that perfect shirt, but then why did they have to put that little ruffle in there? And so for folks like myself, it doesn’t allow you to feel like you.
Callie Carmichael :
So, you used the word tomboy to describe yourselves on your website. Some folks may take offense to the use of the term. What does it mean to you and are you reclaiming this word?
Kelly Sanders Moffat:
Yeah, I think tomboy’s interesting. I think for us, it was really about that was one of the words that felt accurate when we were growing up. And so I think that, especially I’ll be 40 this year, for our generation of people, that was a way that they were able to describe themselves in that space. But I think what is great about right now is that there are so many more words as the queer community has really been able to continue to… It’s been evolving for a long time. Society is just in some ways catching up to that. And so as we see a lot more folks breaking outside of the binary and breaking outside of these very specific names that we call things, all of a sudden there’s more and more ways for people to use words to describe how they feel inside of themselves.
Callie Carmichael :
Why is it important for non-binary, trans, LGBTQ+ people to have clothes that are specific to their bodies?
Kelly Sanders Moffat:
Especially in the United States and the western world, fashion lives so much within the binary. From very, very early on, oftentimes someone will say, “Oh, I’m pregnant.” “Oh, is it a girl or a boy?” And whatever that person responds with then dictates so much about what society is going to say to that person, what they should or should not wear, from colors to the way that it fits your body.
And so we are, from literally before we exist, until the day we die, are getting so many messages of what is right of how you present yourself. Why is it that if this is the way I want my shirt to fit, why is it that that is going to make you feel uncomfortable? Because this is what makes me feel good. And at Kirrin Finch, it’s really all about how do we create options for folks that want to be able to express themselves authentically? And it doesn’t mean that because you get that, then that is less for someone else. It means that for our customer and the people that our brand speaks to, that allows them to have their outside match their inside.
Callie Carmichael :
Kelly, thank you so much for joining us. I really appreciate your time and your insight.
Kelly Sanders Moffat:
Thanks for having me.
Taylor Wilson:
The French Open wraps up this weekend in Paris as the best of tennis square off on clay courts. On the women’s singles side top ranked Polish superstar, Iga Świątek will take on the Czech Republic’s Karolína Muchová in the final at 9:00 AM Eastern Time. Muchová is looking for her first grand grand slam win ever at the age of 26. Świątek is looking for her fourth.
On the men’s side, Serbian Novak Djokovic will try and cement his legacy as one of the all-time greats when he takes on Norwegian Casper Ruud tomorrow. Ruud is looking for his first career Grand Slam. You can watch all the action on ESPN and stay up to date with USA Today Sports.
If you’re taking a cruise this summer, you might notice something odd on board. Rubber ducks. According to a Facebook group dedicated to the bazaar trend, it started when family duo Ashley and Abby Davis bought 50 rubber ducks for a spring break cruise. They hid them every day for people of all ages to find throughout the cruise, and they said they had the best trip ever. Their Facebook group, the Cruising Ducks now has nearly 200,000 members, and it’s now something of a tradition when anyone goes aboard to bring some ducks to hide and share. You can read more in today’s show notes.
And before we go, tomorrow is the National Puerto Rican Day parade. The annual festivities in Manhattan honor the 3.5 million inhabitants of Puerto Rico and more than 5 million Puerto Ricans residing in the United States.
Thanks for listening to Five Things. You can find us every day of the week wherever you get your audio. If you have any comments, you can reach us at podcast@susatoday.com. The Sunday edition is tomorrow, and I’m back Monday with more of Five Things from USA Today.