Trump #MeToo accusers form 'Strange Sisterhood,' Bragg sues Jim Jordan: 5 Things podcast

On today's episode of the 5 Things podcast: 'Strange Sisterhood' accusers say Trump indictment feels like ‘white noise’

USA TODAY Politics Reporter Ella Lee explains how 'Strange Sisterhood' accusers are reacting in the wake of former President Donald Trump's hush money indictment. Plus, Manhattan District Attorney Alan Bragg sues Rep. Jim Jordan, the Gang of Eight now has access to classified documents found in the possession of Biden, Trump and Pence, USA TODAY Justice Department Correspondent Kevin Johnson talks about changes at the Secret Service, and the Biden administration considers water solutions in the West.

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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 5 Things you need to know Wednesday, the 12th of April 2023. Today, how the "strange sisterhood" of #MeToo accusers is reacting in the wake of former President Donald Trump's hush money indictment. Plus Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg sues a Republican lawmaker, and the Secret Service tries to shed politics from its image.

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Nearly a dozen of former President Donald Trump's alleged sexual misconduct victims have come together to call themselves the "Strange Sisterhood." USA TODAY Politics Reporter Ella Lee spoke with some of them in the wake of Trump's hush money indictment. Ella, thanks for hopping on 5 Things.

Ella Lee:

Thanks for having me, Taylor.

Taylor Wilson:

So tell me a little about how the Strange Sisterhood began.

Ella Lee:

So three of Trump's #MeToo accusers - Samantha Holvey, Rachel Crooks, and Jessica Leeds - essentially gave a press conference back in December 2017. At that press conference, they demanded a congressional investigation into the harassment allegations that they and other women had come forward with against former President Donald Trump.

Holvey, who was the 2006 Miss North Carolina USA, accused Trump of inspecting each of the pageant contestants individually. And she told us that, during that press conference is when some of those women joined an email chain where they have essentially shared their thoughts over the years. So Holvey told us that as time goes by, more women have been added to that email thread. And she ascribed that as sort of a double-edged sword. On one hand, she said she's grateful to have that bond with other women so that they don't feel alone. But on the other hand, she was just glad so many other women had not been hurt.

Taylor Wilson:

And Ella, across speaking with these women, what else stood out in their stories?

Ella Lee:

The women who we spoke with essentially all had somewhat of the same thing to say, which is that while this indictment is a step closer to Trump being held accountable to the law, it doesn't really address his character or the treatment of women, at least to the extent that they say that they wish it did. So they also fear a repeat of 2016 where his alleged misconduct, then sexual misconduct and now legal, fuels his base and shields him from consequences as we head into 2024.

The women at the center of Trump's indictment now, who are adult film actress Stormy Daniels and Playboy model Karen McDougal, have both said that their encounters with Trump were consensual. However, Trump's Me Too accusers say that they see a common thread between the former president and his supporters' behavior towards women then and now, whether that's through legal threats or mean nicknames.

Taylor Wilson:

So Ella, the former president has this huge base that often emboldens this kind of behavior, you mentioned it. Why is this such a big issue and what did the Strange Sisterhood women say about Trump's base on this?

Ella Lee:

Holvey, the former Miss North Carolina USA, she told us that she thinks the indictment will strengthen Trump's base, essentially making him out to be a martyr and not really leaving any lasting impact on the race or on Trump himself. She also told us that she sort of doubts that his base will believe that he did anything wrong, no matter the accusations that come forward.

My co-writer, Rachel Looker and I drew parallels to 2016 Trump supporters who sort of excused his offensive language against women then as locker room talk, or even after the January 6th Capitol attack, when some of those same supporters claimed that the rioters were on a normal tourist visit.

Taylor Wilson:

So there's a battery trial surrounding Trump coming up. What will this focus on and how do the women feel about it?

Ella Lee:

The women we spoke with have turned their attention away from the indictment that Trump currently faces and toward a case involving writer E. Jean Carroll. Carroll has claimed that around 30 years ago in a department store, Trump raped her. And so the #MeToo accusers that we spoke with, told us that they intend to watch that case much more closely because they think it's an opportunity for women to be heard and believed more so than the current indictment.

Taylor Wilson:

Ella Lee, thanks so much.

Ella Lee:

Thank you.

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Taylor Wilson:

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg has sued Republican congressman Jim Jordan. He called the Ohio lawmaker's inquiry into the prosecution of former President Donald Trump, "an unprecedentedly brazen and unconstitutional attack," on a local criminal case. Bragg indicted Trump on 34 felony counts of filing false business records in his alleged $130,000 hush money payment to Stormy Daniels. Trump pleaded not guilty a week ago. For his part, Jim Jordan has demanded answers from Bragg about the case, and three House Republican chairmen have called it politically motivated.

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The so-called Gang of Eight now has access to the classified documents found in possession of President Joe Biden, former President Donald Trump and former Vice President Mike Pence. The development, first reported by Punchbowl News, comes after lawmakers from both sides of the aisle have repeatedly demanded congressional oversight of the documents from the Biden administration.

The Gang of Eight is made up of the four party leaders in the House and Senate, along with ranking members of the House and Senate intelligence committees. They have access to the most sensitive information. They've repeatedly said they're entitled to the classified documents, citing national security concerns and future efforts from Congress to protect classified information.

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The Secret Service is trying to shed politics from its image, but that task might be easier said than done. USA TODAY Justice Department Correspondent Kevin Johnson, recently sat down with the service's director, Kimberly Cheatle. I spoke with him to learn more. Kevin, thanks for hopping on the podcast.

Kevin Johnson:

Sure. Thanks for having me.

Taylor Wilson:

So why has the Secret Service been painted with this political brush in recent years?

Kevin Johnson:

Well, it's several reasons. Many of them came to the fore during the January 6th House Committee investigation, where people will recall how the Secret Service's provisions for protecting Vice President Pence drew a lot of scrutiny, as well as the assignment of a Secret Service official to a temporary assignment as a deputy chief of staff in the White House. That assignment, especially, was closely questioned by lawmakers and was considered by a number of Secret Service officials, former and current, as a contravention of their apolitical mission.

Taylor Wilson:

And Kevin, what does the current Secret Service administration say about its response on January 6th?

Kevin Johnson:

The new director, Kimberly Cheatle, who was installed in September by President Biden, interesting to note she was a part of then Vice President Joe Biden's protective detail back during the Obama administration. There's no ignoring the political questions that have arisen under the previous administrations of the Secret Service. And in our conversation with Director Cheatle, she seemed intent on turning the page, so to speak, on that era.

Folks may remember, perhaps not, of a number of security breaches, misconduct issues that have plagued the service for years in the past. And any time the service draws new scrutiny, those past troubles always seem to loom in the background and I think she is determined to try to turn that page.

Taylor Wilson:

And what specific changes does she have for the service's training programs?

Kevin Johnson:

One of the things that she seemed very intent on, was finally winning approval for the construction, actually, of a mock White House, which has been long in discussion, more than perhaps a decade or so, to assist in the training of agents and uniformed officers in forming strategies for protection of the mansion and the surrounding grounds. It's a $10 million project, at least that was the last estimate. It would be built on the Secret Service's training grounds out in suburban Maryland. And it's something that this director seems intent on starting and completing.

Taylor Wilson:

Kevin, in this piece, you talk about chronic staffing shortages that the Secret Service faces. Is this a post-pandemic trend like many places of work have seen or does something else account for this?

Kevin Johnson:

It's been a problem for years. It came to a head during the Trump administration when we reported that a thousand agents had hit their annual salary and overtime allowances mostly for the protective mission. And that was due to the large number of people who were under protection in the Trump administration, accounting for Trump's large family. I believe that there were 42 or so individuals who required protection during the Trump administration. So that drained the agency and left a number of agents to work without pay for many months.

Taylor Wilson:

And speaking of Trump, did Director Cheatle address at all the current situation surrounding him with the legal issues and all of the complex issues that the Secret Service has to figure out on that?

Kevin Johnson:

She treaded very carefully. Acknowledged that the service has an obligation to protect former presidents for their lifetime. But she would not elaborate on what provisions have been made if this president were to be convicted of the crimes that he's accused of now, and whether the service would be required or obligated to follow a protectee into prison if that was the end result of the case against Donald Trump. So lots of questions still remain in terms of the bounds of the agency's obligation.

Taylor Wilson:

Kevin Johnson, thanks so much.

Kevin Johnson:

Thank you.

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Taylor Wilson:

The Biden administration yesterday floated two ways that seven western states and tribes, reliant on the Colorado River, could cut their use. One option would be more beneficial for California and some tribes along the river that have high priority rights to its water. The other would probably be better for Nevada and Arizona, who share the river's lower basin with California, and say there needs to be a strategy that more fairly spreads the pain of water cuts.

A generational drought in the west, along with rising demand and overuse, has dropped water levels at key reservoirs along the river to unprecedented lows. That's forced the federal government to cut some water allocations and to offer up billions of dollars to pay farmers and cities to cut back. It's also set up a fight over water in the years to come, with states, tribes and federal officials at the center.

Thanks for listening to 5 Things. You can find us every day of the week right here, wherever you're listening right now. I'm back tomorrow with more of 5 Things from USA TODAY.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Alvin Bragg sues Rep. Jordan, changes at Secret Service: 5 Things podcast