Serious Trouble

Donald Trump wasn’t supposed to give a closing statement at the New York AG’s civil trial, but he gave a brief one anyway — and why not? There’s no jury to influence and, let’s be honest, Judge Engoron seems to have made his mind up. Plus: Rudy Giuliani is bankrupt and faces the creditors’ committee of his nightmares. Michael Flynn has a performative defamation lawsuit against Andrew Weissmann, over the allegation that he was actually guilty of the crime he pleaded guilty to. And Bill Ackman says he’ll sue Business Insider for reporting that his wife, former MIT professor Neri Oxman, committed plagiarism — though really, Oxman would have to sue, and an unwinnable lawsuit (as it looks to be) is likelier to serve his PR goals rather than hers.Visit serious trouble.show to sign up for our newsletter and to support our show. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.serioustrouble.show/subscribe

The podcast discusses the recent legal hearings surrounding Donald Trump's criminal case and the New York civil case. They delve into Trump's argument of immunity from prosecution, the defamation lawsuit filed by E.J. Carroll against him, Stone's intent when talking about committing crimes, the messy Fannie Willis Rico case in Atlanta, and the recent superseding indictment against Senator Bob Menendez.

It’s a new year and we’re back with more Serious Trouble. This week: the ongoing appeal in the DC Circuit Court of Appeals, where Donald Trump argues he is presidentially immune from trial over his actions that led up to the January 6 riot. This appeal has paused the clock on the criminal case, but probably not for much longer — the appeals court is moving the appeal very fast, and it’s unclear the Supreme Court will have any interest in reviewing their decision. The case may be back in Judge Tanya Chutkan’s hands by the beginning of February.Plus: can Trump turn this trial into a circus? Why were charges dropped against SBF? Why isn't Michael Cohen going to get out of supervised release early? And was getting fired for making vegan porn a violation of a (now former) state university chancellor's First Amendment Rights? Let's find out.Visit serioustrouble.show to sign up for our newsletter, find a transcript, and support the show. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.serioustrouble.show/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.serioustrouble.showThank you for all the questions you sent in this week! On a related note: take our “explicit” content warning extra seriously this week. All subscribers get our discussion about the Colorado Supreme Court deciding Donald Trump may not appear on that state’s presidential primary ballot, the multiple routes that SCOTUS has available to overturn their ruling, and what might happen if SCOTUS upholds the decision.If you've been thinking about becoming a paying subscriber to the show, this is the week to do it. serioustrouble.show/christmas gets you a discount, and you'll get to hear about:Rudy Giuliani's $148 million judgment for his lies about two election workers Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss; another instance of citing fake cases in a brief submitted to the judge (and this time it involves Michael Cohen); the Senate sex video and the potential criminal implications of it; and the presidents of three elite universities who appeared on the Hill, seemingly more prepared for a deposition than for an argument with Elise Stefanik on national television.Finally, we have a little time to talk about George Santos, and how the justice system might interfere with the launch of his reality TV career. And we talk about what Ken hopes not to talk about in 2024. We'll be back in January! Thanks for listening.

We have two episodes coming for you this week, one right now and one near the end of the week. On the second episode, we’ll be taking your end-of-year questions — if you have a burning question for Ken, please send it to the RICO hotline by Wednesday morning so we can consider it for inclusion.On today’s show, we talk about a couple of significant matters that stand to delay former President Trump’s federal trial for actions related to the aftermath of the 2020 election. One is his appeal of Judge Tanya Chutkan’s ruling that he is not presidentially immune from trial. It seems likely an appeals court will rule as soon as mid-January, and it’s not clear the Supreme Court will have any interest in taking the case up after that. We'll see. The potentially thornier matter is a separate case the Supreme Court is considering, in which the court could reject the expansive theory of “obstruction of an official proceeding” that federal prosecutors have used in charging many cases related to January 6. Plus: the state of the gag orders on Trump and Hunter Biden. Hoo boy. He already faced a kind of weak-ass gun charge in Delaware, and his lawyers have some pretty good arguments about why that case should be dismissed. But now he’s also been indicted in Los Angeles for felony tax evasion, and the complaint in that case is brutal.There’s lots more to talk about this week, including the huge defamation award against Rudy Giuliani — we’ll be taking that and some other juicy stories up in the next episode in just a few days. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.serioustrouble.show/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.serioustrouble.showOne of Donald Trump’s favorite arguments is that the presidency shields him from legal proceedings. He’s made that argument in criminal cases and in civil ones, but this week, we talk about rejections of those arguments from two different judges. Plus: Jack Smith wants to introduce Trump's political statements and actions going all the way back to 2012; serious trouble for Alina Habba; gold bars do have serial numbers, you know; Rudy doesn't show up in court; and was that wrong — taking a phone call while on the witness stand?Visit serioustrouble.show to sign up for full episodes of our podcast and find episode transcripts.

Topics discussed include Elon Musk's controversial tweet, Tanya Chutkan's gag order against Donald Trump, debates over Trump's eligibility for the ballot, Hunter Biden daring House Republicans to invite him to testify, and the discussion on Twitter's response to offensive content and ad placement.

This podcast discusses various interesting topics such as the legal implications of Donald Trump's social media post, the FBI raid on Mayor Eric Adams' fundraiser, Hunter Biden's attempt to subpoena documents from the Trump administration, the ongoing RICO prosecution in Georgia, allegations of assault by Kevin McCarthy, and campaign fund misuse by George Santos.

This episode of Serious Trouble covers the swift conviction of Sam Bankman-Fried, Trump's strategy in court, John Eastman's disciplinary proceedings, and the legal issues surrounding a defendant in the Georgia Rico case.

In this episode, Ken and the host discuss the impact of Michael Cohen's testimony in the trial against Trump. They also examine the significance of money, campaign funds, and sanctions in Trump's legal battles. The potential consequences of putting someone into custody during a trial and the analysis of a gag order issued on Trump are explored. Additionally, they delve into the potential violation of the gag order and a case in Colorado examining Trump's eligibility to be president.