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Okay, now it’s RICO. Donald Trump and 18 alleged co-conspirators have been indicted on 41 counts in Fulton County, Georgia, and the headline count is RICO: District Attorney Fani Willis alleges this group constituted an enterprise trying to steal Georgia’s electoral votes (and those of other states) in violation of Georgia’s version the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act. We’re skeptical of Willis’s plan to take this thing to trial within six months. In fact, we think the whole thing is overcomplicated and excessively vulnerable to constitutional challenge. Georgia defense lawyer Andrew Fleischman joins us to discuss the overreach and excessive creativity in this indictment, and the likelihood that any Georgia RICO prosecution will drag on for years, with Trump's own trial very possibly moved into Federal court. Not great.

Unfortunately, This Episode Is RICO

An irreverent podcast about the law from Josh Barro and Ken White. 

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News Commentary

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Happy Birthday to America’s Mayor, now 80 years old! Rudy had a big bash to celebrate his 80th birthday last Friday, down in Palm Beach. He posted a photo from the party on social media, taunting Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes for her failure to serve a summons on him for his indictment for trying to steal that state’s presidential election. And then, around 11pm, agents from Mayes’s office approached him to serve his summons on person. Plus: the cross-examination of Michael Cohen, Trump reportedly edits the statements of the given by his surrogates who say what he’s not allowed to under the gag order, Paul Pelosi's attacker is sentenced but there's a hitch, and Hunter Biden is in serious trouble. Visit serioustrouble.show to sign up for our newsletter and upgrade your subscription to hear the whole episode.

Rudy Got Served!

New York prosecutors have been using Michael Cohen not just as a vehicle to introduce documents, but to offer his own recollections and assessments of Donald Trump’s state of mind, including why he chose to pay for Stormy Daniels’ silence. Meanwhile, Trump has had friends visiting him at court — Republican politicians, some of them vice presidential hopefuls, who have made statements to the press that Trump himself is gagged from making. Indicted Rep. Henry Cuellar looks to be in even more serious trouble than he was last week, and Sen. Bob Menendez's trial has begun, with jury selection aided by a high-priced jury consultant. Steve Bannon has lost his appeal and will likely to have to serve out his (short) sentence for contempt of Congress before Trump has a chance to pardon him. And Rudy Giuliani is being sued again, this time in pursuit of a court order to bar him from lying — good luck with that. 

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Is Michael Cohen a Good Witness?

Josh thoughtfully attempted to wreck Ken right out of the gate by using the terms “missionary position” and “Donald Trump” in the same sentence of the cold open, live, in person, in Ken's office. He’s referring, of course, to Stormy Daniels’ frankly disturbing testimony about a sexual encounter with Trump, an encounter that sounded not particularly consensual. The rest of the proceedings were more substantive than salacious, with the prosecution steadily building a case through notes, Michael Cohen’s secretly recorded conversations with Trump, and witness observations. But can they convince the jury this was all in service of a different crime, as required for a felony? Meanwhile, Judge Merchan found Trump in contempt over a whiny social media post about jurors but rejected the DA’s motion as to three other posts. In Florida and Georgia, the prosecutions of Trump are lagging. Who's surprised? Plus: Nathan Wade thinks workplace romance is as American as apple pie, Rep. Henry Cuellar is in trouble, and the beef between Kendrick Lamar and Drake. 

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Yo Momma So Dumb She Thought These Trials Were Happening Before The Election

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Judge Juan Merchan has found Trump in contempt of court and fined him $9,000 — $1,000 per violation of the terms of his gag order, the maximum authorized by New York law. He also noted those fines might not be large enough to influence Trump's behavior, and he threatened to jail him if he violates the order again. Is that threat credible? Ken says so. Plus: witness testimony in Merchan's courtroom, another New York judge declines to reduce E. Jean Carroll's award, the Supreme Court hears oral argument about presidential immunity, Arizona announces a fake electors indictment, and Harvey Weinstein's New York convictions have been overturned. Visit serioustrouble.show to sign up for the full episode and our newsletter.

Contempt

The trial has begun! Judge Juan Merchan seated 12 jurors and 6 alternates in three days of voir dire. We discuss the pace of jury selection and complicating factors (that strong opinions about this defendant are common and often expressed on social media), plus: Ken discusses his philosophy of choosing a jury as a defense lawyer, why it’s more of an art than a science, and how it will matter that this Manhattan jury is unusually highly educated. We also discuss a question that, as we sent out this episode, remains before Judge Merchan — should Trump be held in contempt for his repeated public statements about witnesses and the jury, in spite of the gag order on him? And we talk about the theories of the case laid out in opening statements from the prosecution and the defense.  And amid all this, George Santos has clawed his way back into the news in a small way. Yay! Visit serioustrouble.show to sign up for our newsletter and find a transcript of this episode. 

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Unfortunately, This Episode Is RICO

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