This week on Ring of Fire!

Now that Donald Trump's first criminal trial has officially begun, questions are swirling all over the media about what could happen if he gets a felony conviction. The odds of Trump losing this trial are great, but there is still a possibility the charges could be reduced in a way that avoids felony convictions. But if that doesn't happen, it opens up a whole new world of legal problems for the United States.

Even before jury selection began on Monday, Donald Trump had already racked up a string of losses at the hands of Judge Juan Merchan. First, the judge denied Trump's motion requesting that the judge recuse himself from the case. That was soon followed by the judge refusing to grant Trump's latest attempt to delay the trial. Trump told the judge that it was unfair for him to be in trial while he's trying to campaign, and the judge reminded him that he still has plenty of time to campaign on their off days.

A state auditor has finally released the long-awaited report on Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders' purchase of a $19,000 lectern, and things are looking bad for the first term governor. The auditor has referred the matter over to prosecutors to conduct a criminal investigation, as the auditor believes that there are too many discrepancies with the purchase. Specifically, it is believed that the money wasn't actually for the podium, but was instead used as a cover to spend the money elsewhere, which is a form of embezzlement.

And Republican Congressman Byron Donalds of Florida is at his wit's end, and he knows that the fate of the Republican Party hinges on the outcome of Donald Trump's hush money trial. So during an appearance on Newsmax this week, the Florida congressman begged the people of New York - which means the potential jurors in the trial - to find Trump not guilty so the Party can move on. This could actually be seen as a form of jury tampering.

All that, and much more, on this week's Ring of Fire Podcast!

This week on Ring of Fire!

At his fundraiser this past weekend, Donald Trump promised the crowd of wealthy supporters that he would fight to keep their taxes low if he gets back into office. This was part of his sales pitch to ensure that they give him money for his campaign. The wealthy class doesn't care about his coup attempt or his criminal charges or the threat he poses to the country - all they care about is saving a few million dollars a year on their taxes.

The company that is backing Donald Trump's fraud trial bond has come under fire from prosecutors, and Judge Arthur Engoron has even scheduled a hearing with the company to determine if they can even afford to post it. And now new reports have found some serious discrepancies with the actual contract that the company produced for the bond that could result in it being completely thrown out.

Lindsey Graham wasn't happy with Donald Trump's recent comments about letting states decide what rights women are allowed to have (Lindsey wants the federal government to take those rights away,) and this prompted Trump to go nuclear against his former friend. But it didn't end there. Later in the day, Trump decided to finish off Graham for good, and Trump said that he takes the blame for Graham existing in the Senate because his endorsement is what saved his career. It is safe to say that, for now, this relationship appears to be over.

A federal judge has taken the unusual step of sending a letter to the "friends and allies" of a convicted Capitol Rioter, warning them to stop saying that the man did "nothing wrong" and to stop condoning and downplaying political violence. While the letter was supposedly meant for the convict's inner circle, it read more like a warning to the Republican Party itself that continues to downplay what happened on January 6th.

All that, and much more, on this week's Ring of Fire Podcast!

This week on Ring of Fire!

According to recent financial filings, Donald Trump's Truth Social - which was just merged with Digital World Acquisition when they acquired the Trump Media and Technology Group - lost WAY more money last year than previously thought. Previous estimates assumed the company lost about $30 million, but the real amount was actually a loss of more than $50 million last year. So how can a completely worthless company that is hemorrhaging money be worth $8 billion in the stock market?

The group of creditors that are trying to get their money from the now-bankrupt Rudy Giuliani have been asking a judge to look into Giuliani's multi-million dollar condo in Florida and possibly sell it to settle his debts. But Giuliani is now trying to convince the judge overseeing the bankruptcy to leave the condo alone because, as Giuliani told him, he needs it to continue his podcasting. That's not a valid reason to avoid paying your debts.

Eleven Republican-controlled states have filed a federal lawsuit against the Biden administration over the latest attempts to cancel student loan debt for certain borrowers. The states claim that President Biden doesn't have the authority to do this, but what they are really trying to prevent is a political win for the Biden administration. Cancelling the debt hurts no one, so the states have had to come up with an absurd legal argument to claim that they have been damaged.

Donald Trump's first criminal trial is starting in just under two weeks, and he is running out of options to delay it. But, there could be a chance for him to buy some more time, but only if he goes scorched earth on his own legal team. A former prosecutor has pointed out that his only chance of getting a significant delay would be to fire his entire team of lawyers, which would give him the ability to argue that his new team needs time to prepare and learn the case.

All that, and much more, on this week's Ring of Fire Podcast!

This week on Ring of Fire!

As expected, Donald Trump manages to escape justice, yet again. The appeals court decided at the last minute on Monday to not only reduce his bond from $464 million to $175 million, but they also gave him an extra 10 days to pay it. There was no reason at all for the extension or the reduction, but this is the kind of thing that always happens with Donald Trump.

While speaking to reporters on Monday, Donald Trump suggested that being a convicted felon might actually help him in this year's election. He was referring to the New York hush money case that is heading to trial on April 15th, where he will face an already-angry judge and a jury that likely won't be fond of him. But he's delusional if he thinks a conviction will help him, as every single poll that's asked the question shows that a conviction would cause him to lose.

President Biden has spent the past few weeks (and days) going hard against Donald Trump, and it is being reflected in the latest rounds of polling. Biden has now surged in 5 swing states while Trump has fallen in nearly all of them over the past month. If the election were held today and followed the polls, Biden would easily cruise to an electoral victory. But he has to maintain this aggressive campaign to be successful.

Republican Representative Anna Paulina Luna went on Fox News this week to talk about the mass exodus of Republican lawmakers from the House, and she accused her Party of a plot to "cripple" themselves. She was referring to the fact that Republicans will now only have a one vote majority, and her anger was directed at those who have resigned this year. But she needs to actually be angry at the extremists in her Party that are pushing everyone out.

All that, and much more, on this week's Ring of Fire Podcast!

This week on Ring of Fire!

Donald Trump's lawyers were finally forced to admit in a court filing on Monday that he does not have the cash available to pay the $464 million bond for the fraud judgement against him in order to appeal the verdict. The lawyers are asking for the judge to simply postpone the posting of the bond until after the appeal, but that's not how things work. Due to the fact that he was rejected by at least 30 underwriters, it is apparent that Trump is a risk for paying at all.

During a recent speech, Donald Trump referred to the imprisoned Capitol Rioters "hostages," echoing a claim that he's made before and one that has been made by lawmakers like Marjorie Taylor Greene for years. Trump also admitted that he'll pardon these people, and these two statements were the breaking point for Trump's former Vice President Mike Pence. In an interview on Fox News, Pence not only trashed Trump for calling these people "hostages," but said that he will not be endorsing Trump.

During a podcast interview this week, Trump lawyer Alina Habba said that she is confident that she will get the $464 million fraud verdict against Donald Trump dismissed upon appeal. Ironically, this interview was conducted BEFORE Trump's lawyers had to tell the court that he's not able to pay the bond, which means that the appeal might not even be able to happen. There's a good chance that Trump could see his properties be taken away from him, all while the arrogant Habba swears everything will be ok.

And Judge Aileen Cannon delivered an absolutely insane ruling on Monday evening as part of her jury instructions to both federal prosecutors and Trump's legal team. The ruling says that members of the jury have to be given access to the highly sensitive classified documents that were uncovered at Mar-a-Lago - and if Jack Smith doesn't allow that, then they jury will be instructed to assume that they were all personal documents that rightfully belonged to Donald Trump.

All that, and much more, on this week's Ring of Fire Podcast!