The Supreme Court declined to save Donald Trump from being sentenced in his New York criminal case, but the justices said that decision was in part because there wasn’t much to save him from: Judge Juan Merchan had indicated that he would sentence Trump to an unconditional discharge, i.e. no punishment. In other Trump-criminal-case-wind-down news, Judge Aileen Cannon has continued to make trouble for DOJ officials seeking to release parts of a report about Trump’s two federal criminal prosecutions. Plus: Smartmatic’s defamation case against Fox News (and Fox Corporation) moves closer to trial; an FBI informant lied to the government about Joe and Hunter Biden receiving $10 million in bribes from Ukrainian sources and he was also evading taxes, and so he ended up being prosecuted by the same prosecutor who was prosecuting Hunter Biden for evading taxes, and he pleaded guilty, and now he's been sentenced; and Rudy Giuliani is now in double contempt, in federal courts in New York and Washington.

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It’s already a busy 2025 for some of our favorite characters. On this episode: Rudy Giuliani has been held in contempt in proceedings in Judge Lewis Liman’s courtroom, where he has stalled the liquidation of his assets for the benefit of two women he defamed. Donald Trump gets an "unconditional discharge" penalty from Judge Juan Merchan and is trying to stop the release of Jack Smith's report. George Santos asks a judge to delay his sentencing so he can develop and monetize his podcast (!), Eric Adams wants to know who's accusing him of what, and finally: did Josh defame Luigi Mangione?

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Welcome to the first Serious Trouble episode of 2025! For all subscribers this week, Ken and Josh discuss Luigi Mangione’s indictments in both Pennsylvania and New York, and he’s also the subject of a federal criminal complaint. Both New York and the Feds look eager to prosecute him, and there’s going to be wrangling over who gets to go first, with an important difference in the stakes — he’s facing a capital federal charge, while New York does not have the death penalty. New York’s top count — murder as an act of terrorism — poses some challenges for the state to prove.

For paying subscribers: The dueling lawsuits brought by the actors Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni, each accusing the other of wrongdoing during and after the making of their hit film “It Ends With Us;” a discussion of the appellate ruling that upheld one of the judgments E. Jean Carroll won against Donald Trump; a look at why Matt Gaetz, even after resigning from Congress, couldn’t block the release of the ethics committee report that alleges he had sex with a 17-year-old in violation of Florida law; and an update on the civil lawsuit against Jay-Z, who will continue to defend himself against a rape allegation from an anonymous plaintiff — and about how his hyperaggressive lawyer, Alex Spiro, is pissing off Judge Analisa Torres.

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