 Legally speaking, yesterday was a terrible day for Donald Trump, because we learned not only that the January 6th committee was going to be making criminal recommendations to the Justice Department, and we don't necessarily know who that's going to be, but the implication is that it will be Donald Trump. But aside from that, the Trump organization was found guilty on all 17 counts of tax fraud, which is huge. Now, the penalty, in my opinion, if you sit with the max, isn't that large. But this is still substantial, nonetheless. As Politico explains, the Trump organization was convicted on all charges in a criminal tax fraud scheme on Tuesday. A New York Supreme Court jury reached the verdict in the case, which could cost the Trump organization up to $1.6 million in fines after two days of deliberation following a month-long trial that included a convicted former Trump Organization chief finance officer, Allen Weitzelberg, as a star witness. Prosecutors from the Manhattan District Attorney's Office said the company criminally dodged taxes and suppressed payroll costs by lavishing its executives with unreported perks such as leases on luxury cars and apartments. Former President Donald Trump was not charged, but Weitzelberg, who still works for the Trump Organization, pleaded guilty to the charges and agreed to testify against his employer in exchange for a lighter sentence. Two units of the Trump Organization were convicted on 17 criminal counts, including tax fraud, scheme to defraud, and falsifying business records. Now, the Trump Organization obviously will be appealing this decision, but I don't want to downplay the significance of this because this is the closest that Trump has been to legal accountability. But even in the event he is hit with the maximum penalty for each charge, that still is a toll of $1.6 million that he'll be on the hook for, as the article pointed out, which is something that he can probably raise in like five minutes if he sends out an email telling everyone that the legal system is against him and it's all rigged in a witch hunt. And yeah. So it's not necessarily a huge penalty, but it is a sign that the walls may be closing in on Donald Trump. And that is what I think is more important. Now he's lucky because it seems as if Allen Weitzelberg is choosing to be the fall guy. Allen Weitzelberg is loyal to Donald Trump and hasn't broken that loyalty essentially because Trump has been there for them. Weitzelberg was working under the table in some instances to avoid taxes and because he's choosing to take accountability for the tax fraud at the Trump Organization, Trump himself isn't necessarily going to be held accountable. The article continues, the scheme allegedly continued until Trump became president when prosecutors say the company engaged in an effort to clean up its illegal practices to avoid scrutiny. But Weitzelberg, who remains on the Trump Organization payroll, also testified that he acted out of personal greed to boost his own bottom line, giving fodder to defense lawyers who argued the corporation was not to blame for his conduct. Though not charged, Trump loomed large throughout the trial. He personally paid private school tuition for Weitzelberg's grandchildren and signed a lease for his top lieutenant's Upper West Side apartment overlooking the Hudson River witnesses testified. In other words, Weitzelberg is throwing himself under the bus in order to save Donald Trump. So that to me is frustrating, but there is a plethora of other things that could lead to Trump being criminally prosecuted, but at the same time, he is an elite. So the thought of an elite, a former president, especially being held accountable legally, it just seems like a stretch. But nonetheless, when you're in that much legal trouble, odds are where there's smoke, there's fire, and something has got to get Donald Trump right, and this is a horrible sign. Now I just want to point out before I further discuss this, Eric Cleefield of Media Matters points out via Twitter, on the afternoon that the Trump Organization was found guilty of tax fraud, here's the live coverage on the Fox Business Show of the former Trump Administration Economic Advisor. The Kyron reads, Examining the Biden family's business dealings. Hilarious. Now listen, the Biden family's business dealings? That's fair game. I think that we should look at all presidential family's business dealings. But it's the timing that is just a little bit too conspicuous here. And I find it absolutely hilarious. But getting back to the issue of Donald Trump and how he's going to react. This is something that also worries me because even if I'm a little bit optimistic that finally his organization is being held legally accountable and they're on the hook for some actual fines, well, what does this mean for Donald Trump and his run for the presidency? What this means is that he's going to grow increasingly desperate and he will do anything to take back power. And once he gets that power back, he's not going to want to let it go. So there's kind of this predicament where as the walls close in on Donald Trump legally and he gets closer and closer to criminal prosecution potentially, that's just going to drive him to become more unhinged, more insane, more deluded. But maybe that's going to lead to his unraveling if he gets a little bit more narcissistic and continues to portray himself as the victim, where other Republicans can come along like Ron DeSantis and say, I'm not running for, you know, myself, I'm running for you, something of that nature. Although I don't necessarily know. I've heard from Republican strategists who have made great points and through articles, by the way, I'm not talking to these people, obviously, but there's an article from, I think, Politico that we talked about on the program where GOP strategists said that in the event Trump were to be indicted, this would further galvanize the entire Republican base because as frustrated as many Republicans are with Donald Trump, this would kind of unify all of them. And they'd be able to have this message of, yes, the justice system is rigged against Republicans. This is a political and a legal witch hunt, something like that. So I don't know. That argument, I think, was more persuasive before the midterm elections, but now that Trump has kind of been a failure for the party and relatively toxic. Who knows if normie Republicans are going to fall in line in that instance, but either way, this is a very significant development here. And he deserves to be held accountable. He should be in prison. But is that going to happen? I don't necessarily know. But are we inching closer to that as a possibility? It seems like yes. And what this kind of shows here is that Trump isn't untouchable. This is the Trump organization and not Trump the individual that is found guilty to be clear. But still, it shows that he's not untouchable and he can be held legally accountable. So will it lead ultimately, not this case, but will other cases lead to a criminal prosecution and indictment? We'll have to wait and see. But it's certainly going to be a shit show. The more that he is held accountable potentially.