The finances of Republican nominee former President Donald Trump include gallons of red ink — particularly with the addition of recent legal judgments, according to a new presidential financial disclosure released Thursday.

Trump reported debts between $346 million and $455 million throughout 2023, from a legal judgments and property mortgages.

The latest disclosure shows Trump's financial liabilities from two New York court cases, in which Trump was found him liable for defamation and sexual abuse of writer E. Jean Carroll, as well as fraud via the Trump Organization.

The damages owed to Carroll are noted on the disclosure, with one liability valued over $50 million and the other valued between $1 million and $5 million. Jurors awarded her $83.3 million in damages total.

The disclosure also noted over $50 million in debt to the New York Attorney General due to litigation. In April, Trump posted a more than $175 million bond for his more than $450 million liability in the case.

All three litigation liabilities are bonded and pending appeal, according to a note on the disclosure.

Trump was also found guilty of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records related to a hush money payment made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels during the 2016 election. His sentencing is scheduled for Sept. 18.

From Bibles to golf: Trump's assets

Trump's public financial disclosure — a requirement for all presidential candidates — was released on Thursday after certification from an attorney for the Federal Election Commission.

Trump previously twice delayed releasing his financial disclosure. He now faces Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election — someone who is likely to raise questions on the campaign trail about Trump's exotic finances and potential conflicts of interest. Trump's foreign financial entanglements, in particular, dogged him throughout his term as president.

Much of Trump's more than 250-page disclosure was dedicated to listing numerous assets and sources of income.

As federal rules only require presidential candidates to list the values of most assets in broad ranges, it's impossible to know from the document alone how much Trump is truly worth.

But his wealth — despite his debts — remains staggering.

Trump reported owning 114,750,000 shares of stock in Trump Media & Technology Group Corp., the company that owns the Truth Social platform.

Cash assets across various accounts were valued between $11.6 million and $56.4 million on the disclosure report.

Trump reported thousands of individual stock and securities assets. Investments, many in the $100,001 to $250,000 range, span a variety of companies ranging from pharmaceutical companies, Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson, to defense contractors Qualcomm and Lockheed Martin to tech giants Apple and Alphabet, the parent company of Google.

He reported an investment cryptocurrency worth at least $1 million and another in gold bars valued between $100,001 and $250,000.

Trump also reported income from a variety of hustles, including more than $4.47 million from the "Letters to Trump" book and more than $505,000 from the "A MAGA Journey" book. Trump's stake in a Bible venture with musician Lee Greenwood netted Trump $300,000.

Trump once again earned nearly a quarter of a million dollars from an April 2024 speaking engagement for LGBTQ+ group, Log Cabin Republicans.

Curiously, Trump reported earning $35,000 from "proceeds received from the sale of helicopter parts" through DJT Aerospace LLC, one of his dozens of business entities.

Trump continues to be a union pensioner, too, taking in $90,776 from his Screen Actors Guild Pension at a monthly rate of $6,484, per his disclosure. A 2013 World Wrestling Entertainment Hall of Fame inductee, Trump also received $11,632 from his American Federation of Television and Radio Artists pension.

And although Trump's long run as the headliner on NBC's "The Apprentice" is long behind him, Trump did report receiving between $100,001 and $1 million in royalty payments from a production company, Trump Productions LLC, related to the show.

Golf remains big business for Trump, with the former president reporting golf-related income into the nine-figures, including $37.17 million in income from his club in Bedminster, N.J., and $33.54 million from his club in Jupiter, Fla. He reported more than 15.23 million in Euro income from a golf resort in Ireland and another 7.28 million in Euro income from a related hotel.

Trump made more than $7.15 million from licensing fees from NFT International Inc., a company that marketed digital Trump trading cards sold for $99 a pop.

The former president earned millions of dollars from various investments and financial arrangements in the Middle East, including the countries of Oman and the United Arab Emirates.

While Trump incessantly complains about China, he maintains numerous trademarks of his name — "Trump" — in that country, for several hundred stated purposes that include "business clothing," "toy rentals," "chemical research," "ship building," "operating lotteries," "handwriting analysis," "bookmobile services" and "lingerie."

In an indication of Trump's global business reach, the former president also maintains trademarks of his name and company names in Argentina, Australia, Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Belarus, Bermuda, Bolivia, Botswana, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Egypt, El Salvador, the European Union, Georgia, Guatemala, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Israel, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Malaysia, Mexico, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Oman, Panama, Peru, Philippines, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, Vietnam and Zimbabwe.

A "Donald J. Trump Signature Collection" trademark Trump had in Venezuela — an avowed enemy of the United States — expired on Jan. 12, 2023, Trump's disclosure indicates.

Trump University — Trump's defunct for-profit real estate education venture for which he paid a $25 million civil penalty for fraud — made a cameo in the copyright section of Trump's financial disclosure for a book Trump co-wrote.

Trump's campaign spokesperson did not immediately respond to Raw Story's request for comment.

Rudy Giuliani may have lost his New York state law license this week for undermining the “integrity of this country’s electoral process” and misconduct that “cannot be overstated,” a Manhattan appeals court ruled.

But at one of New York state’s most notable colleges, Giuliani’s honorary law degree from the Syracuse University College of Law is still safely in the hands of the former New York City mayor and Donald Trump lawyer — for now, the school confirmed to Raw Story.

Syracuse University spokeswoman Sarah Scalese explained that the school’s University Senate voted in March to “recommend the university revoke Rudy Giuliani’s honorary degree” and “the Chancellor referred the Senate’s recommendation to the Board of Trustees for its consideration.”

ALSO READ: NRA no longer 'human rights group' on Google

But since then, the status of Giuliani’s degree, awarded in 1989, appears to remain unchanged. Scalese did not respond to a follow-up question on whether the Syracuse University Board of Trustees, which includes notable alumni such as ESPN’s Mike Tirico,and powerful business people such as Goldman Sachs Managing Director Jeffrey M. Scruggs, has taken any action at all toward revoking Giuliani’s honorary degree.

Syracuse University is not alone in continuing to honor Giuliani.

Four other schools — Georgetown University in Washington, D.C.; The Citadel in Charleston, South Carolina; St. John Fisher University in Rochester, N.Y.; and Loyola University Maryland in Baltimore, Md. — have likewise declined to strip Giuliani of honorary degrees they awarded him in the years following the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

The Citadel has been particularly strident in its defense of the honorary degree it bestowed upon Giuliani in 2007, with internal school emails and documents obtained by Raw Story last year detailing how school officials decided to close ranks, protect themselves and deflect Giuliani-related scrutiny.

Representatives from each school did not respond to phone and email requests from Raw Story inquiring about whether their schools intend to keep honoring Giuliani.

In November, The Citadel’s spokesman, Zachary Watson, declined to answer Raw Story’s questions, saying the school had nothing to say “at this time” about Giuliani’s honorary degree.

At the time, Giuliani spokesman Ted Goodman praised The Citadel for not canceling Giuliani’s honorary degree.

“The Citadel, which stresses the importance of honor, duty and respect, is a national treasure and certainly a place any young student should consider when deciding on where to pursue an education,” Goodman added.

Giuliani’s crushing troubles

Getting disbarred is just the latest indignity for Giuliani, who is beset with a host of other legal and ethical issues, as well.

Among them: 13 felony charges related to his attempt to overturn the results of the 2020 election in Georgia, nine felony charges in Arizona related to his alleged role in a fake electors scheme, status as “co-conspirator 1” in one of former President Donald Trump’s federal indictments and the pending loss of his law license in Washington, D.C.

Giuliani has filed for bankruptcy after being ordered to pay $148 million because a civil jury found him liable for defaming two Georgia election workers.

Meanwhile, an ex-employee is accusing Giuliani of sexual assault. The IRS says Giuliani owes massive back taxes. A motley cast of detractors, ranging from his former lawyers to President Joe Biden’s son, Hunter Biden, are suing the former New York City mayor and Trump attorney over a variety of alleged misdeeds.

That’s been sufficient cause for the University of Rhode Island, Drexel University and Middlebury College to rescind honorary degrees they had once given Giuliani.

Upon Rhode Island University relieving Giuliani of his honorary degree, President Marc Parlange concluded that Giuliani had “encouraged domestic terrorist behavior.”

Giuliani aided “an insurrection against democracy itself,” Middlebury President Laurie L. Patton declared.

Drexel admonished Giuliani for “undermining the public’s faith in our democratic institutions and in the integrity of our judicial system.”

Goodman this week said Giuliani will appeal his disbarment to New York state’s highest court.

Google “National Rifle Association.”

Search returns describe the gun-rights behemoth in various ways.

“Gun rights advocacy group,” Wikipedia reads.

“An American nonprofit organization which advocates for gun rights,” writes the Library of Congress.

“The largest and most powerful gun rights organization in the United States” that “lobbies against gun control legislation and financially backs lawmakers who have historically not supported increased regulations,” USA Today reports.

None of them refer to the NRA as a “human rights” organization.

Except Google itself.

ALSO READ: Marjorie Taylor Greene buys condo in 'crime ridden hell hole'

There, prominently placed in the upper right corner of the search page, is a “knowledge panel” — a Google-generated box containing descriptive and statistical information about the NRA.

"Human rights group” is listed immediately below the NRA’s name and next to the organization’s logo.

Is this a mistake?

Raw Story asked Google.

Google spokesperson Colette Garcia declined to answer specific questions, including why Google lists the NRA as a "human rights group” and whether Google, institutionally, considers the NRA to be a "human rights group.” She also did not say whether Google has a corporate position on whether gun rights, in general, are human rights.

Instead, she emailed links to two Google primers on “knowledge panels,” including a 2020 blog item that explains how Google’s “knowledge graph” — a system that “understands facts and information about entities from materials shared across the web, as well as from open source and licensed databases” — populates knowledge panels on notable groups such as the NRA.

Google’s blog item notes that “inaccuracies in the knowledge graph can occasionally happen” and invites feedback from users who may consider something amiss.

ALSO READ: ‘They could have killed me’: Spycraft, ballots and a Trumped-up plot gone haywire

“We analyze feedback like this to understand how any actual inaccuracies got past our systems, so that we can make improvements generally across the knowledge graph overall,” Google’s blog item reads. “We also remove inaccurate facts that come to our attention for violating our policies, especially prioritizing issues relating to public interest topics such as civic, medical, scientific, and historical issues or where there’s a risk of serious and immediate harm.”

Informed by Raw Story about Google’s knowledge panel for the NRA, representatives for two gun control organizations expressed dismay.

“In no world should the NRA be listed here as a human rights group. In fact, I’d argue they are in direct competition with the work actual human rights organizations are doing to protect the lives of our children and communities,” said Kris Brown, president of Brady, a nonprofit group that advocates against gun violence. “Given the NRA is directly responsible for so many unnecessary deaths, one option might be to list them as a ‘Mass Shooter Defense Fund’ or perhaps, ‘Pro-death advocates.’”Max Steele, a spokesperson for Everytown for Gun Safety, another anti-gun violence organization, accused the NRA of playing “a leading role in building an America where gun violence kills tens of thousands of people a year and is the number one cause of death for children and teens.

Calling the NRA a “human rights” group “is enough to make North Korean propagandists blush,” Steele added.

The NRA, which says it has about 5 million members, did not respond to messages seeking comment.

The NRA self-identifies in variety of ways: “America's longest-standing civil rights organization,” “foremost defender of Second Amendment rights,” “premier firearms education organization,” “major political force,” winner of “big battles for your gun rights.”

While the NRA occasionally has argued that “self-defense is a basic human right,” such as in a statement from 2008, it does not overtly advertise itself as a human rights group.

The NRA remains a force in American politics. In May, it endorsed former President Donald Trump in the 2024 presidential election, and Trump personally accepted the nomination.

“Gun owners must vote,” Trump told NRA members at the organization's annual convention in Dallas. “We want a landslide.”

But in recent years, the NRA’s political power has waned and federal lobbying expenditures have decreased as scandals rocked its leadership ranks and operations.

In February, a civil jury found the NRA and its longtime CEO, Wayne LaPierre, liable for gross financial mismanagement.

The NRA has also been accused of illegal political coordination and experienced high-profile infighting.

U.S. Surgeon General Vivak Murthy on Tuesday declared gun violence a public health emergency. He advocated for a suite of new gun laws and restrictions directly opposed to the NRA’s pro-gun agenda, including a ban on automatic rifles, universal background checks for people seeking to buy guns and tighter regulations for the gun manufacturing industry.

In the United States, deaths by firearms have risen sharply during the past decade, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data compiled by nonpartisan research organization USA Facts.

Children are among those most adversely affected, with gun deaths rising 50 percent between 2019 and 2021, the Pew Research Center reported.

Golden sneakers.

Nonfungible tokens.

Jingoistic Bibles.

Much ado has been made about the baubles and bibelot a cash-strapped Donald Trump keeps peddling to MAGA-heads.

But one can wear a Trump shoe, auction a Trumpy digital asset and ponder Matthew 19:24 and 1 Timothy 6:10 while reading the Lee Greenwood version of the Good Book.

The downside for Trump? All cost money to produce.

ALSO READ: 8 ways Donald Trump doesn't become president

Which is perhaps why Trump is increasingly offering prospective 2024 presidential campaign donors trinkets and honorifics with effectively no discernible value at all — in exchange for a cash contribution.

Raw Story has assembled a running list, as drawn from Trump's various fundraising emails and text messages during the past many months:

Gold card

Upside: The "NEVER SURRENDER 2024 GOLD LIMITED EDITION" card sure is shiny. It's also made of "METAL."

Downside: You may be a fool if you believe that metal is really gold. You'll also get more mileage from any credit, debit, ATM or senior discount card found in your wallet.

Source: Donald Trump campaign

Platinum card

The "TRUMP 2024 BALLOT DEFENDER PLATINUM LEVEL METAL LIMITED EDITION" is advertised to a "TOP SUPPORTER" who has earned Trump's "PLATINUM RATING."

That Trump's campaign sent it to anyone subscribed to his email list, including journalists, should provide adequate evidence about its exclusiveness.

Source: Donald Trump campaign

Black card

Just like the gold card and the platinum card. Except it's black.

The Trump campaign did not respond to Raw Story's several requests for comment.

Among the questions Raw Story asked Trump's team: What are the differences among these cards other than the color? Do donors receive a physical card in the mail upon making a donation or just a digital image they can print out at home? How long does it take for someone to receive a card if physical cards are offered? Is there a minimum amount one must donate to receive a card? Do the cards entitle the bearer to any benefits or perks, and if so, what?

Source: Donald Trump campaign

Life member

A "2024 Trump Life Membership" might seem like a pretty sweet deal. After all, this membership is being offered to you by a man who owns hotels and golf courses and luxury resorts.

Unfortunately, the "life membership" comes with a 100 percent guarantee that if you enter Mar-a-Lago using this as your lone credential, your visit will be brief.

Source: Donald Trump campaign

Diamond Club member

If diamonds are forever, why not just get a Trump life membership and save yourself some confusion?

Source: Donald Trump campaign

Day One member

This will signify your membership to what Trump is calling the "Trump National Committee" — a joint fundraising arrangement between Trump's presidential campaign committee and the Republican National.

The only tangible benefit? A lighter wallet.

Source: Donald Trump campaign

Advisory board member

Excited to support a self-styled "day one" dictator but aren't ready for a full-time gig?

Buy your way onto the "2024 Trump Advisory Board" and become a "trusted" adviser to the man who wants to become our nation's 47th president.

But rest assured that if you do, the person who Trump is pictured talking to on the phone will not be you.

Source: Donald Trump campaign

President's Trust member

A cool $35 will snag you this gig. No details whatsoever on what rights or responsibilities this will entail.

Source: Donald Trump campaign

Campaign Cabinet member

Most of the members of Trump's presidential Cabinet aren't too jazzed about the former president again seeking the White House.

Enter the "OFFICIAL TRUMP CAMPAIGN CABINET."

This new Cabinet "will be made up of my most ELITE, PATRIOTIC, and TRUSTED supporters that are up for the ULTIMATE challenge – providing my team and I with valuable insight and advice as we make some of the most important decisions leading up to the 2024 Presidential Election and BEYOND," Trump writes.

What's the catch? Just donate "ANY AMOUNT IMMEDIATELY," and you, too, can start channeling your inner Wilbur Ross and begin taking lots of naps. (Trump might even say you're as "dumb as a rock.")

Source: Donald Trump campaign

47 Club member

Oh, you think you're special because you're in the Official Trump Campaign Cabinet?

Turns out that folks in the "Official Trump 47 Club" also get invited to be among the "select few Patriots" who Trump will "rely on and will provide me with the insight and support to RECLAIM America."

Source: Donald Trump campaign

100 Club member

Same as the 47 Club, but with a bigger number.

Source: Donald Trump campaign

Gold Club member

For those who really love element No. 79 but need more than a card.

Source: Donald Trump campaign

Platinum member

For those who really love element No. 78 but need more than a card.

Source: Donald Trump campaign

Sustaining member

This membership requires a little extra.

"To be certain that we have a consistent stream of funds every single month, I'm asking you to become a Sustaining Member of our 2024 presidential campaign by making a monthly contribution of any amount ... even $1 or $5," Trump writes.

The membership does not appear to come with a public television-esque tote bag or John Tesh CD. (Sad!)

So what, exactly, does this particular membership, or any Trump these memberships, entitle one who is granted a membership?

Do different memberships come with different benefits, if they come with any benefit at all?

The Trump campaign did not respond to Raw Story's several requests for comment.

Source: Donald Trump campaign

Trump Donor Wall

For years now, Trump's campaign has been promising a "select" group of supporters that they would have their name etched on a "wall" in Trump's office.

Perhaps forgetting that they've run this promotion before, or perhaps hoping that supporters themselves have forgotten this fact, Trump is again promising to "build a beautiful wall at my office dedicated to a select group of donors who stepped up at this critical time."

Like another wall — say, one on the southern border — it'd be reasonable to question why the Trump Donor Wall hasn't already been built.

One thing is for certain: Mexico can't pay for the Trump Donor Wall, because foreign campaign contributions are illegal, per federal election law.

Source: Donald Trump campaign

45 ambassador

If Trump seems to be putting the "meh" in memberships, he's got something way cooler — ambassadorships!

Get ready to channel your inner Benjamin Franklin, Anthony Wayne Jerome Phillips-Spencer or Spock when you "secure your status as an Official 45 Ambassador before it's too late."

No, you will not have access to a State Department jet or even "Trump Force One."

Source: Donald Trump campaign

Golden Trump Status

So, you've already got a Trump gold card. And you're also a Trump Gold Club member.

But like Trump himself, you really, really love gold.

What's a MAGA gold digger to do?

Achieve Golden Trump Status, of course.

"Golden Trump Patriots like you WILL BE THE REASON we take back our Country from the WORST, and most CORRUPT, President in HISTORY," Trump explains in offering this opportunity.

Golden Trump Status may be achieved for the low, low pyrite-esque price of $20.24, according to a Trump campaign email.

Source: Donald Trump campaign

America First Lifetime Achievement Award for Patriotism

Americans of a certain age may remember those grifty letters your parents would receive via U.S. mail informing them that their little Johnny or Katie had been named to the Who's Who of Upper Midwestern Left-Handed 7th Graders.

Just send a check for $99 plus shipping and handling and the publisher would send back a book where your name — misspelled, of course — would appear in four-point font on page 743, printed on paper half a micron thick.

The America First Lifetime Achievement Award for Patriotism appears to work similarly.

Even though the invitation states that Donald Trump Jr., the former president's own son, has nominated you for this "MAGA Movement Honor," there's a catch.

"$35 — DONATE THIS AMOUNT TO ACCEPT" a black button with white letters informs you when you click to accept the award.

Source: Donald Trump campaign

Signed poster

One day, you're watching a football game in your wood-paneled basement rec room, and you decide the vintage, autographed posters of Bernie Kosar and Cheryl Tiegs look a bit ... dated. Time for an upgrade.

Lucky for you, a modest campaign donation will snag you a "signed poster from Donald J. Trump, the best President of all time!"

Unlucky for you, Trump's signature is simulated.

Curiously, the poster also shouts the words "NEVER SURRENDER!" across Trump's black-and-white mugshot from when Trump quite literally surrendered himself to law enforcement in Fulton County, Ga., on charges related to his alleged effort to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.

Source: Donald Trump campaign

This article first appeared on April 11, 2024, and has been updated to reflect new Trump campaign offerings.

Eleven years ago, Donald Trump delivered an uncharacteristically short and all-but-forgotten speech before a decidedly unfriendly crowd.

But Trump's extemporaneous address to professional wresting luminaries and fans during the 2013 WWE Hall of Fame ceremony in New York City — Trump himself was an inductee — is a curiosity worth momentarily revisiting, if only for what Trump prophesied about a pair of presidential debates to which he and President Joe Biden last week agreed.

Here are five notable foreshadowings:

Trump loves twins

“We had back-to-back WrestleManias, and it was really terrific. It was a terrific time," Trump said in his WWE Hall of Fame speech, referring to WrestleManias IV and V, which the then-World Wrestling Federation staged in Atlantic City, in a convention hall next to Trump's Trump Plaza hotel and casino. (Trump Plaza fell into disrepair during the 2010s and was imploded in 2021.)

Trump has an affinity for twin billings. He wasn't satisfied with one Atlantic City property, so he launched another. (And then another.)

They all failed.

Trump wasn't satisfied with one stint as president, either, so he's attempting to become the second former president — Grover Cleveland was the first — to win two non-consecutive terms.

ALSO READ: 8 ways Trump doesn’t become president

And Trump's second impeachment acquittal in two years helped embolden him to again run for president. "Our historic, patriotic and beautiful movement to Make America Great Again has only just begun," Trump said at the time.

So it's no surprise that Trump agreed to debates against Biden — one in June on CNN, the next in September on ABC. It's the same number — two — that the two men participated in during the 2020 presidential campaign.

It's all about the ratings

“To this day, it has the highest ratings, the highest pay-per-view, in the history of wrestling of any kind. I’m very honored by that. And perhaps that’s why I’m being inducted," Trump said of his "Battle of the Billionaires" proxy match with then-WWE CEO Vince McMahon at WrestleMania 23.

The match ended up with McMahon getting his head shaved — and Trump being slammed to the canvas by "Stone Cold" Steve Austin.

A spectacle it certainly was — one that allowed Trump to engage in a most cherished pastime: boasting about how he alone can make or break a televised event.

Since the first Trump-Biden 2024 debate is scheduled to air on CNN — and will not be broadcast on all national networks simultaneously as was standard practice for Commission on Presidential Debates-sanctioned debates — viewership could be massive.

And given that Trump has endlessly ragged "failing" CNN for its ratings, bet that Trump will use the first debate as proof — if there is proof to be had — that he alone has captured the imagination of America's body politic.

Expect Trump to play the heel

"Tough. Tough people. Thank you very much everybody," a smirking Trump said as the crowd booed him as he started his WWE speech.

"I really do love you people, even the ones that don’t like me so much," Trump said in conclusion, as a version of The O'Jay's hit song, "For the Love of Money," reverberated through the arena.

Writing for The Baffler, Mike Edison defined a wrestling "heel" as such: "The role of a heel is to get 'heat,' which means spurring the crowd to obstreperous hatred, and generally involves cheating and pretty much any other manner of socially unacceptable behavior that will get the job done."

ALSO READ: How Trump could run for president from jail

And to paraphrase the late wrestling legend Gorilla Monsoon: Trump resembles that remark.

Trump — ever the provocateur — will almost certainly avoid the high road en route to the June debate in Atlanta as he bills himself as Biden's physical and mental superior.

For example, a lectern nearly toppled over while Trump delivered a recent speech in Minnesota. Trump posted to social media: "As far as the podium, I actually stopped it from falling due to good reflexes and strength, two elements which Joe Biden does not possess."

Hype machine in overdrive

"Now, Vince has been trying for the last six years to break our pay-per-view record. He’s had some great people on. But it’s not going to happen. And the same enthusiasm and love that you have for me tonight — I feel it. That’s why you all came down to watch me get my ass kicked and my head shaved, but it didn’t happen," Trump bragged to the WWE Hall of Fame ceremony crowd, which again showered him with jeers.

Compare that to Trump's acceptance last week of Biden's debate challenge.

“I am Ready and Willing to Debate Crooked Joe at the two proposed times in June and September,” Trump posted on his Truth Social account.

"It’s time for a debate so that he can explain to the American People his highly destructive Open Border Policy, new and ridiculous EV Mandates, the allowance of Crushing Inflation, High Taxes, and his really WEAK Foreign Policy, which is allowing the World to 'Catch on Fire,'" Trump continued. "I am Ready and Willing to Debate Crooked Joe at the two proposed times in June and September."

Trump added: “I would strongly recommend more than two debates and, for excitement purposes, a very large venue, although Biden is supposedly afraid of crowds — That’s only because he doesn’t get them. Just tell me when, I’ll be there. 'Let’s get ready to Rumble!!!'”

Trump could yet pull out

"I will challenge Vince next year to a fight. And I will kick his ass. If he wants. I will kick his ass!" Trump bellowed in reference to McMahon.

Despite his bluster, Trump did not pursue another "battle of the billionaires" melee. Rather, Trump went into political business with McMahon's wife, Linda McMahon, who would later become a Trump megadonor and his administrator of the federal Small Business Administration.

Little of this is surprising — and speaks to how Trump's political career, like his pro wrestling dalliance, is peppered with backtracks, flip-flops and about-faces.

Consider that Trump has been a Democrat, independent and Reform Party member before becoming a Republican.

He used to donate money to A-list liberals before strictly supporting conservatives.

He first flirted with a run for president in 1988. Ahead of Election 2000, at the behest of former pro wrestler and Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura, Trump briefly sought the presidency as a Reform Party candidate, but quit. Trump flirted again with a run ahead of Election 2012 before withdrawing from consideration after "considerable deliberation and reflection." He even publicly pondered running for governor of New York in 2014, then didn't.

Meanwhile, Trump has been all over the map on issues such as abortion, Social Security, Medicare, gun background checks and a host of others.

And lest we forget, Trump nixed a scheduled debate between himself and Biden on Oct. 15, 2020. Trump simply refused to participate in what would have been a virtual event — the Commission on Presidential Debates made it such because Trump, who had contracted COVID-19 earlier that month at a time when vaccines weren't yet available, declined to say whether he had tested negative for the virus.

Trump refused to participate at all in any of the several 2024 Republican presidential primary debates.

Trump is now demanding Biden take a drug test before the first debate.

The takeaway?

Don't chisel the June 27 Biden-Trump debate in granite. There's still plenty of time for Trump to withdraw.

Golden sneakers.

Nonfungible tokens.

Jingoistic Bibles.

Much ado has been made about the baubles and bibelot a cash-strapped Donald Trump keeps peddling to MAGA-heads.

But one can wear a Trump shoe, auction a Trumpy digital asset and ponder Matthew 19:24 and 1 Timothy 6:10 while reading the Lee Greenwood version of the Good Book.

The downside for Trump? All cost money to produce.

ALSO READ: 11 ways Trump doesn’t become president

Which is perhaps why Trump is increasingly offering prospective 2024 presidential campaign donors trinkets and honorifics with effectively no discernible value at all — in exchange for a cash contribution.

Raw Story has assembled a running list, as drawn from Trump's various fundraising emails and text messages during the past many months:

Gold card

Upside: The "NEVER SURRENDER 2024 GOLD LIMITED EDITION" card sure is shiny. It's also made of "METAL."

Downside: You may be a fool if you believe that metal is really gold. You'll also get more mileage from any credit, debit, ATM or senior discount card found in your wallet.

Source: Donald Trump campaign

Platinum card

The "TRUMP 2024 BALLOT DEFENDER PLATINUM LEVEL METAL LIMITED EDITION" is advertised to a "TOP SUPPORTER" who has earned Trump's "PLATINUM RATING."

That Trump's campaign sent it to anyone subscribed to his email list, including journalists, should provide adequate evidence about its exclusiveness.

Source: Donald Trump campaign

Black card

Just like the gold card and the platinum card. Except it's black.

The Trump campaign did not respond to Raw Story's several requests for comment.

Among the questions Raw Story asked Trump's team: What are the differences among these cards other than the color? Do donors receive a physical card in the mail upon making a donation or just a digital image they can print out at home? How long does it take for someone to receive a card if physical cards are offered? Is there a minimum amount one must donate to receive a card? Do the cards entitle the bearer to any benefits or perks, and if so, what?

Source: Donald Trump campaign

Life member

A "2024 Trump Life Membership" might seem like a pretty sweet deal. After all, this membership is being offered to you by a man who owns hotels and golf courses and luxury resorts.

Unfortunately, the "life membership" comes with a 100 percent guarantee that if you enter Mar-a-Lago using this as your lone credential, your visit will be brief.

Source: Donald Trump campaign

Diamond Club member

If diamonds are forever, why not just get a Trump life membership and save yourself some confusion?

Source: Donald Trump campaign

Day One member

This will signify your membership to what Trump is calling the "Trump National Committee" — a joint fundraising arrangement between Trump's presidential campaign committee and the Republican National.

The only tangible benefit? A lighter wallet.

Source: Donald Trump campaign

Advisory board member

Excited to support a self-styled "day one" dictator but aren't ready for a full-time gig?

Buy your way onto the "2024 Trump Advisory Board" and become a "trusted" adviser to the man who wants to become our nation's 47th president.

But rest assured that if you do, the person who Trump is pictured talking to on the phone will not be you.

Source: Donald Trump campaign

President's Trust member

A cool $35 will snag you this gig. No details whatsoever on what rights or responsibilities this will entail.

Source: Donald Trump campaign

Campaign Cabinet member

Most of the members of Trump's presidential Cabinet aren't too jazzed about the former president again seeking the White House.

Enter the "OFFICIAL TRUMP CAMPAIGN CABINET."

This new Cabinet "will be made up of my most ELITE, PATRIOTIC, and TRUSTED supporters that are up for the ULTIMATE challenge – providing my team and I with valuable insight and advice as we make some of the most important decisions leading up to the 2024 Presidential Election and BEYOND," Trump writes.

What's the catch? Just donate "ANY AMOUNT IMMEDIATELY," and you, too, can start channeling your inner Wilbur Ross and begin taking lots of naps. (Trump might even say you're as "dumb as a rock.")

Source: Donald Trump campaign

47 Club member

Oh, you think you're special because you're in the Official Trump Campaign Cabinet?

Turns out that folks in the "Official Trump 47 Club" also get invited to be among the "select few Patriots" who Trump will "rely on and will provide me with the insight and support to RECLAIM America."

Source: Donald Trump campaign

100 Club member

Same as the 47 Club, but with a bigger number.

Source: Donald Trump campaign

Gold Club member

For those who really love element No. 79 but need more than a card.

Source: Donald Trump campaign

Platinum member

For those who really love element No. 78 but need more than a card.

Source: Donald Trump campaign

Sustaining member

This membership requires a little extra.

"To be certain that we have a consistent stream of funds every single month, I'm asking you to become a Sustaining Member of our 2024 presidential campaign by making a monthly contribution of any amount ... even $1 or $5," Trump writes.

The membership does not appear to come with a public television-esque tote bag or John Tesh CD. (Sad!)

So what, exactly, does this particular membership, or any Trump these memberships, entitle one who is granted a membership?

Do different memberships come with different benefits, if they come with any benefit at all?

The Trump campaign did not respond to Raw Story's several requests for comment.

Source: Donald Trump campaign

45 ambassador

If Trump seems to be putting the "meh" in memberships, he's got something way cooler — ambassadorships!

Get ready to channel your inner Benjamin Franklin, Anthony Wayne Jerome Phillips-Spencer or Spock when you "secure your status as an Official 45 Ambassador before it's too late."

No, you will not have access to a State Department jet or even "Trump Force One."

Source: Donald Trump campaign

America First Lifetime Achievement Award for Patriotism

Americans of a certain age may remember those grifty letters your parents would receive via U.S. mail informing them that their little Johnny or Katie had been named to the Who's Who of Upper Midwestern Left-Handed 7th Graders.

Just send a check for $99 plus shipping and handling and the publisher would send back a book where your name — misspelled, of course — would appear in four-point font on page 743, printed on paper half a micron thick.

The America First Lifetime Achievement Award for Patriotism appears to work similarly.

Even though the invitation states that Donald Trump Jr., the former president's own son, has nominated you for this "MAGA Movement Honor," there's a catch.

"$35 — DONATE THIS AMOUNT TO ACCEPT" a black button with white letters informs you when you click to accept the award.

Source:Donald Trump campaign

Signed poster

One day, you're watching a football game in your wood-paneled basement rec room, and you decide the vintage, autographed posters of Bernie Kosar and Cheryl Tiegs look a bit ... dated. Time for an upgrade.

Lucky for you, a modest campaign donation will snag you a "signed poster from Donald J. Trump, the best President of all time!"

Unlucky for you, Trump's signature is simulated.

Curiously, the poster also shouts the words "NEVER SURRENDER!" across Trump's black-and-white mugshot from when Trump quite literally surrendered himself to law enforcement in Fulton County, Ga., on charges related to his alleged effort to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.

Source: Donald Trump campaign

This article first appeared on April 11, 2024, and has been updated to reflect new Trump campaign offerings.

It’s hard to imagine anything wearing down the bravado of Donald Trump, but will his legal troubles play poorly in a general election, leading him to lose again in November 2024?

Or might the current Republican front runner go out a different way?

At present, Trump stands accused of 91 charges in four felony cases, testing his political death-defying ability.

So far, the primary campaign has been a display of Trump’s political impunity, with the former president having dispatched all major challengers, except for Nikki Haley, who’s running 32 points behind him in South Carolina, her home state. That’s the next primary, on Feb. 24.

“He is a tank. He is a boulder. I don't think there is literally anything that can happen to this man that would make him lose because he has such a chokehold on the Republican Party,” said Amani Wells-Onyioha, operations director at Democratic political firm Sole Strategies.

But others still consider him vulnerable to defeat — just not exactly in the way you might think.

RELATED ARTICLE: Prison president: How Donald Trump could serve from behind bars

“There's a very real possibility that he gets convicted of one of these and is looking at prison time,” said Nicholas Creel, assistant professor of business law at Georgia College and State University. “When we get to the hypothetical point of him needing to take office, we've got to figure out now, is he actually above the law. The Supreme Court will have to step in.

“There is a very, very real possibility that a Supreme Court majority — probably a five-four ruling — could say you still have to face the music, Mr. President, and if we enter political paralysis, that's because we have chosen that you would be the president in prison,” Creel continued.

Here are 11 other scenarios where Trump fails for a second straight time to get back to the White House — without losing the 2024 general election:

Trump loses the Republican primary on votes

This is highly unlikely, but not impossible.

Elaine Kamarck of the Brookings Institution, author of “Primary Politics: Everything you need to know about how America nominates its presidential candidates,” notes that even on delegate-rich Super Tuesday, March 5, only two states (Alaska and Colorado) award delegates proportionate to the vote.

The other 13 states and a territory use a different system, which favors Trump.

“The remaining states use some sort of winner take all or winner take most system,” she wrote. “For instance, in delegate rich California, if a candidate wins 50 percent of the vote, they get all the delegates. If not, the delegates are awarded proportionally. In a two-person race Trump is likely to win many delegates.”

Then what is Haley doing?

Republican presidential candidate, former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, during a campaign event at the Franklin VFW on Jan. 22, 2024, in Franklin, New Hampshire. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

“In the months before the convention Trump may be convicted of one or more crimes,” she wrote. “It’s hard to predict how his loyal base will react. So far Trump’s indictments have only made them more loyal and there’s no reason to believe that convictions would change their minds. Nonetheless a conviction would certainly play into Haley’s critique of him as the chaos candidate. And she may be thinking she’d be the last person standing.”

Or she’s laying the groundwork for a run in 2028.

Trump loses the GOP nomination in a floor fight

Republicans are saying there’s no chance of this, according to NBC News. Morton Blackwell, a member of the Republican National Committee’s convention rules committee since 1988, said convention rules can be changed but it won’t happen — “absent a cement truck coming around the corner and killing the nominee.”

But James Long, professor of political science at the University of Washington, has said Trump supporters might have to ask themselves some tough questions amid the various indictments and Trump’s increasingly erratic behavior.

“Everyone saying they’re going to support Trump is going to have to face the reality that this is going to get worse and worse for him, and they’re going to have to think about whether or not he’s a credible winner in the (general) election,” Long said. “And they’re going to have to decide if they care more about him as a person, or they care more about winning.”

A recent CNN poll, however, showed Trump ahead of President Joe Biden by four percentage points.

Trump flees the country

As George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley wrote, Trump “is one of the most recognized figures in the world. He would have to go to Mars to live incognito. It is facially absurd.”

As outlandish as it may sound, Trump could theoretically find refuge from legal threats in a country that’s not so friendly to the United States — but potentially friendly to Trump.

Think Russia. China. Saudi Arabia. Even — dare one say it — North Korea. Unlike most people in legal peril, Trump has massive amounts of money and the physical means — specifically, his own “Trump Force One” Boeing 757 — to get to a place beyond the reach of special counsel Jack Smith, Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis or the U.S. justice system, writ large.

Trump ally Tucker Carlson, it’s worth noting, was welcomed by Russia to interview President Vladimir Putin at a time when the Russian government has for months detained two American journalists — the Wall Street Journal’s Evan Gershkovich and Radio Free Europe-Radio Liberty editor Alsu Kurmasheva. News organizations and press freedom advocates have roundly condemned the detentions as unjust, with the Wall Street Journal saying that Russia has arbitrarily and wrongfully detained” Gershkovich “for doing his job as a journalist.”

And in addition to the Russias and Chinas of the world, there are dozens of other nations that don’t have extradition treaties with the United States, which makes it extremely difficult for the U.S. law enforcement officials to spirit a wanted man into custody and back to American soil.

Russian President Vladimir Putin (L) looks at then-President Donald Trump during the welcoming ceremony prior to the G20 Summit's Plenary Meeting on November 30, 2018 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. (Photo by Mikhail Svetlov/Getty Images)

Of course, such a drastic move by Trump would all but guarantee that he could never again return to the United States as a free man.

But Trump has well-established business ties in numerous foreign countries and could ostensibly live like a fugitive king in a welcoming nation.

And in October 2020, days before the election he wouldn’t win, Trump himself floated the idea of becoming an ex-pat: “Could you imagine if I lose? I’m not going to feel so good. Maybe I’ll have to leave the country, I don’t know.”

Said Wells-Onyioha: “If he doesn't want to face charges, I can see him attempting to flee. Trump genuinely feels like the rules don't apply to him, so I think that there's nothing that he won't do. I don't think he wants to face any accountability or any repercussions for any of the things that he's done thus far, so I can see him trying to flee.”

In actuality, it’s much more likely that Trump’s legal team will just try to delay the court proceedings as long as possible, John Geer, dean of the college of arts and science and professor of political science and public policy and education at Vanderbilt University, has said.

“(Trump) can tie the legal system up for a long time, so that’s what I suspect he'll end up doing,” Geer said.

ALSO READ: Bikers for Trump just hit a ditch

Last month, Trump was hit with an $83.3 million verdict by a jury that found Trump liable for defaming a woman — for a second time — about what a previous jury determined was sexual assault.

Trump faces a potentially much larger verdict for what a judge has ruled was fraud involving his business interests in New York. The judge has delayed a verdict on damages after a report that a Trump finance executive planned to plead guilty to perjury.

Trump is scheduled to go on trial March 25 in New York on charges that he falsified financial records to hide payments — prior to being elected President in 2016 — to porn performer Stormy Daniels for staying quiet about an alleged affair.

A March 4 trial date on federal election subversion charges against Trump was delayed for courts to consider Trump’s claim of presidential immunity. A federal appeals court unanimously found no such privilege. The next step is the Supreme Court, which could choose not to take the case and let the appeals court ruling stand.

The start date is uncertain for Trump’s federal trial on charges of illegally retaining classified documents after he left the White House. The judge set a trial date for May but has suggested she might move that back as Trump’s lawyers say they need more time to review “voluminous” evidence.

A Georgia election interference case against Trump is delayed by allegations that the Fulton County District Attorney had a relationship that created a conflict of interest. A hearing is scheduled Feb. 15 on Trump’s motion to dismiss the case over the relationship and alleged financial improprieties.

Trump falls gravely ill or dies of natural causes

When Americans discuss age and the presidency, it’s usually about President Joe Biden, the nation’s first octogenarian commander-in-chief who will be 82 years old on Inauguration Day 2025.

But Trump, 77, is not a young man, either.

Trump turns 78 in June. If elected president this year, Trump would become the oldest president in history at the time he took office, surpassing Biden.

The average age of death for a man who’s served as president of the United States is about 72 years old, according to Statista, and only 12 out of the 45 U.S. presidents have lived to celebrate their 80th birthday.

So while the topic itself is grim, even uncouth, the odds of Trump falling gravely ill or dying before Election Day 2024 are not insignificant.

ALSO READ: Alina Habba is persona non grata at her Pennsylvania law school

What would happen next upon either scenario would largely be a function of the point in time Trump stopped running.

Kamarck has written that state election officials are allowed to adjust filing deadlines for new candidates if the frontrunner dies or is incapacitated. For some of the states that haven’t yet conducted their nominating contests, they could also move back their primaries.

If Trump couldn’t continue after winning enough primary votes to become the presumptive 2024 presidential nominee, the nation would almost certainly gird for a brokered Republican National Convention, which is scheduled for mid-July in Milwaukee, Wis.

And if Trump officially secured the GOP nomination, but couldn’t stand for election in November 2024, a select group of Republican Party bigwigs would likely convene to choose a replacement — whether that was Trump’s vice presidential running mate, or someone else.

Trump dies from assassination

Even more grim is the specter of assassination, an ever-present specter for presidents and presidential candidates alike.

Four presidents — John F. Kennedy, William McKinley, James Garfield and Abraham Lincoln — died after being shot.

Ronald Reagan, in 1981, could have been the fifth assassinated president but for the quick reactions of law enforcement and medical personnel.

Last August, while attempting to serve a warrant, FBI agents shot and killed a Utah man who had allegedly made “credible” threats against Biden.

High-profile presidential candidates also come under threat. The most notable modern example is that of Robert F. Kennedy, who died in 1968 after being shot at a campaign event. (Kennedy’s son, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., is now running for president as an independent, and he has publicly stated that he believes his father’s convicted killer isn’t the man who committed the crime.)

Trump, like every past president and many presidential candidates, receives U.S. Secret Service protection and will ostensibly be entitled to such protection even if he’s convicted of a crime and sent to prison or home detention.

Trump agrees to quit the race before Election Day

Scott Galloway made this prediction on the popular podcast Pivot, which he hosts with journalist Kara Swisher:

Trump, Galloway said last year, "has a very nice life, and his life can be going back to golf and sycophants and having sex with porn stars. … Or he can live under the threat of prison. The [political] momentum he has is real leverage and power. And I think he’s going to cash that leverage and power in for a plea deal that includes no jail time.”

With Trump is facing state charges in Georgia and New York, he wouldn’t be able to escape by pardoning himself as president — something he could attempt to do for the federal-level charges he faces. Therefore, Trump’s calculus may change.

Creel noted Spiro Agnew’s resignation from the vice presidency in 1973 after facing the threat of jail for his corruption while governor of Maryland.

“One of the parts of the agreement was [to] resign, get out of politics forever, and we will not pursue this,” he said. “So with a more rational defendant, that would absolutely be something that's on the table. That's something Jack Smith would be bringing to Trump, but for one, we're not dealing with a particularly rational individual. Two, this scenario is significantly different in that we have state-level charges also facing him. And so because they can't really immunize him against that at the state level, the incentive to take that sort of a deal is greatly diminished.”

Wells-Onyioha said Trump maybe – maybe – would come to the realization that prison, and the potential life-long loss of his freedom, is a real and unpalatable possibility.

“I can see them coming up with some sort of like plea agreement, where in exchange for dropping out of the race, they will let him be on probation or something like that,” she said. “I can see that happening. But even so, I'm not even sure if he would take that deal.”

Trump is removed via the 25th Amendment

The Constitution’s 25th Amendment spells out the succession plan if a president dies or is removed from office, which means the vice president takes over.

If the vice president and his cabinet determine that the president is unable to discharge his duties as president — say, being in prison — Congress will have 48 hours to convene and 21 days to decide if the president is fit to hold office. It can remove him by a two-thirds vote.

“You can even see his cabinet exercising the 25th Amendment, saying, look, you're incapacitated. You're not capable because you're needing to go to prison or are in prison. You're not capable of fulfilling the oath of office, therefore, we're invoking [the] 25th Amendment and removing you from office that way, and so you would see whoever his vice president elect is [at] that point stepping up,” Creel said.

If Trump wins the 2024 election, the Supreme Court will ultimately need to decide if a sitting president is immune from state-level prosecution in Georgia and New York, and the Court might rule against his ability to serve as president.

Supreme Court 2022, Image via Fred Schilling, Collection of the Supreme Court of the United States

“Functionally this would mean Trump is the legitimate president but would still be forced to carry out a sentence in a state prison,” Creel said. “In that scenario, it’s difficult to see how he wouldn’t be either impeached and convicted or otherwise removed via the 25th Amendment due to his ‘incapacity.’”

But with a third of the Supreme Court being Trump appointees, Svante Myrick, president of People For the American Way and former mayor of Ithaca, N.Y., said he could see the Court ruling in Trump’s favor and allowing him to serve any legal consequences at a later time.

“Uncharted legal territory with stakes this high means questions like that usually get kicked up to the Supreme Court. Given that, Donald Trump appointed three members of the Supreme Court on a six-person ultra conservative majority, I think the most likely scenario is that he's allowed to stand for office, and if he wins, he could avoid or at least delay paying his debt to society,” Myrick said.

The 25th Amendment could also be used for a president’s mental competence. While Trump attacks Biden for being “cognitively impaired,” Trump is 77 years old and isn’t always sharp himself. He said last year Biden would lead the U.S. into “World War II” and, in the same speech, said he was leading former President Barack Obama in polls for the 2024 election.

Amid Trump’s continued gaffes this year, Haley has called him “confused” and has tried to use the issue to bait him into appearing with her in a debate.

Trump has the 14th Amendment applied to him

The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments Feb. 8 on whether the Constitution’s 14th Amendment and its “insurrectionist ban” makes Trump disqualified from holding office because of his actions on Jan. 6, 2021.

Colorado’s Supreme Court held in a 4-3 decision in December that the ban does apply to Trump.

Maine’s secretary of state came to the same conclusion, but a court has ordered that the issue be reconsidered after the U.S. Supreme Court decision.

Some other states rejected legal intervention on procedural grounds.

The 14th Amendment, in part, bans anyone who “engaged in insurrection” against the United States from holding any civil, military or elected office without the approval of two-thirds of the House and Senate.

“Donald Trump cannot be president — cannot run for president, cannot become president, cannot hold office — unless two-thirds of Congress decides to grant him amnesty for his conduct on Jan. 6,” William Baude, a professor of law at the University of Chicago, has said.

The 14th Amendment originally intended to prevent Confederate officials from gaining power after the Civil War, but how the disqualification clause would be applied is unclear to legal experts, especially since it’s never been used in the case of a president before, FindLaw, a Reuters company, reported.

Trump is impeached for a third time, then convicted and disqualified from serving as president

If the Supreme Court does say “nobody's above the law, and that includes the president” and lets the criminal justice system do its work, Creel said, Trump could still be disqualified from the presidency via the political system.

“We have a blueprint for how to do that. Impeachment. Conviction. Removal. That's how you could do it, and so you can see him taking office and having that avenue, where he's president for a day and then they just kind of have this perfunctory removal,” Creel said.

Trump was twice impeached while in office, but was acquitted on all counts by the Senate in both cases.

Then-President Donald Trump holds a copy of The Washington Post as he speaks in the East Room of the White House one day after the U.S. Senate acquitted on two articles of impeachment, ion February 6, 2020 in Washington. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

Congress could technically impeach Trump now with the goal of simply disqualifying him from running for elected office. Recall that Trump’s second impeachment trial took place several weeks after he left the White House.

But with Republicans currently controlling the House, where any impeachment proceeding would begin, such a scenario is exceedingly remote.

Trump accepts pardon promise with the understanding that he’ll quit the race

An exotic and unlikely scenario is Biden pardoning Trump with the understanding that Trump will quit the presidential race.

Biden, who has recently stepped up his criticism of Trump, has never spoken of such an idea.

A most imperfect historical parallel would be President Gerald Ford’s pardoning of President Richard Nixon after Nixon resigned amid the Watergate scandal. But there’s no evidence Ford’s pardon involved either an overt or secret quid pro quo, according to the National Constitution Center, and came only after Nixon had officially stepped down.

Also: Could Trump serve as president while set to serve time?

In short: yes.

There’s precedent that presidents don’t have full legal immunity — look at the 1997 Supreme Court ruling in Clinton v. Jones, Creel says — but Trump could be still allowed to serve any prison time post-presidency if convicted and sentenced for any of the 91 charges.

That would require the Supreme Court ruling that Trump couldn’t have his presidential duties interfered with by state level charges.

“We have to just set them aside to the point where he could realistically, in that scenario if that's what the Supreme Court says, be told January 20, at 12:01 p.m., 2028, report for incarceration in the state of Georgia,” Creel said. “That's an actual realistic possibility that could go his way.”

WASHINGTON — Arguably the most bipartisan – nonpartisan, really – committee in the Senate is also, arguably, the biggest laughing stock on Capitol Hill.

And matters just got worse: The secretive U.S. Senate Select Committee on Ethics has extended one of the most ignoble streaks on Capitol Hill.

For at least 17 years and running, the Senate Ethics Committee — tasked with confidentially investigating allegations of misconduct by the chamber’s austere members and staffers — has failed to formally punish anyone at all, a Raw Story analysis of congressional records indicates.

That amounts to 1,668 complaints alleging violations of Senate rules with exactly zero resulting in disciplinary action.

In 2023 alone, the Senate Ethics Committee on Wednesday disclosed accepting 145 separate reports of alleged ethics violations. Of them, 19 merited preliminary inquiries by committee staff. Of those, the committee dismissed 12 for “a lack of substantial merit” or because they deemed a violation to be “inadvertent, technical or otherwise of a de minimis nature.”

None resulted in a “disciplinary sanction.”

And senators seem to know it.

“Maybe it's the equivalent of a warning ticket when you're speeding, like the police,” Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) – the former number two Republican, or whip, in the Senate – told Raw Story through a laugh this week.

The senators who make up the secretive six-member ethics panel will neither confirm nor deny their work.

“We don’t – I don’t discuss that,” Sen. Deb Fischer (R-NE) told Raw Story.

Fischer’s far from alone, with Senate Ethics Committee Chairman Chris Coons (D-DE) previously declining to comment to Raw Story about the committee’s work.

Senate ethics vs. House ethics

While members of the Senate Ethics Committee refuse to discuss their work — and lack thereof — some members of the House Ethics Committee are aghast at what their senatorial counterparts aren’t doing.

"What's the point of having ethics rules if there's no teeth?" Rep. Veronica Escobar (D-TX) – a member of the House Ethics Committee – told Raw Story.

“Without accountability, we're not going to have compliance,” Escobar said. “If you expect people to abide by ethics rules, there has to be trust in the process and trust that the outcome is fair. But if there's no outcome, then there’s no faith in the system and people will operate with impunity, because there’s no consequences.”

Historically, at least, it would be laughable to look to the House Ethics Committee as a beacon of efficiency — or anything. But in recent months, the committee has changed.

Case in point: Now former-Rep. George Santos (R-NY), who allegedly lied himself both into and out of office.

George Santos yelling at reporters (C-SPAN).

Before Santos was expelled in December, he survived expulsion votes in May and then November.

But some two weeks later, on November 16, the House Ethics Committee spoke in one loud and bipartisan voice when they dropped their damning 55-page report that pulled the veil back on the web of lies, greed and corruption they alleged surrounds Santos most anywhere he goes.

The committee interviewed 40 witnesses — after issuing 37 convincing congressional subpoenas — while also thumbing through upwards of 170,000 pages of records, as new nonprofit newsroom NOTUS pointed out in its helpful historical primer on Senate ethics inaction, which built on a 2023 Raw Story investigation.

By the time the House took up its third Santos expulsion measure on Dec. 1, 2023, the tides had turned even in the full House of Representatives, where Republicans were holding on to a razor thin 222-213 seat majority. While all five GOP leaders in the House voted against expulsion, rank-and-file Republicans voted to oust their camera-loving colleague.

ALSO READ: We asked 15 U.S. senators: Blood on Big Tech’s hands or on your hands?

“That was a tough vote for them given the margins that were so small,” Rep. Glenn Ivey (D-MD) – another member of the House Ethics Committee – told Raw Story. “Democrats too, because, I think, there were two votes before but he wasn’t expelled. When the report came out, I think, people were able to look at the body of evidence,”

In the end, based on the ethics report, 73% of the House voted to expel only the sixth member in the storied history of the rowdy chamber.

"At the end of the day, to me, what it did was, it allowed for due process," Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY) told Raw Story. “It allowed for due process for him, but it gave us the ability to move ahead with the expulsion.”

Lawler and other New York Republicans led earlier efforts to oust Santos — in part because his constituent’s were calling their offices for assistance — and he says the Ethics Committee report was the gamechanger.

“A lot of people felt that they had enough due process and information,” Lawler said.

The nation’s founders wanted the two separate branches of the legislative branch to police themselves. That’s about it. In the Constitution, the details of said policing were left to be written by future generations of lawmakers themselves.

"Each House [of Congress] may determine the Rules of its proceedings, punish its members for disorderly behavior, and, with the concurrence of two-thirds, expel a member," according to the Article I, section 5 of the Constitution.

Historic Senate inaction

The House and the Senate are different. And that extends to ethics, too.

In its 235-year history, the U.S. Senate has expelled 15 members. The first came in 1797 — less than a decade since the chamber’s inception — when Sen. William Blount (R-TN), a founding father who signed the original Constitution before being expelled by a vote of 25 to 1 for committing treason.

The other 14 expulsions came in 1861 and ‘62 when roughly 20 percent of senators were expelled after they joined the Confederate rebellion against the United States of America.

But during the ensuing 162 years, the so-called “ world’s greatest deliberative body” has, when it comes to ethical matters, done a lot of … deliberating.

U.S. senators have been caught running fraudulent campaigns, receiving kicks back for leasing out federal government property, embezzling money (before being laid to rest in the Congressional Cemetery), charging U.S. citizens to perform their senatorial duties and taking bribes in exchange for war contracts. Senators have been nabbed in FBI stings before being sent to prison.

All of those cases of historic corruption came before the Senate Ethics Committee. Some of those inquiries seem to have scared some senators into resigning early, but not one elicited an expulsion vote. Most senators emerged from these and other tribulations without even receiving a formal punishment.

While Santos was the gadfly of the House, there’s still a senior senator buzzing about that even some members of his own party say should be expelled.

In September, responding to numerous requests for information about freshly indicted Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ), the Senate Ethics Committee released a rare statement.

In essence: The Senate Ethics Committee said it wasn’t going to say anything, and that it would let criminal investigators take the lead.

ALSO READ: Sen. Josh Hawley is praying for your money

“[T]he Senate Select Committee on Ethics does not comment on matters pending before the Committee or matters that may come before the Committee. Also, absent special circumstances, it has been the long-standing policy of the Committee to yield investigation into matters where there is an active and ongoing criminal investigation or proceeding so as not to interfere in that process.”

The closest the Senate Committee on Ethics got to formally reprimanding one of its own during 2023 came on March 23, when it issued a “ public letter of admonition” to Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) for soliciting campaign contributions in a federal building.

Specifically, Graham in November 2022 asked the public, via Fox News, to contribute money to the U.S. Senate campaign of Republican Herschel Walker, who ended up losing his midterm race to incumbent Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock.

In admonishing Graham, the Senate Committee on Ethics noted that Graham had previously violated the prohibition on soliciting campaign donations in federal buildings when he raised money for his own campaign in 2020.

But for all that, Graham’s letter isn’t much more than ink, paper and embarrassment.

Such letters “shall not be considered discipline,” according to the Senate Committee on Ethics’ Rules of Procedure, and they fall well short of actual acts of internal discipline such as censure, denouncement, condemnation, restitution payments or — in the most extreme of cases — expulsion.

The last time the U.S. Senate formally disciplined a senator?

That came on July 25, 1990, when the Senate voted 96-0 to denounce Sen. Dave Durenberger (R-MN) for “unethical conduct in personal business dealings, Senate reimbursements and using campaign contributions for personal use.”

“I commend the members of the Ethics Committee for their commitment and their dedication to the most difficult task in this place,” Durenberger told his colleagues from the Senate floor following the vote.

Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA), currently the Senate’s youngest member, was three years old at the time.

‘Different set of rules’

Senators maintain the two chamber’s ethical standards are on different planes. They say it’s like comparing apples to, well, the House of Representatives.

For starters, the House doesn’t allow outside parties to initiate ethics complaints, while the Senate does, argues Cornyn of Texas.

“So just a different set of rules,” Cornyn said.

Cornyn loves throwing the book at the deserving, he maintains. Before coming to Congress, he served as an associate justice of the Texas Supreme Court. He also served as the Lone Star State’s attorney general under then-Govs. George W. Bush and Rick Perry.

The Senate Ethics Committee isn’t just about crime — of which there’s been a lot of on Capitol Hill — it also acts as a guide to senators, Cornyn said.

“To keep us ethical, hopefully,” Cornyn said. “Hopefully to provide guidance, so that people don't get in trouble in the first place. That's, I think, one of the roles.”

Raw Story asked Cornyn what its like serving with Menendez, noting that the allegations against him — fraud, conspiracy to commit bribery, conspiracy to commit extortion — are quite serious.

“I’m a believer that there's a presumption of innocence until proven guilty, so we'll wait and see how that process plays out,” Cornyn said. “I'm sure it's a miserable experience.”

Misery loves company. And, unlike Santos, who’s busy photobombing Trump victory parties, Menendez remains in office and has lots of Senate colleagues keeping him relatively warm these days.

A “2024 Official Calendar” published by Donald Trump Jr. comes replete with “Incredible photographs from President Donald J. Trump's time in the White House.”

Trump-y historical facts accompany many of the dates.

You’ll learn, for example, that Trump signed Executive Order 13767 on Jan. 25, 2017 — “beginning construction of the Southern Border Wall.”

You’ll be reminded that Trump nominated Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court on Jan. 31, 2017.

But one date on the Trump calendar — available for $14.99 plus $4 shipping — is conspicuously missing any such detail.

January 6.

That calendar square sits blank, according to a sample page reviewed by Raw Story. Trump himself, as his supporters rampaged through the U.S. Capitol on that date in 2021, urged them on Twitter to “remember this day forever.”

Historic by any measure, the date Jan. 6 now lives in national infamy alongside Dec. 7 — the bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941 — and Sept. 11.

ALSO READ: Five unresolved questions surrounding the Jan. 6 attack

On Jan. 6, 2021, Trump conducted a campaign-style rally immediately south of the White House and whipped tens of thousands of his supporters into a frenzy. Thousands immediately left the rally and marched on the U.S. Capitol, where they broke through police lines and attempted to stop Congress from certifying the 2020 presidential electoral vote, which now-President Joe Biden won.

Five people died and dozens were injured. More than 1,200 people have been charged with crimes associated with the attack.

And Trump enters the 2024 presidential election year as the hands-down favorite to win the Republican Party’s presidential nomination — all while facing 91 felony charges across four criminal cases, including conspiracy to defraud the United States and conspiracy to commit election fraud, among other alleged crimes related to his effort to overturn the last election.

The calendar’s sanitation of Jan. 6 history is the handiwork of Winning Team Publishing — co-founded by Donald Trump Jr.

A sales page for Winning Team Publishing, co-founded by Donald Trump Jr., which offers a Donald Trump-themed "official calendar" for $14.99 plus shipping. The calendar does not include historical details about January 6, unlike what it offers for other dates. Source: Winning Team Publishing

Describing itself as “the nation’s premier conservative publishing house,” Winning Team Publishing serves as an unofficial campaign merch store of sorts for the true Trump fan, with offerings that include the coffee-table books Letters to Trump and Our Journey Together, along with Don Jr.’s book Liberal Privilege and an “iconic and limited edition Trump hat.”

Don Jr., the president’s eldest son, is also executive vice president of the Trump Organization, which is in the midst of a New York civil fraud trial that could result in a penalty of up to $250 million.

Trump’s own presidential campaign, meanwhile, also has a new calendar.

For a donation of $47, the Trump campaign is offering supporters its own “official” Trump calendar.

A campaign email peddling the campaign calendar email combines Trump’s marketing genius with his business organization’s dubious accounting practices by promising that “any patriot who contributes $47” will receive the calendar for “free!”

Donald Trump's presidential campaign is also selling a calendar — this one is available to people who make a $47 campaign donation. Source: DonaldTrump.com

Sample images of the campaign calendar provided within the email show blank date squares, with no commentary for any date. It’s unclear whether the actual calendar provides commentary for holidays, Trump milestones or, for that matter, Jan. 6, 2024 — the third anniversary of the Capitol attack.