NOTE: This piece first appeared on NYNewsPress.com.
By Dick LaFonatine with Richard Luthmann and Michael Volpe
Trump Legacy Sparks Treason Talk and Rushmore Dreams
The latest episode of The Unknown Podcast erupted into debate as co-hosts Richard Luthmann and Michael Volpe, two investigative journalists, clashed over Donald Trump’s legacy.
They first tackled explosive new claims from former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, who alleges the Obama administration “conspired to subvert the will of the people… undermining the legitimacy of President Trump, essentially enacting a years-long coup” by fabricating intelligence about Russian election interference.
Volpe noted that some Republicans are now “hopping mad” and even fringe influencers like “Catturd” think “President Obama should be tried for treason” over this purported intel plot. Luthmann agreed such sabotage would be “treasonous” if true.
The conversation then shifted to Trump’s accomplishments. Luthmann lavished praise on Trump’s trade deals and economic policies, insisting “Donald Trump gets an A plus in everything… with the trade policy”, and crowing that skeptics – the “pinhead idiotic” economists who warned tariffs would backfire – were proven wrong as “it hasn’t happened. It’s only helped… America’s now respected again. These deals are great deals.”
He even implied Trump’s rise was destiny: “God did not send Donald Trump to Save America” by accident, Luthmann declared.
Volpe pushed back on the reverence. He gave Trump only a “B plus” on trade and warned of blowback, pointing to sky-high federal debt and savvy allies finding ways around U.S. tariffs.
“We got a $37 trillion debt… he’s not that much of a genius,” Volpe quipped, suggesting Canada and Mexico “are gonna bypass the US on trade” to skirt Trump’s terms.
The legacy debate hit a crescendo in a spat over Mount Rushmore. Luthmann argued that Trump deserves to be carved into America’s most famous mountain.
“We add him right next to Lincoln… I think he belongs there,” he said, calling Trump “one of the most pivotal, greatest presidents we’ve ever had.”
Volpe balked, calling the idea absurd: “You wanna put Trump on Rushmore?… Why should Trump be number five?” he shot back incredulously.
The two hosts laughed but remained divided – a microcosm of the firestorm over Trump’s place in history.
Luthmann vs. McMahon: Claims of a DA’s “Political Payback”
Co-host Richard Luthmann also turned the spotlight on his own legal battle, accusing Staten Island District Attorney Michael McMahon of waging a personal vendetta against him. Luthmann – who faces possible jail time in a case involving McMahon – alleges the Democratic DA has been trying to silence him with bogus charges and backroom judicial tricks.
Volpe summarized the bizarre recent twist: McMahon filed a police complaint after “receiving one of [Luthmann’s] emails from [his] Substack that he [McMahon] signed up for.”
Incredibly, McMahon claimed that Luthmann’s routine newsletter was a “heinous crime,” even saying he feared bodily harm from the emailed commentary.
Luthmann laughed off the charge as absurd – and potentially perjurious. McMahon swore in his complaint that he didn’t know Luthmann, yet Luthmann points out that the DA somehow already had a judge issue a protective order against him from a prior run-in. That prior incident, Luthmann says, reveals the roots of McMahon’s payback.
In 2015, Luthmann publicly opposed McMahon’s run for DA, calling him unqualified – a “political hack” with “no business being the DA.”
At the time, McMahon’s wife, Judy, was a Staten Island judge. Luthmann raised alarms about the conflict of interest in having a DA and a top judge in the same bed. He claims the power couple would coordinate cases “in the same bedroom during pillow talk” – deciding “who’s gonna be charged” and “who the judge is gonna be, what the sentence is gonna be” over breakfast.
After Luthmann blew the whistle, the state court reassigned Judy McMahon and barred her from criminal cases.
But Luthmann believes he paid a price. He says McMahon engineered his legal troubles in retaliation, from a 2017 federal fraud indictment to a 2018 state case, as punishment for challenging the DA.
“The 2017 indictment… was political payback by McMahon,” Luthmann contended, calling it “weaponization… a dress rehearsal for Donald Trump in New York City.”
He alleges the same New York playbook of lawfare used against him was later deployed by partisan prosecutors against Trump. Now Luthmann is urging accountability.
He argues McMahon is “low-hanging fruit” for a future Justice Department probe into weaponized prosecutions, predicting that if feds take down McMahon, “the rats will be running” and even Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg would be next to face exposure.
It’s a dramatic claim – essentially that Luthmann’s personal war with a borough DA foreshadowed the national battle over politicized justice.
Volpe treated some of Luthmann’s assertions with skepticism on-air, but the ex-lawyer’s fury was unmistakable.
For Luthmann, his fight in Staten Island is about corruption, retaliation, and “justice” – and he’s not backing down, even as he jokes that this could be his last podcast “before [he] goes to the slammer.”
Farewell to Legends: Sandberg, Hogan, and Madsen
After the political fireworks, the podcast took a somber turn as the hosts mourned a spate of high-profile deaths. Michael Volpe led a heartfelt tribute to Chicago Cubs icon Ryne “Ryno” Sandberg – his first sports hero – who passed away this week at 65 after a battle with cancer. Luthmann, a fellow sports buff, was stunned by Sandberg’s relapse.
“I felt bad about Ryno… we thought he was in remission… then we found out it was back… It’s just sad,” he said of the Hall of Fame second baseman’s final fight.
Volpe noted Sandberg’s unique stature in baseball lore: “He has universal respect, and he earned it based on the way he played,” Volpe said, praising Sandberg as a clean player who “played the game the right way” in an era marred by cheaters.
The hosts next remembered Hollywood tough-guy Michael Madsen, 66, famed for his role in Reservoir Dogs. Volpe marveled that “the only thing [people] talk about” in tributes is “that one scene where he cuts the guy’s ear off” – a nod to Madsen’s notorious turn as “Mr. Blonde” – even though the actor had a long career in films like Donnie Brasco.
Luthmann and Volpe agreed that Madsen brought an irreplaceable gritty charisma to the screen.
But the celebrity death that hit Luthmann hardest was pro wrestling legend Hulk Hogan, who died at 71. As a child of the 1980s, Luthmann grew up idolizing the Hulkster – and even tied Hogan’s legacy to politics.
“Hogan was MAGA before Trump was MAGA,” he declared, claiming the wrestler’s surprise appearance on the 2016 campaign trail was one of the “big reasons… that flipped the election for Trump”, by reviving memories of an era “when America was respected and feared.”
In Luthmann’s eyes, Hulk Hogan wasn’t just a larger-than-life showman – he was a patriotic symbol of American might.
“We really lost a Great American,” he said solemnly of Hogan’s passing.
Volpe acknowledged the cultural impact of the Rocky III star and former WWE champion, but didn’t resist poking holes in the hero worship. Hogan “got really big” (thanks to steroids) and had well-known personal scandals, Volpe pointed out, remarking that “he’s remembered with rose-colored glasses” by fans.
Still, both hosts agreed that the wave of losses marked the end of an era. In addition to Sandberg, Hogan, and Madsen, they noted rock icon Ozzy Osbourne and jazz great Chuck Mangione also passed away in recent days – a gut-punch for music and sports fans alike. It was an unusually heavy current-events segment, but Luthmann and Volpe brought their signature mix of candor and passion to each tribute.
The frenetic episode managed to capture a bit of everything – partisan fireworks, personal crusades, and heartfelt goodbyes – proving that The Unknown Podcast lives up to its name by always keeping listeners guessing and glued to the discussion.
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