Yes, Donald Trump is a guilty man

Written by: Aarthi Ramnath, Raghav Bikhchandani & Yash Budhwar

The Clueless Founder: Are You A Founder?

Welcome to the second episode of The Clueless Founder. The show made for folks who are just starting out on the wild, wild journey of being a founder. Think of it as a no-BS, real life guide to the nitty gritty of the startup life! We’re here to break it down one episode at a time.

In the previous episode, Lakshmi Chaudhry (splainer Founder) and Chitra Raghavan (Partner, Rajaram Legal) discussed the startup equivalent of the shaadi prenup: the Founder’s Agreement. In this instalment, Lakshmi’s talking to Neha Bagaria. She founded her first startup as a senior at Wharton—and is now on her third venture HerKey—which recently raised $4 million for an exciting, innovative platform for working women. Neha helps us cut through all the startup hype to unpack the biggest question each of us has to face: Should I even be a founder?

Yes, Donald Trump is a guilty man

The context: Donald Trump’s failed effort to overturn his 2020 election defeat included a variety of sins: trying to block the certification of the results, bullying election officials to change the numbers, egging on the January 6 attackers etc. The Justice Department launched an investigation—to assess whether there was sufficient evidence to prosecute Trump for election interference—with Jack Smith as special counsel.

What happened next: In August 2023, Trump was indicted on four counts of fraud and obstruction. But when Trump won in November, Smith dropped the case because the US Constitution bans the prosecution of sitting presidents.

What happened now: On Tuesday, Smith’s team released a full report of their investigation—which contained a bombshell revelation: If Trump had not won the election, he would have been 100% convicted for his crimes. There is enough evidence that he engaged in an “unprecedented criminal effort” to overturn the results—but he got lucky with that presidential free pass.

Point to note: Trump did his legal best to block the release of the report before his inauguration. He has now settled for claiming he is “totally innocent” and calling Smith a “lamebrain prosecutor who was unable to get his case tried before the Election.”

What also caught our eye: Smith says the investigation faced a “significant challenge” because of Trump supporters—who threatened Justice Department officials, witnesses—and even judges. One example:

The day after his arraignment, Trump posted on social media: "IF YOU GO AFTER ME, I'M COMING AFTER YOU!" The next day, one of his supporters called U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan’s chambers and called her a racial epithet. “If Trump doesn’t get elected in 2024, we are coming to kill you, so tread lightly,” the caller said. “You will be targeted personally, publicly, your family, all of it.”

Does this matter? Not for the next four years, at least. After that, it will turn into a fight over legal interpretation:

Trump’s lawyers would likely argue the statute of limitations had run out on the charges by the time he leaves office, as his alleged federal offenses are subject to a five-year statute of limitations following the end of the conduct that Trump was charged with—which would expire in early 2026 for the election case and 2027 for the documents case. Prosecutors could argue the statute of limitations was paused for the duration of Trump’s presidency, though it remains to be seen if the courts would agree.

Forbes has more on that angle. Axios has the main takeaways—and The Guardian has the big picture. For the most details, check out USA Today.

New dam endangers tigers in Ranthambhore

The context: The Rajasthan Canal Project—the actual name is as long as its acronym, PKC-ERCP—will divert water from the Chambal river in Madhya Pradesh to 23 districts in Rajasthan—for irrigation and drinking purposes. It is expected to benefit 34.5 million people.

First proposed in 2017 by then BJP CM Vasundhra Raje, the project has been delayed for years while the water crisis escalated in the state. As of 2023, residents of Alwar district got “just 5-10 minutes of water on alternate days, whether it is summer or winter”. With the BJP back in power—in both Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh—the Rs 46,300 crore (Rs 463 billion) project is now back on track.

What happened now: An Indian Express investigation of the project shows that it involves submerging 227 sq km of forest area—to create the reservoir for a new dam. This includes 37.03 sq km of the Ranthambhore national park and Keladevi wildlife sanctuary—which are both part of the Ranthambhore tiger reserve—home to 57 tigers.

What’s the problem? The canal route cuts the tiger reserve into two—as you can see in the map below:

Conservationists say the divide will obstruct the movement of tigers and other animals—and will affect the reserve’s ‘carrying capacity’—i.e. ability to support wildlife. Tiger Watch activists say at least tiger zones and national reserves should be kept as “no go zones” for development.

The damning bit: In January 2019, the government-appointed expert panel recommended that “a suitable area may be identified adjacent to the wildlife sanctuaries so that the core area of the wildlife sanctuary is kept intact.” In other words, preserving the land was entirely possible.

But, but, but: The government now only wants to talk “compensation”—as in, finding land elsewhere:

All care will be taken to minimise impact on the tiger reserve. If submergence is unavoidable, double or triple the amount of forest land will be integrated like it has been done (for the Panna tiger reserve) in the Ken-Betwa project.

Conservationists strongly disagree: “[W]e must ask if we even try to avoid high-value forests while designing dams. Ranthambhore is not just any land. We should think of compensation only when the loss is unavoidable.”

Reading list: Surprisingly, there is only a single report on this important story—in Indian Express—which is paywalled. We also recommend reading The Wire on the Ken-Betwa River Linking Project—which will result in widespread deforestation within the Panna National Park and Tiger Reserve.

RedNote rising: The TikTok heir apparent?

The context: On January 19, a new law will require TikTok’s owner—ByteDance—to sell the US arm of the platform or face a nationwide ban. The justification: TikTok is required by Chinese law to give Beijing access to its user data—which includes 170 million American users. TikTok has challenged the law as a First Amendment violation, but the Supreme Court seems likely to uphold the law.

What happened now: Those American users are fleeing TikTok in droves… to another Chinese app—called REDNote. It is now #1 on the US Apple App Store—despite the fact that it is dominated by Chinese users and posts in Mandarin. But hey, who can resist an app that’s all about “all about eating, drinking and being merry.” FYI: All financial and political content is banned—along with lots of other stuff—since the same app is used in China. It currently has 300 million monthly active users and a valuation of $17 billion. This is what it looks like:

Btw: The app is called Xiaohongshu in Chinese, literally meaning “little red book”—the Maoist bible. Haw!

As for TikTok: According to the Wall Street Journal, Chinese officials are considering allowing a “trusted non-Chinese party such as Elon Musk to invest in or take control of TikTok’s US operations.” Eeks. But, but, but: TikTok has labelled reports of a potential sale to Musk as “pure fiction.” FYI: Trump says he wants to let TikTok remain in the country—despite doing his best to ban it in his first term. In other words, TikTok reel abhi baaki hai.

The bigger picture: In the end, TikTok will likely survive in some form or the other. Maybe RedNOTE will create a US version—raising the possibility of two Chinese-origin apps lol! As one China analyst notes: “We’ve probably spent too much energy worrying about the single app. Once you have the capacity to build those algorithms and those apps, it doesn’t take very long to create a TikTok or something different.” Washington Post (login required) has everything you need to know about REDNote. For shorter and free versions, you can read CNN and TechCrunch.

what caught our eye

business & tech

Mastodon will soon be fully owned by a European nonprofit to ensure total decentralization and zero founder control.
Meta plans to offer Community Notes after junking fact-checking on its platforms. These screenshots show how it will work on Threads.
Meta will also axe 3,600 “low-performing” employees—to kick off a "year of efficiency.” Yes, Zuck is on a roll!

sports & entertainment

Oscar nominations have been postponed to January 23 due to LA fires, but the ceremony is still set for March 2. The Grammys will still take place on February 2, and its telecast will be dedicated to raising funds for wildfire relief.
The Weeknd also delayed his album release and cancelled a LA show due to wildfires.
Vulture offers a detailed investigation of the allegations of sexual assault against author Neil Gaiman. Content warning: It contains testimonies of sexual violence which can be very hard to read.

as for the rest

Hany Babu and Surendra Gadling pen an important piece on the prolonged detention of people facing trial—without bail—from personal experience.
Heavy selling by foreign investors has wiped out nearly Rs 60 trillion in the Indian stock market—over the last three and a half months. Foreign investors have withdrawn a net Rs 1.85 trillion since October.
Delhi Police filed an FIR against AAP for allegedly posting AI-generated images of PM Modi and Amit Shah on its official X handle.
Hundreds of Afghans who fled during the 2021 US withdrawal remain stranded in prison-like facilities in third countries—perhaps forever.
UK Financial Services Minister Tulip Siddiq has resigned amid scrutiny over her financial ties to her aunt, former Bangladeshi PM Sheikh Hasina.
South Korea's transport ministry is overhauling runway safety at seven airports following the deadly Jeju Air crash.
Laurene Powell Jobs aka Kamla became unwell at the Maha Kumbh due to the insane crowds, but has not lost faith, so to speak.
According to The Conversation, the integrity of survey research is threatened by the rise of “impostor participants.”

Four things to see

One: Casey Colvin’s LA home was destroyed in the wildfires. Worse, he wasn’t home to rescue his two dogs Tika Tika Tika and Oreo. While a firefighter found Tika Tika, Orea ran away—happily to be reunited days later. Yes, it’s a gratuitous feel-good story in the midst of a national calamity. (NBC Los Angeles)

Two: Daniil Medvedev was at it again during his five-set win in the 2025 Australian Open—which also involved smashing a camera with his racket. To add to the drama, he also rudely trolled his opponent’s performance in a post-match interview, saying, "If he plays like this every match, his life can be good — money, girls, casino, whatever." (CNN)

Three: Like Jesus, cricket frogs can walk on water but scientists have now discovered just how they do it. Instead of bouncing like a skipped stone, they move across the water in a series of belly flops—a technique called “porpoising” that looks hilarious! See the slo-mo below. (IFL Science)

Four: Check out the trailer for ‘Mahavatar Narsimha’—an animated movie on the half-man half-lion Vishnu avatar—backed by the studios behind ‘KGF’ and ‘Kantara’. It is slated to hit theatres on April 3. (The Hindu)