378. Asha Rangappa. “SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR, punishable by DEATH!”- Trump to Dems. What Orders Might be Illegal? Venezuela Boat Strikes and the AUMF. Comey, Epstein and the Courts. “We’re Already in a Constitutional Crisis.” College Tours and Love Is Blind.

Independent Americans with Paul Rieckhoff

Righteous Media | Bleav

Daily News, Veteran, News, Politics, News Commentary, National Security

4.6 • 907 Ratings

🗓️ 20 November 2025

⏱️ 38 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

In a week where political rhetoric reaches new levels of danger and America’s legal system braces for impact, Independent Americans host Paul Rieckhoff (@PaulRieckhoff) sits down with the show’s resident legal heavyweight Asha Rangappa (FBI veteran, Yale professor, Substack baller) for an unfiltered, expert breakdown of the legal issues and headlines setting America aflame. Asha returns to help us parse Trump’s escalating and dangerous “seditious” threats to Democrat lawmakers who posted a video to the troops, the legality of US military interventions (like controversial drug boat strikes), and how lawmakers’ messaging to servicemembers and ongoing military operations could spark unprecedented legal and political crises. And, bringing insight and humor, Asha shares personal stories of navigating American colleges as both parent and professor, her unique role in interpreting military law, and why she loves the TV show “Love is Blind.” Because every episode of Independent Americans with Paul Rieckhoff breaks down the most important news stories--and offers light to contrast the heat of other politics and news shows. It’s independent content for independent Americans. In these trying times especially, Independent Americans is your trusted place for independent news, politics, inspiration and hope. The podcast that helps you stay ahead of the curve--and stay vigilant. -Watch Asha’s previous appearances: Episode 225 on June 1, 2023 • Episode 267 on Feb, 15 2024 • Episode 319 on Feb 6 2025. -WATCH video of this episode on YouTube now. -Read the Secretary of the Army Dan Driscoll’s statement on suicide in the military. If you need help, don’t be afraid to ask. Resources are available. Call or text 988 for immediate access to the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, available nationwide, 24/7, for mental health, suicidal thoughts, or substance use issues. -Listen/watch Asha’s podcast It’s Complicated and check out her Freedom Academy on Substack and follow her on social media. -Learn more about Paul’s work to elect a new generation of independent leaders with Independent Veterans of America. -Join the movement. Hook into our exclusive Patreon community of Independent Americans. Get extra content, connect with guests, meet other Independent Americans, attend events, get merch discounts, and support this show that speaks truth to power. -Check the hashtag #LookForTheHelpers. And share yours. -Find us on social media or www.IndependentAmericans.us. -And get cool IA and Righteous hats, t-shirts and other merch now in time for the holidays. -Check out other Righteous podcasts like The Firefighters Podcast with Rob Serra, Uncle Montel - The OG of Weed and B Dorm. Independent Americans is powered by veteran-owned and led Righteous Media. Ways to Listen: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0F1lzdRbTB0XYen8kyEqXe Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/independent-americans-with-paul-rieckhoff/id1457899667 Amazon Podcasts: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/49a684c3-68e1-4a85-8d93-d95027a8ec64/independent-americans-with-paul-rieckhoff Ways to watch: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@independentamericans Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/IndependentAmericansUS/ Social Channels: X/Twitter: https://x.com/indy_americans BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/indyamericans.bsky.social Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/IndependentAmericansUS/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:30.1	Powered by righteous media. Welcome to Independent America. Welcome to Episode 378. I'm your host, Paul Reichoff. It is Thursday, November 20th. Yes, it's only Thursday.
0:58.9	And I'm coming to you live from New York City, USA. Our guest today is a returning champion,
1:04.3	our resident legal expert and one of the smartest voices anywhere. Asha Rangapha coming up in just a minute.
1:10.2	We're going to talk Epstein. We're
1:11.5	going to talk the legality of U.S. strikes on alleged drug votes. We're going to talk about
1:16.3	parenting in chaotic times and Trump's true social posts, which just happened in the last few
1:21.7	hours, which are bonkers, which I'll get to in a second. But before that awesomeness,
1:25.7	the news just keeps on coming. Trump has signed the bill to release the Epstein files. We'll see what in a second. But before that awesomeness, the news just keeps on coming.
1:31.9	Trump has signed the bill to release the Epstein files. We'll see what that looks like.
1:36.5	Mamdani and Trump have announced that they will meet on Friday. They're going to meet at the White House, so let the show begin. And Mom Donnie should definitely review the tape of Zelensky
1:41.4	at the White House meeting slash ambush from February to see how this might go.
1:45.6	But in the last few hours, Trump has now really crossed a new line, posting on true social in response to the Democratic lawmakers who sent a message to the troops about resisting illegal orders.
1:57.1	I'm just going to read what he wrote. He said it's called seditious behavior at the highest level.
2:01.3	Each of these traders to our country should be arrested and put on trial. Their words cannot be
2:06.2	allowed to stand. We must have, we won't have a country anymore. An example must be set in
2:11.6	Caps, D.J.T. And then he followed up about an hour ago. We're taping this around 130, saying in capital letters,
2:20.9	seditious behavior, punishable by death. We've got the perfect guess to get into that and more
2:26.9	in a second. In Ukraine, in Turnople, the victim numbers continue to rise. It's now 16 with 64
2:33.8	injured, including 14 kids.
	...

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