Trust me on this one, Billy, "Lord" Black is pretty much right as far the US Justice system goes. It is customary to charge a defendant with everything but spitting on the pavement in hopes that, through negotiation, the defendant will "cop a plea" on some charge for which there actually is some evidence, normally a lesser count than he could be tried for (i.e., manslaughter with a recommendation to serve the mandatory maximum sentence of 25 years v. murder with "natural life" or lethal injection as his alternative being the common if drastic example used). All they really had him on was "self-dealing," not a crime unless bungs or shakedowns are involved. But apparently he ran foul of the postal regulations at some point in the game, and so they had him bang to rights for mail fraud as defined (you can't use the US Mail as an "accessory" to a fraud even if it's not a crime). They also had him bang to rights as far as "obstruction of justice"-- he was seen to remove evidence from offices on CCTV (he said he was being dispossessed from the premises and had to take all the property inside that was his with him-- he could have hired a mover and a warehouse company, and done it at arm's length, to comply with subpoenas in various lawsuits against him). But being arrogant, he figured they couldn't make anything stick (and he was right for the most part), and instead of pleading to the charges they had him good and proper on, he fought the law and the law won. But of course, he has to say all the bollocks he's saying now because he has to make it look as if the US federal justice system is completely illegitimate (it isn't really, it's just overpoliticised-- US Attorneys (the deputy official in each judicial district of the Federal Court) are chosen for their political loyalty either to the President or to a sitting Senator of that state.) Certain crimes are prosecuted with certain high-profile defendants when the President is Republican, and others when it's a Democrat in the WH. Sometimes the point is to sacrifice one of your own to show you're "even-handed" (usually some loose cannon bringing scorn upon the Party). Other times it's to show what the Administration's priorities are. Bush appointee Pat Fitzgerald was a comical figure who could do anything to louse up an investigation that it was possible to do, and he invented some more. But he dutifully prosecuted Black because, let's be honest, FOX News would have a field day with the story, and Bush needed all the help he could get from that quarter. It's just that Connie Black is a curmudgeon, and he's whingeing now, that we all want to say "yeah, right, you horrible prat" to his charges, but he's not far wrong. Don't kill the messenger on this one. And he and Adam Boulton deserve each other IMHO.
Boulton is an idiot, asking the same (stupid) questions over and over.
ReplyDeleteI like Conrad Black... "I'm not a refugee" haha.
He didn't look good when questioned about his nationality etc. but I hope they replay this clip on HIGNFY.
Trust me on this one, Billy, "Lord" Black is pretty much right as far the US Justice system goes. It is customary to charge a defendant with everything but spitting on the pavement in hopes that, through negotiation, the defendant will "cop a plea" on some charge for which there actually is some evidence, normally a lesser count than he could be tried for (i.e., manslaughter with a recommendation to serve the mandatory maximum sentence of 25 years v. murder with "natural life" or lethal injection as his alternative being the common if drastic example used). All they really had him on was "self-dealing," not a crime unless bungs or shakedowns are involved. But apparently he ran foul of the postal regulations at some point in the game, and so they had him bang to rights for mail fraud as defined (you can't use the US Mail as an "accessory" to a fraud even if it's not a crime). They also had him bang to rights as far as "obstruction of justice"-- he was seen to remove evidence from offices on CCTV (he said he was being dispossessed from the premises and had to take all the property inside that was his with him-- he could have hired a mover and a warehouse company, and done it at arm's length, to comply with subpoenas in various lawsuits against him). But being arrogant, he figured they couldn't make anything stick (and he was right for the most part), and instead of pleading to the charges they had him good and proper on, he fought the law and the law won. But of course, he has to say all the bollocks he's saying now because he has to make it look as if the US federal justice system is completely illegitimate (it isn't really, it's just overpoliticised-- US Attorneys (the deputy official in each judicial district of the Federal Court) are chosen for their political loyalty either to the President or to a sitting Senator of that state.) Certain crimes are prosecuted with certain high-profile defendants when the President is Republican, and others when it's a Democrat in the WH. Sometimes the point is to sacrifice one of your own to show you're "even-handed" (usually some loose cannon bringing scorn upon the Party). Other times it's to show what the Administration's priorities are. Bush appointee Pat Fitzgerald was a comical figure who could do anything to louse up an investigation that it was possible to do, and he invented some more. But he dutifully prosecuted Black because, let's be honest, FOX News would have a field day with the story, and Bush needed all the help he could get from that quarter. It's just that Connie Black is a curmudgeon, and he's whingeing now, that we all want to say "yeah, right, you horrible prat" to his charges, but he's not far wrong. Don't kill the messenger on this one. And he and Adam Boulton deserve each other IMHO.
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