Full Pardon to Dinesh D’Souza today

[donnay]

1002177521599860736

[Anti Federalist]

OK, another gold star in Trump's column.

Well done.

[angelatc]

OK, another gold star in Trump's column.

Well done.

I think we all know I'd abolish the FEC and let everybody spend as much as they choose. But De Souza intentionally set out to break the law. People are in prison for doing the exact same thing he did.

This is cronyism on a platter with a huge side of politics.

[donnay]

I think we all know I'd abolish the FEC and let everybody spend as much as they choose. But De Souza intentionally set out to break the law. People are in prison for doing the exact same thing he did.

This is cronyism on a platter with a huge side of politics.

Rosie O'Donnell isn't.

[enhanced_deficit]

On a side note, D D'Souza was the guy who made the original comment a week after 9/11 defending which Bill Maher got fired.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNMhNJDRnhU

[Zippyjuan]

https://www.cnn.com/2018/05/31/politics/donald-trump-dinesh-dsouza/index.html


Here's the real reason Donald Trump pardoned Dinesh D'Souza


Donald Trump's pardon of conservative author Dinesh D'Souza on Thursday came with little explanation from the President other than this, via Twitter: "He was treated very unfairly by our government!"

The D'Souza pardon is all of a piece with two other presidential pardons made by Trump during his first 16 months in office. D'Souza, former Bush White House aide Scooter Libby and former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio were all seen, by some elements within the conservative movement/Trump's base, as martyrs -- people unfairly persecuted by some combination of out-of-control Democrats and the "deep state."

"Bravo! @realDonaldTrump," tweeted Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz. "Dinesh was the subject of a political prosecution, brazenly targeted by the Obama administration bc of his political views. And he's a powerful voice for freedom, systematically dismantling the lies of the Left—which is why they hate him. This is Justice."

D'Souza himself played into that idea with a tweet of his own. "Obama & his stooges tried to extinguish my American dream & destroy my faith in America," he tweeted. "Thank you @realDonaldTrump for fully restoring both."

In all three of these cases, Trump chose not to consult with the Justice Department's Office of Pardon Authority -- making the call on his own. (A president is not required by law to huddle with the Office of Pardon Authority.)

And the message Trump appears to be sending with this trio of similar-if-not-the-exact-same pardons is this: If you are being unfairly prosecuted or persecuted by the deep state within the Justice Department/FBI, I have sympathy for you. I am willing to use my pardon power to absolve you. I've done it before. I'll do it again.

Why might that message be relevant, you ask?

Ask Michael Cohen and Paul Manafort.

Cohen, Trump's personal attorney, and Manafort, Trump's campaign chairman for a time in 2016, are both facing the possibility of significant criminal charges and penalties. Cohen's home, hotel and office were raided by the FBI and the documents seized in those raids are currently in the process of being reviewed by a special master in the Southern District of New York. Manafort has been charged by special counsel Robert Mueller with a variety of financial crimes -- most dealing with his interactions with the Ukrainian government.

Given the severity of the allegations against them, both men are under considerable pressure to flip -- to cut deals with prosecutors that minimize their legal vulnerability in exchange for cooperating with the ongoing Mueller probe into Russian election meddling and any possible coordination with members of the Trump campaign.

Already three members of Trump's 2016 campaign -- foreign policy adviser George Papadopoulos, national security adviser Michael Flynn and deputy campaign chairman Rick Gates -- have pleaded guilty and are cooperating with the Mueller investigation.

Trump has little ability to see into the Mueller investigation -- to know what Mueller knows and how close (if at all) Manafort and Cohen are to flipping. It's clearly a point of frustration for the President and his legal team; former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, the public face of that legal team, has taken to suggesting the entire investigation is illegitimate and demanding all information about a confidential source used by the FBI during the 2016 campaign before the President even considers sitting down with the special counsel's office.

Without power over the actual investigation, Trump is reduced to sending messages via public channels.

Twitter is one way he uses that limited power. In a series of tweets last month, Trump sent a very clear message to Cohen about flipping. He wrote:

"The New York Times and a third rate reporter named Maggie Haberman, known as a Crooked H flunkie who I don't speak to and have nothing to do with, are going out of their way to destroy Michael Cohen and his relationship with me in the hope that he will 'flip.' They use non-existent 'sources' and a drunk/drugged up loser who hates Michael, a fine person with a wonderful family. Michael is a businessman for his own account/lawyer who I have always liked & respected. Most people will flip if the Government lets them out of trouble, even if it means lying or making up stories. Sorry, I don't see Michael doing that despite the horrible Witch Hunt and the dishonest media!"

The message is clear: Don't flip, Michael. This is all a witch hunt. Hang in there! I support you!

Presidential pardons are the other major weapon in Trump's arsenal to combat the pressure campaign by Mueller.

And it is impossible to dismiss the similarities of both the crimes from which D'Souza, Libby and Arpaio are being pardoned and the manner in which Trump chose to announce those pardons.

D'Souza, Arpaio, Libby: All perceived victims of an out-of-control deep-state government which sought to punish their commitment to principle. Railroaded by a machine that hates them because of what they believe and who else supports those beliefs. Forced to answer for actions that elites have gotten away with for ages. And so on and so forth.

The audience of these pardons is small: Really just the Trump loyalists and officials -- like Cohen and Manafort -- that Mueller has his eye on. And in case anyone missed the message sent by the Arpaio and Libby pardons, the D'Souza pardon makes sure that message hits you right in the face.

[enhanced_deficit]

https://www.cnn.com/2018/05/31/politics/donald-trump-dinesh-dsouza/index.html

Why might that message be relevant, you ask?

Ask Michael Cohen and Paul Manafort.

Cohen, Trump's personal attorney, and Manafort, Trump's campaign chairman for a time in 2016, are both facing the possibility of significant criminal charges and penalties. Cohen's home, hotel and office were raided by the FBI and the documents seized in those raids are currently in the process of being reviewed by a special master in the Southern District of New York. Manafort has been charged by special counsel Robert Mueller with a variety of financial crimes -- most dealing with his interactions with the Ukrainian government.

Given the severity of the allegations against them, both men are under considerable pressure to flip -- to cut deals with prosecutors that minimize their legal vulnerability in exchange for cooperating with the ongoing Mueller probe into Russian election meddling and any possible coordination with members of the Trump campaign.

Cohen is widely seen as a swampy character given recent revelations, does CNN really think POTUS who got elected with 'drain the swamp' slogan would risk tainting his reputation for honesty & good character by pardoning such a dude?



Cohen established the firm Essential Consultants in the weeks leading up to Election Day to make a $130,000 payment to Daniels, as a part of an agreement to prevent the porn star from discussing her alleged affair with Trump.

... pharmaceutical company Novartis made four separate payments of $99,980 to the Essential Consultants bank account in late 2017 to early 2018; Korea Aerospace Industries made a single payment of $150,000 in November 2017; and AT&T made four payments of $50,000 from late 2017 to early 2018.

https://www.cnn.com/2018/05/08/polit...hen/index.html (https://www.cnn.com/2018/05/08/politics/daniels-lawyer-russian-oligarch-payment-cohen/index.html)

[Zippyjuan]

Blagojevich next? Martha Stewart also mentioned. Both also have Trump connections- having appeared on "Celebrity Apprentice".

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/ct-met-illinois-governor-blagojevich-trump-20180531-story.html


Trump says he's considering commuting sentence of imprisoned former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich

President Donald Trump said Thursday he was considering commuting the 14-year sentence of imprisoned former Gov. Rod Blagojevich.

Trump’s comments came two days after the Wall Street Journal published an op-ed piece by Blagojevich decrying his conviction as politically motivated and an attack on everyday campaign fundraising that all office holders must engage in.

Trump brought up Blagojevich on Thursday in a discussion about pardoning conservative pundit Dinesh D'Souza and mentioned the former governor’s appearance on his reality TV show.

“I’ll tell you another one … there’s another one that I’m thinking about. Rod Blagojevich,” Trump said, according to a pool report. “18 years in jail for being stupid and saying things that every other politician, you know that many other politicians say.”

Blagojevich was sentenced to 14 years.

“And If you look at what he said, he said something to the effect like what do I get? … Stupid thing to say. But he’s sort of saying .. he’s gonna make a U.S. senator which is a very big deal,” Trump said. “And it was foolish … 18 years now. I don’t know him other than that he was on The Apprentice for a short period of time.”

“Because what he did does not justify 18 years in a jail. If you read his statement, it was a foolish statement. There was a lot of bravado … Plenty of other politicians have said a lot worse,” he said. “And it doesn’t, he shouldn’t have been put in jail.”

Blagojevich’s lawyers have not formally asked the president for a pardon or commutation, but there has been a sustained effort to bring the case to Trump’s attention since the U.S. Supreme Court last month rejected what was his last legal option to overturn his case through the courts.

Blagojevich’s wife, Patti, has gone on national cable news – including Trump’s favorite Fox News Channel – several times in not-so-veiled attempts to link her husband’s prosecution to former U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald, a close friend of fired FBI chief James Comey.

Fitzgerald also prosecuted former vice presidential adviser Lewis "Scooter" Libby, whom Trump pardoned in April.

"My husband is probably the only person in the entire history of the United States who is serving any kind of sentence for simply asking for campaign contributions," Patti Blagojevich told Fox News host Tucker Carlson during an interview hours after the Supreme Court rejected Trump’s bid.

The disgraced governor was a contestant on Trump's program, "The Celebrity Apprentice," in 2010 as he faced corruption charges including allegations that he tried to sell off President Barack Obama's U.S. Senate seat.

Earlier Thursday, Patti Blagojevich tweeted that she was scheduled to be interviewed by a different Fox host on Thursday evening.

Blagojevich’s chief attorney, Leonard Goodman, could not immediately be reached for comment.

Joseph Fitzpatrick, a spokesman for the U.S. attorney’s office in Chicago, had no comment Thursday.

Blagojevich was still in office when he was arrested at his home early one morning in December 2008 on charges of misusing his powers as governor in an array of wrongdoing. Blagojevich was convicted in 2011 on 17 counts related to the attempted Senate seat sale and fundraising shakedowns of a hospital executive and a racetrack owner. Less than a year earlier, an initial trial ended with a jury deadlocked on all but one count of lying to the FBI, forcing the retrial.



More at link.

[donnay]

https://www.cnn.com/2018/05/31/politics/donald-trump-dinesh-dsouza/index.html

LOL! Clinton News Channel = CNN

[dannno]

On a side note, D D'Souza was the guy who made the original comment a week after 9/11 defending which Bill Maher got fired.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNMhNJDRnhU


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1iEK0-Ad89c

[Madison320]

I think we all know I'd abolish the FEC and let everybody spend as much as they choose. But De Souza intentionally set out to break the law. People are in prison for doing the exact same thing he did.

This is cronyism on a platter with a huge side of politics.

This reminds me of a recent thread where the guy at google got fired for saying women aren't as likely to be programmers. Some people were arguing that google should be prosecuted for violating discrimination laws. My first reaction was "who cares it's a bad law". But now I think I was wrong, I think "equal enforcement" is a more important factor than "bad law". In my defense I did say I was conflicted about this.

[H_H]

Here's the real reason Donald Trump pardoned Dinesh D'Souza Ah Ha Ha Ha Ha! Juan and the CNN Team know why! Well, what is it?


The message is clear: Don't flip, Michael. HAAAAA ha ha ha ha ha ha! This is tremendous!

These dopes were all convinced that if they just dug long enough and prosecuted enough of Trump's associates that some dirt would come out. Why so convinced? Because if anyone did that to them, dirt would come out. So they just assumed....

But now it's been a year, a year and a half actually. Still nothing. No dirt. None! Obviously if there were any, it would have already come out. Someone would have turned. "Flipped." They haven't, so clearly there just nothing. Unlike the elite conducting the witch hunt, Trump actually just plain isn't off sacrificing and eating children, doing sick sexual acts, etc., etc.

And yet, these dopes are all STILL convinced that someone will eventually spill the beans. They just can't conceive of the possibility of a non-Moloch-worshiping person who has nevertheless achieved success. Ha ha ha. Keep dreamin', Cillizza. Keep hope alive. The Zippys of this world need that. W/o hope, what would they have?

[Swordsmyth]

This reminds me of a recent thread where the guy at google got fired for saying women aren't as likely to be programmers. Some people were arguing that google should be prosecuted for violating discrimination laws. My first reaction was "who cares it's a bad law". But now I think I was wrong, I think "equal enforcement" is a more important factor than "bad law". In my defense I did say I was conflicted about this.

Equal enforcement 1st, bad law 2nd.

[Anti Globalist]

Awesome.

[Madison320]

Equal enforcement 1st, bad law 2nd.

Yes. So you agree that D'Souza should not be pardoned?

[Swordsmyth]

Yes. So you agree that D'Souza should not be pardoned?

Or everyone convicted on the same charge should receive a pardon.

[H_H]

Or everyone convicted on the same charge should receive a pardon.

Despite Angela's assertion, I do not know of anyone similarly convicted. I don't rule out the possibility that she is right, but I just don't know of anyone. This was clearly an exceptional, individually-ordered (maybe by Obama himself) politically-motivated prosecution.

So, an exceptional counter-action (pardon) seems just and proper. Just as with Arpaio. Law is a tool to serve justice. Justice is the foundational principle. If justice has been served, law has done her duty. Here, in Trump's pardon of Based Patriot Dinesh, it has been served.

[Swordsmyth]

Despite Angela's assertion, I do not know of anyone similarly convicted. I don't rule out the possibility that she is right, but I just don't know of anyone. This was clearly an exceptional, individually-ordered (maybe by Obama himself) politically-motivated prosecution.

So, an exceptional counter-action (pardon) seems just and proper. Just as with Arpaio. Law is a tool to serve justice. Justice is the foundational principle. If justice has been served, law has done her duty. Here, in Trump's pardon of Based Patriot Dinesh, it has been served.

I have no idea if anyone else has been convicted on the same charge, I was just stating that if anyone was then they should also be pardoned, it is wrong when the politically connected are treated different than the rest of us.

[Weston White]

Oh yea, because this just absolutely never, ever happens: https://assets.documentcloud.org/documents/1009093/dinesh-dsouza-indictment.pdf

[Danke]

His friends contributed, he later reimbursed them, BFD.

[Madison320]

Or everyone convicted on the same charge should receive a pardon.

Yup. I've always believed that the laws should be same for everyone. For example progressive taxation is NOT the same law for everyone. Or laws that apply to business owners and not to everyone else (there's a bunch of those). I didn't make the connection right away that equal enforcement of laws is the same thing as equal laws themselves.

[Henry Rogue]

Yup. I've always believed that the laws should be same for everyone. For example progressive taxation is NOT the same law for everyone. Or laws that apply to business owners and not to everyone else (there's a bunch of those). I didn't make the connection right away that equal enforcement of laws is the same thing as equal laws themselves.

Then extrapolate that to laws making you unequal to police. Whats your conclusion?

[Henry Rogue]

This reminds me of a recent thread where the guy at google got fired for saying women aren't as likely to be programmers. Some people were arguing that google should be prosecuted for violating discrimination laws. My first reaction was "who cares it's a bad law". But now I think I was wrong, I think "equal enforcement" is a more important factor than "bad law". In my defense I did say I was conflicted about this.
Letter of the Law vs Spirit of the Law. Until the moment that machines enforce the law, this task will fall to Men, and Men will never enforce, prosecute or adjudicate the law equally. What's more, should Letter of the Law become the manner in which all laws are enforced, genuine chaos would ensue. Imagine all motorist ticketed for a fraction of a mph over the limit. Judge Napolitano once told a story of a child who was jaywalking, hit by a car and gravely injured. The Government's Responder, issued a citation to the comatose child and presented it to the grieving Mother, at the Hospital. If you think the Judge was troubled by the enforcer's decision, you would be right. Letter of the Law, poses as many (if not more) problems, one could concoct in a thought experiment, as have been enumerated in NAP thought experiments. On the other hand it seems feasible that a law could be abolished. The Twenty First Amendment comes to mind. Should repealing a "bad law" prove to be difficult, Nullification has been used as an alternative. To simplify, equal enforcement, not possible. Repeal or nullify bad law, possible.

[enhanced_deficit]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1iEK0-Ad89c

Bill Maher seems more credible than D'Souza in this exchange.

But another takeaway from this is that today's GOP sees the guy, D'Souza , who had said '9/11 attackers were not cowards' , as a sort of hero.

Somewhat stunning. Such strong must be GOP's dislike for Obama.

[Madison320]

Letter of the Law vs Spirit of the Law. Until the moment that machines enforce the law, this task will fall to Men, and Men will never enforce, prosecute or adjudicate the law equally. What's more, should Letter of the Law become the manner in which all laws are enforced, genuine chaos would ensue. Imagine all motorist ticketed for a fraction of a mph over the limit. Judge Napolitano once told a story of a child who was jaywalking, hit by a car and gravely injured. The Government's Responder, issued a citation to the comatose child and presented it to the grieving Mother, at the Hospital. If you think the Judge was troubled by the enforcer's decision, you would be right. Letter of the Law, poses as many (if not more) problems, one could concoct in a thought experiment, as have been enumerated in NAP thought experiments. On the other hand it seems feasible that a law could be abolished. The Twenty First Amendment comes to mind. Should repealing a "bad law" prove to be difficult, Nullification has been used as an alternative. To simplify, equal enforcement, not possible. Repeal or nullify bad law, possible.

The idea is that if bad laws are equally enforced they'll get repealed. Imagine if everyone had to pay a 40% tax rate for example.

[Henry Rogue]

The idea is that if bad laws are equally enforced they'll get repealed. Imagine if everyone had to pay a 40% tax rate for example.

The problem with that idea is that, if inequality is written into the law, it must by law, be unequally applied. The "bad law won't be repealed, because it can't be equally enforced.

[Anti Federalist]

Anything that keeps people out of the prison system, especially on bogus charges, is a good thing, partisan politics be damned.

[timosman]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4db_NhG2N6I

[timosman]

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/dinesh-dsouza-compare-trump-lincoln-upcoming-film-1118718


6/11/2018

https://cdn1.thr.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/portrait_300x450/2018/06/doan_in_theater.jpg

D’Souza acknowledges that the optics of a pro-Trump documentary will be deemed suspicious in some circles, given the president pardoned him May 31 for violating campaign finance laws.
In a move that could raise the suspicions of his detractors, recently pardoned Dinesh D’Souza tells The Hollywood Reporter that his next movie will liken Donald Trump to Abraham Lincoln, including a poster that morphs an image of the two U.S. presidents.

The poster, unveiled here for the first time, features a U.S. flag, images of slavery, the Civil War, modern-day university riots, Lincoln's and Trump’s face combined as one and the upcoming film’s title: Death of a Nation.

The poster also includes D’Souza’s name and that of Gerald R. Molen, advertised as the Academy Award-winning producer of the two Steven Spielberg films Schindler’s List and Jurassic Park.

“Death of a Nation draws a provocative analogy between Lincoln and Trump,” D’Souza tells THR. “Not that they’re the same people, but that they’ve fallen into the same situation. Not since 1865 have Democrats so dramatically refused to accept the outcome of a presidential election.”

D’Souza acknowledges that the optics of a pro-Trump documentary will be deemed suspicious in some circles, given the president pardoned him May 31 for violating campaign finance laws.

“We’ve been working on the film for more than a year and commissioned the artwork two months ago. Trump had no inkling of the art or the theme of the movie when he pardoned me,” says D’Souza.

D’Souza spent eight months partially confined, paid a $30,000 fine and was still serving five years of probation before he was pardoned for using a couple of straw donors to give more than the legal limit to the campaign of a friend who was running for U.S. senator in New York.

Defenders, including liberal attorney Alan Dershowitz, said the punishment did not fit the crime and they suggested the Obama administration went overboard because D'Souza's first film, 2016: Obama’s America, was critical of President Barack Obama, and Trump agreed.

“The left is screaming about my pardon more than all of Trump’s other pardons put together,” says D’Souza.

After Michael Moore’s Fahrenheit 9/11, 2016: Obama’s America is the second-most successful political documentary in history, and D’Souza’s subsequent two films also did extremely well relative to most documentaries.

His fourth film, Death of a Nation, was shot in the Czech Republic and Germany, including scenes in Courtroom 600 at the Palace of Justice, where the Nuremberg Trials took place. Actor Pavel Kriz plays Adolf Hitler in scenes filmed at Zeppelin Field where Nazi rallies took place in the 1930s and early 1940s.

Beyond the Trump-Lincoln connection, the film explores the roots of fascism and racism.

“The left has been playing these cards against conservatives for a decade. We explore if the fascist-racist tail should be pinned on the Republican elephant or the Democrat donkey,” says D’Souza.

“The four legs of the progressive agenda are well entrenched into society — academia, media, entertainment and culture,” says Molen. “The right, by contrast, is and always has been the anti-fascist party.”

Quality Flix is set to release Death of a Nation in 1,000 theaters Aug. 3, while DVD, Blu-ray and streaming distribution will be handled by Quality Flix and Universal Pictures Home Entertainment.

[AuH20]

D'Souza is actively promoting inaccurate history to the uninformed. I would to love to see Woods or DiLorenzo wipe the floor with him.

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