5 ms·

> They pardoned the Silk Road drug lord to go after a copyright infringement-lord instead? The president’s pardons are not popular with the FBI and law enforce

> They pardoned the Silk Road drug lord to go after a copyright infringement-lord instead? The president’s pardons are not popular with the FBI and law enforcement. The FBI is not happy about doing all of the work to prosecute people only to have the president override it for political reasons.

nobodyandproud 1y ago
Source? Any of them still employed?
avgDev 1y ago
I don't think it is political reasons, seems like it is for large donation reasons.
- rokkamokka 1y ago
  In the US, this is much the same thing
- lesuorac 1y ago
  That is a political reason... It convinces others that you're willing to pardon them too in exchange for money and convincing other people is the definition of politics.
  - warkdarrior 1y ago
    That is not political, it is purely a service offered at a price. There is no specific political agenda behind these pardons (i.e., they don't pardon only folks who are, for example, Evangelicals or anti-immigration or whatever), the only criteria is payment.
    - ElevenLathe 1y ago
      Selling pardons for money is inherently a very political act. It means that you are aligning yourself with moneyed interests, which is clearly the heart of Trumpist politics. Setting ideology aside even, the open selling of pardons sends the message to the moneyed interests in general that he's on their side, even if they don't need a pardon at this exact moment. It serves both practical (get rich people to like you and therefore donate money to your campaigns and causes to help them succeed) and ideological (supply-sider-esque doctrine going back to at least the protestant reformation says that rich people should be in charge because they're rich, QED) purposes.
    - lesuorac 1y ago
      > [1] Politics > Politics (from Ancient Greek πολιτικά (politiká) 'affairs of the cities') is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of status or resources. I don't know how much more obvious I can make this for you. Bribery is political. [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Politics https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Politics
      - deleted 1y ago
        [deleted]
      - sapphicsnail 1y ago
        Word meanings evolve. Virtue literally means "manliness" in Classical Latin but only a pedantic dick would insist we use it in that sense. Polis and it's related words meant something different to the Greeks than they do to us.
        lesuorac 1y ago
        Right, "Politics" evolved from "affairs of the cities" to "the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of status or resources.".
        doubletwoyou 1y ago
        it’s the current meaning he’s reciting he’s just adding etymological context
        hekkle 1y ago
        Well akchooally the word man up until very recently meant human, so manliness, meant the state of being manly, AKA a human.
      - JumpCrisscross 1y ago
        > Bribery is political Bribery is political. But it's not taken to be a usual part of politics in the West. (Similar to how the Roman word for ambush was the same as their word for treason. Treason isn't taken to be a usual part of politics. Ambush, for them, not a usual part of warfare.) Basically, you're both right because what is and isn't political is itself a political question.
    - ratelimitsteve 1y ago
      I'd like for you to define "political" please.
    - FilosofumRex 1y ago
      [flagged]
    - mexicocitinluez 1y ago
      > they don't pardon only folks who are, for example, Evangelicals or anti-immigration or whatever Who has Trump pardoned that wasn't a supporter of his?
      - lostlogin 1y ago
        You can go one further. Who has Trump pardoned that wasn’t a complete scumbag? https://www.newsweek.com/full-list-donald-trump-pardons-second-term-2077874 https://www.newsweek.com/full-list-donald-trump-pardons-seco...
        mexicocitinluez 1y ago
        Touche.
    - pyuser583 1y ago
      The hypothetical pardon was promised by then candidate-Trump in a speech at the Libertarian Party convention. The specific political agenda was to get support from libertarians, who lean conservative, but don't like Trump much - because he rejects libertarianism. That's as political as you can possibly get. It wasn't a behind the scenes thing. It was literally announced at a political convention.
    - victorbjorklund 1y ago
      I am pretty sure that they only pardon people who are pro or at least neutral to Trump. I doubt that he would part on anybody who's an outspoken critic even if they offered him a bribe.
  - voganmother42 1y ago
    It is political, it is also corrupt.
- buildsjets 1y ago
  Is there a difference?
  - manquer 1y ago
    I guess OP means to say it is not idealogical reasons. Op means to say this type of pardon is not to meant to win votes or satisfy the demands of constituents, Like with convicted cops or people with weed related crimes etc or pardoning draft dodgers after Vietnam or civil war and so on . While money is involved deeply in politics and financial corruption is there , occasionally idealogical (political) actions without direct financial benefits also happen. It is hard to say whether this pardon of Silk Road founder was motivated by libertarian, or crypto community pressure or by financial donations to the party etc both are possible even at the same time but they are different considerations
    - dragonwriter 1y ago
      > I guess OP means to say it is not idealogical reasons. “Government exists for the personal benefit of the leader” (or simply “for my personal benefit as the leader”, with even less generalization beyond that) is an ideology, actually. It’s not one that is popular to embrace publicly, but, that's hardly unique along real ideologies.
- burnt-resistor 1y ago
  In 2019, Giuliani's assistant chided John Kirakou that pardons couldn't be discussed in his presence but that the fee was $1 million for Giuliani and $1 million for Trump. Given inflation, I'd bet that pardons now cost around $3 million.
- wnevets 1y ago
  > seems like it is for large donation reasons. more like large bribe reasons.
- heisenbit 1y ago
  Money is protected political speech.
throw101010 1y ago
You are talking about Kash Patel's FBI. The guy who has a hit song and book called "The Plot Against The King" pretending the 2020 election has been rigged and who maintains it to this day. The FBI does what Trump tells them to do, that's it.
- le-mark 1y ago
  And why aren’t the people who “stole” the election being prosecuted by Trumps DOJ and FBI? He had proof remember? I wish liberal media would hammer this point and expose the lie for what it is.
O1111OOO 1y ago
> The president’s pardons are not popular with the FBI and law enforcement. This is an unverified blanket statement. We don't know what percentage of the FBI and law enforcement agree or disagree on anything.
glaucon 1y ago
> The president’s pardons are not popular with the FBI and law enforcement Well if they don't like it I'm sure he would be happy to start a bidding war.
asveikau 1y ago
The reporting I've seen is that they were making efforts to get rid of anyone at FBI who would be upset at this. They are also reported to have an employment screening question that requires applicants to say the 2020 election was stolen.
- Ray20 1y ago
  Just imagine how happy thy are about this
- beAbU 1y ago
  Scary stuff! Do you perhaps have a link to this reporting so that we can read up further on this?
elcritch 1y ago
Alternatively FBI agents could also be upset thay they won't have a chance to steal more bitcoin from foolish Libertarians (1). 1: https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2016/08/stealing-bitcoins-with-badges-how-silk-roads-dirty-cops-got-caught/ https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2016/08/stealing-bitcoin...

nobodyandproud 1y ago

Source? Any of them still employed?

avgDev 1y ago

I don't think it is political reasons, seems like it is for large donation reasons.

rokkamokka 1y ago
In the US, this is much the same thing
lesuorac 1y ago
That is a political reason... It convinces others that you're willing to pardon them too in exchange for money and convincing other people is the definition of politics.
- warkdarrior 1y ago
  That is not political, it is purely a service offered at a price. There is no specific political agenda behind these pardons (i.e., they don't pardon only folks who are, for example, Evangelicals or anti-immigration or whatever), the only criteria is payment.
  - ElevenLathe 1y ago
    Selling pardons for money is inherently a very political act. It means that you are aligning yourself with moneyed interests, which is clearly the heart of Trumpist politics. Setting ideology aside even, the open selling of pardons sends the message to the moneyed interests in general that he's on their side, even if they don't need a pardon at this exact moment. It serves both practical (get rich people to like you and therefore donate money to your campaigns and causes to help them succeed) and ideological (supply-sider-esque doctrine going back to at least the protestant reformation says that rich people should be in charge because they're rich, QED) purposes.
  - lesuorac 1y ago
    > [1] Politics > Politics (from Ancient Greek πολιτικά (politiká) 'affairs of the cities') is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of status or resources. I don't know how much more obvious I can make this for you. Bribery is political. [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Politics https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Politics
    - deleted 1y ago
      [deleted]
    - sapphicsnail 1y ago
      Word meanings evolve. Virtue literally means "manliness" in Classical Latin but only a pedantic dick would insist we use it in that sense. Polis and it's related words meant something different to the Greeks than they do to us.
      - lesuorac 1y ago
        Right, "Politics" evolved from "affairs of the cities" to "the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of status or resources.".
      - doubletwoyou 1y ago
        it’s the current meaning he’s reciting he’s just adding etymological context
      - hekkle 1y ago
        Well akchooally the word man up until very recently meant human, so manliness, meant the state of being manly, AKA a human.
    - JumpCrisscross 1y ago
      > Bribery is political Bribery is political. But it's not taken to be a usual part of politics in the West. (Similar to how the Roman word for ambush was the same as their word for treason. Treason isn't taken to be a usual part of politics. Ambush, for them, not a usual part of warfare.) Basically, you're both right because what is and isn't political is itself a political question.
  - ratelimitsteve 1y ago
    I'd like for you to define "political" please.
  - FilosofumRex 1y ago
    [flagged]
  - mexicocitinluez 1y ago
    > they don't pardon only folks who are, for example, Evangelicals or anti-immigration or whatever Who has Trump pardoned that wasn't a supporter of his?
    - lostlogin 1y ago
      You can go one further. Who has Trump pardoned that wasn’t a complete scumbag? https://www.newsweek.com/full-list-donald-trump-pardons-second-term-2077874 https://www.newsweek.com/full-list-donald-trump-pardons-seco...
      - mexicocitinluez 1y ago
        Touche.
  - pyuser583 1y ago
    The hypothetical pardon was promised by then candidate-Trump in a speech at the Libertarian Party convention. The specific political agenda was to get support from libertarians, who lean conservative, but don't like Trump much - because he rejects libertarianism. That's as political as you can possibly get. It wasn't a behind the scenes thing. It was literally announced at a political convention.
  - victorbjorklund 1y ago
    I am pretty sure that they only pardon people who are pro or at least neutral to Trump. I doubt that he would part on anybody who's an outspoken critic even if they offered him a bribe.
- voganmother42 1y ago
  It is political, it is also corrupt.
buildsjets 1y ago
Is there a difference?
- manquer 1y ago
  I guess OP means to say it is not idealogical reasons. Op means to say this type of pardon is not to meant to win votes or satisfy the demands of constituents, Like with convicted cops or people with weed related crimes etc or pardoning draft dodgers after Vietnam or civil war and so on . While money is involved deeply in politics and financial corruption is there , occasionally idealogical (political) actions without direct financial benefits also happen. It is hard to say whether this pardon of Silk Road founder was motivated by libertarian, or crypto community pressure or by financial donations to the party etc both are possible even at the same time but they are different considerations
  - dragonwriter 1y ago
    > I guess OP means to say it is not idealogical reasons. “Government exists for the personal benefit of the leader” (or simply “for my personal benefit as the leader”, with even less generalization beyond that) is an ideology, actually. It’s not one that is popular to embrace publicly, but, that's hardly unique along real ideologies.
burnt-resistor 1y ago
In 2019, Giuliani's assistant chided John Kirakou that pardons couldn't be discussed in his presence but that the fee was $1 million for Giuliani and $1 million for Trump. Given inflation, I'd bet that pardons now cost around $3 million.
wnevets 1y ago
> seems like it is for large donation reasons. more like large bribe reasons.
heisenbit 1y ago
Money is protected political speech.

throw101010 1y ago

You are talking about Kash Patel's FBI. The guy who has a hit song and book called "The Plot Against The King" pretending the 2020 election has been rigged and who maintains it to this day. The FBI does what Trump tells them to do, that's it.

le-mark 1y ago
And why aren’t the people who “stole” the election being prosecuted by Trumps DOJ and FBI? He had proof remember? I wish liberal media would hammer this point and expose the lie for what it is.

O1111OOO 1y ago

> The president’s pardons are not popular with the FBI and law enforcement. This is an unverified blanket statement. We don't know what percentage of the FBI and law enforcement agree or disagree on anything.

glaucon 1y ago

> The president’s pardons are not popular with the FBI and law enforcement Well if they don't like it I'm sure he would be happy to start a bidding war.

asveikau 1y ago

The reporting I've seen is that they were making efforts to get rid of anyone at FBI who would be upset at this. They are also reported to have an employment screening question that requires applicants to say the 2020 election was stolen.

Ray20 1y ago
Just imagine how happy thy are about this
beAbU 1y ago
Scary stuff! Do you perhaps have a link to this reporting so that we can read up further on this?

elcritch 1y ago

Alternatively FBI agents could also be upset thay they won't have a chance to steal more bitcoin from foolish Libertarians (1). 1: https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2016/08/stealing-bitcoins-with-badges-how-silk-roads-dirty-cops-got-caught/ https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2016/08/stealing-bitcoin...