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Comment by g947o | Hacker News Reader

Citation needed.

Bear in mind that this guy pleaded guilty in a court case. Even if the prosecution is political, the facts don't lie.

Bear in mind that this guy pleaded guilty in a court case.

In my mind that doesn't mean shit. Prosecution said, "if this goes to trial, we'll try to get life in prison. Or you could take our plea deal." That is why 90-some percent of prosecutions (EDIT: in the U. S.) go plea deal instead of trial.

I would imagine very rich people have extremely good lawyers though that can tell them very accurately if they will get off if it goes to trial.

The best lawyers in the world won't be able to give you any guarantees about how a jury will feel.

When it comes to extremely rich people, "political prosecution" generally means that the behavior was absolutely criminal, but that it's usually something they let rich people get away with.

It can also mean it's political. Famously (whether you think he's guilty or not) John Kiriakou pled guilty because he knew John Brennan was going to throw the entire might of the justice system at him. When he talks about the experience, his decisions are made with consideration to the fact the president's inner circle wanted him in jail and he wasn't fighting a fair battle.

I'm not sure how that's relevant, since John Kiriakou does not appear to be particularly wealthy.

I'm talking about political prosecutions, not extremely wealthy people.

I understand that, but I'm talking about the intersection of both. When an extremely wealthy person is subjected to a "political prosecution," that usually means they're guilty as hell, it's a serious crime, and it's just one that other extremely wealthy people got away with.

Again, my comment was just about political prosecution, I think you should reread my first response.

That said, I don't think your logic carries. Extremely wealthy people are often the targets of political prosecution because they're wealthy. Being wealthy makes you a target, it doesn't provide protection

It was about a specific political prosecution of a specific person, who is extremely wealthy.

Which wealthy people have been subject to political prosecution in the US that wasn't just a case where the person was totally guilty and deserved to be prosecuted, and it's "political" just because other rich people didn't get prosecuted for it?

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