Remember Harvey Weinstein? I thought he was done five years ago, but no! He has been getting slowly chewed up in the judicial system — I guess we need to learn to appreciate that the cycle doesn’t actually fit into the one-hour story of a Law & Order episode, where the crime is committed before the first commercial, the culprit is arrested by the second, and then we squeeze in a twist or two and get a quick clean conviction before the final credits roll.
So, just yesterday, on 19 December 2022, Harvey Weinstein was found guilty of rape. Again, not a simple result, though — some of his accusers dropped out early, he got a hung jury on multiple instances, but in one case he was convicted of “rape, forced oral copulation and another sexual misconduct count”, verdicts that are piled on top of prior convictions in New York. I won’t go into the details, but there was one satisfying moment.
Weinstein looked down at the table and appeared to put his face in his hands when the initial guilty counts were read. He looked forward as the rest of the verdict was read.
He faces up to 24 years in prison when he is sentenced. Prosecutors and defence attorneys had no immediate comment on the verdict.
“Harvey Weinstein will never be able to rape another woman. He will spend the rest of his life behind bars where he belongs,” Siebel Newsom said in a statement. “Throughout the trial, Weinstein’s lawyers used sexism, misogyny, and bullying tactics to intimidate, demean, and ridicule us survivors. The trial was a stark reminder that we as a society have work to do.”
I sometimes despair at the sluggishness of justice in this country. I just have to hope that maybe, in five years or so, there will be a moment where Donald Trump puts his face in his hands and gets to look forward to spending the remainder of his life in prison.
Although, knowing what we do of Trump, he probably wouldn’t be going with even that much dignity. There’d probably be squalling and cursing and lying on the floor kicking. Which will be even more satisfying.
Also, I’d like to be at the point where I’m wondering, “Who? Trump? They’re still trying him?” when I’m told he’s been convicted.
My optimism on Trump’s loss of legal battles has so far been largely justified. The lawyers working for Jack Smith have given up fairly large salaries, ranging from 7 figures to the high 8 figures, to be part of the historic only court case of America’s past president being part of the largest legal case in America’s history. (Hence, the slow speed. Only meticulous research into the facts can avoid the loopholes which sink the prosecution, and Merrick Garland has proven in past cases how he avoids such legal carelessness.) Meanwhile, Trump’s legal team includes a talking head from Newsmax, and a legal advisor for a parking garage.
Trump’s wealth has been massively exaggerated, at a time when the ones who are unable to afford the more expensive lawyers lose the legal battle. And going by memory, Trump’s lawyers lost his legal battle yesterday, which was the same day that Fulton county’s grand jury submitted their research against Trump to the prosecutors. Trump also has the theft and illegal possession of stolen documents (and the secret and classified ones have more severe charges as well), plus the legal fraud involving his family company in New York potentially having to pay a quarter of a billion dollars in civil fines, plus the sexual assault charges against such women as Eugene Carroll, plus the likely upcoming legal consequences of his recent NFTs grift. That’s a lot of lawyers, with even more being needed in the coming months for more charges following the investigation into these charges. And that’s on top of the hundreds of millions of dollars which Trump has due in loan payments. This while the part of his base with money is fading away, as is his political influence, as is his business opportunities. And like with Harvey Weinstein, the loss of one major legal battle, makes the loss of successive legal battles much more likely. Remember that the prosecution of Nixon took 5 years, and we’re only 2 years into Trump’s prosecution.
I can’t assess his chances of being in prison five years from now…mostly because I’m not sure he will live another five years. What are the odds he’ll live to be 81?
I’d argue that this is a completely different dynamic than that involving Trump. Given the existence of the MeToo movement. There is nothing remotely like that driving the prosecute Trump thingy.
@HidariMak #1:
The what now? When did that happen? Have I jumped timelines?
In my original timeline, Nixon got off with a resignation and a pardon. Not even an impeachment, much less a prosecution. (Of course, some of his stooges did time for the crimes he ordered, but that’s the American way, apparently.)
@ 4:
An admitted brain fart on my part. I knew what you said about Nixon resigning and getting a pardon, but the inquiry and indictments stemming from Watergate did go on for 5 years. I’d guess that Trump’s repeated attempts at undoing democracy at all costs, would be viewed as more severe than ordering the break-in for documents theft from the other party. And my hope is that Trump will have the chance to name all of his House and Senate co-conspirators to lighten his own sentence.