Charles Littlejohn: Man who stole and leaked Trump tax records sentenced to 5 years in prison
The man who stole and leaked former President Donald Trump and thousands of other’s tax records has been sentenced to five years in prison.
In October, Charles Littlejohn, 38, pleaded guilty to one count of unauthorized disclosures of income tax returns. According to his plea agreement, he stole Trump’s tax returns along with the tax data of “thousands of the nation’s wealthiest people,” while working for a consulting firm with contracts with the Internal Revenue Service.
Littlejohn leaked the information to two news outlets and deleted the documents from his IRS-assigned laptop before returning it and covered the rest of his digital tracks by deleting places where he initially stored the information.
Judge Ana Reyes highlighted the gravity of the crime, saying multiple times that it amounted to an attack against the US and its legal foundation.
That's a longer sentence than many of the January 6th traitors.
This. Jan 6 traitors are getting slap on their wrists and pat on their backs
All Cops are Bastards, All Judges are Bastards, All Prosecutors are Bastards.
The entire fucking "justice" system is tilted towards forgiving and enabling right-wing violence while labeling left-wing protest as "terrorism" that justifies lethal force.
I always call it a legal system, because theres sure as hell no justice in it.
Ooh, that’s good. I’ll update my vocabulary, the way I did when I started referring to people as “pro birth”, because they certainly don’t deserve to be called “pro life”.
That’s certainly easier than saying anti-post-natalists.
The entire system is tilted and reforms are needed.
Do you anticipate broad generalizations to overlook individual nuances & undermine constructive discussion?
Or is it important to cast blame upon each and every member of a broken system, regardless of whether they may personally be activists for our cause?
Sweet Jesus the amount of extremist propaganda that's gets peddled these days is mind boggling. To think people like this think they're better than the people brainwashed by Fox and friends...
Then again... We're on Lemmy lmfao.
You think every cop, judge, and prosector ain't corrupt?
Reads like satire, probably as serious as the Herman Cain award lmfao.
The cognitive dissonance of your average Lemming is staggering.
Adding to this. The judge said "It engenders the same fear that January 6 does." So if this crime is just as bad Jan 6, shouldn't he be getting the same punishment as other Jan 6 traitors. Like you said, a shorter sentence. Not saying I agree with the judge but pick a side.
To a rich person, losing some (not even all) of their money is the most terrifying thing imaginable.
This is America.
Oh I know. Littlejohn committed the real type of crime- financial.
Financial crime against the rich, specifically.
What other kind is there? Stealing from the poor isn't crime, it's just business.
Judge: I asked my caddie's chauffeur what a bank was, and he said it was a place poor people store money that isn't properly invested. Therefor, robbing a bank is tantamount to that most heinous of crimes; theft of money!
Good ole Judge Whitey
Don't catch you slippin' now
Because stealing and releasing tax documents is the same thing as attempting to violently overthrow the government.
This is one of those exciting sentences where you have to substitute 'democracy' for 'rich people's yacht money'.
I disagree. As commendable as his actions are, he clearly broke a law that is there for a good reason.
But how did it endanger democracy? Every president ever has willingly released the documents he leaked. How were his actions dangerous?
"Trust in the system" is a resource that needs managing. If the contractor got off lightly, it would erode the trust people have that the IRS will manage their information.
Let alone the fact that a light sentence for a guy who leaked the administration's foe's information would be incredibly corrupt
So the judge is in with trump. Hope none of his cases go that guys way.
Like yeah, he broke the law and needed to be punished. But it wasn't government secrets, which i'm pretty sure is already legally coded separately from this guys crimes, and also neither of which are treason, which would be the capital attack.
So the guy blatantly spoke against his own legal experience for a political swing.
She was appointed by Joe Biden and is an immigrant to this country from Uruguay. I don't think she's a Trump sycophant, I think she's just a lawful pedant and a fan of hyperbole.
I was going to argue that the attack on the Capitol (though your spelling may more accurately reflect real life) was not treason. No enemies were afforded aid or comfort.
Now I'm rethinking my life. How could I have been so wrong about such a pivotal event in my life?!
(For any of your assholes thinking I'm a 01/06 sympathizer or apologist, I doubt you personally know anymore more angry. Given my druthers, I'd ask the court to impose the death penalty and carry it out personally. And I'm not some angry, young, keyboard warrior talking. I've thought on this much.)
I wonder if they'd accept the Pledge of Allegiance as counting for that section
This same judge has sentenced many for J6.
Apparently Norway must hate democracy since all of their tax returns are public.
Is the judge part of the Sinclair media group?
In a manner of speaking, yes.
Fucking judges are blowhards stuck up their own ass wanting to make the judgments they hand down sound more important than they are.
It's all about feeding their giant fucking egos.
Friend of mine recently was busted with an ounce of pot, he was compared to Al Capone in court by the judge. Judges can be straight sociopathic.
That's RIGHT! Releasing Tax Returns gets you MORE Jail Time then trying to violently overthrow the United States Government and HANG the Vice President! That will teach Hostile Countries to MESS with US!
The way we turned our backs on Afghani interpreters who tried to get asylum here should have shown Charles Littlejohn what happens to people who fight for America
He probably knew. There are more stories of bad outcomes for that kind of shit than good ones. The fact that he did it anyway is why his actions are so admirable and heroic.
Yet holding onto classified documents, then hiding them and lying about it to investigators for months gets nothing but a very stern finger-wagging?
It may still come to bite him in the ass. The trial is actually scheduled to May this year but the scheduling will be looked at in March. The charges themselves are pretty serious, I think it was something like 30 charges under the espionage act and 10 charges for obstruction of justice or false statements.
There's a reason Trump wants to postpone it until after the election. His only shot at wiggling out of it is by becoming president.
Lol check out this bs: "The judge compared Littlejohn’s actions to those of the January 6, 2021, Capitol attack, noting that, “your actions were also a threat to our democracy.”
“It engenders the same fear that January 6 does,” Reyes added."
Invasion of privacy is a very big deal to our legal system when it is the rich peoples’ big number papers.
Invasion of privacy is a very big deal for rich people
What an out of touch judge
That's a tautology right there. A redundant tautology.
If he really thought it was like january 6th he would have gone leinent on him like all the other j6 defendents.
The fear in who?
Fascists
Leak a billionaires tax records: 5 years.
Literally rape while a billionaire: 0 years.
Becoming president and attempting to overthrow the government: ???
Let's find out!
Rape a girl behind a dumpster, with rich parents: think about his swimming career! 6 months, 4 with good behavior.
Raping multiple children while supposedly being the spiritual leader of a community: sideways job transfer.
Wasn't that the rapist Brock Turner?
Rapist Brock Allen Turner, who is going by Allen Turner now.
Yeah, statute of limitations on rape shouldn’t exist. It’s kinda bonkers it hasn’t been removed yet.
It's hard to prosecute rape 30 years later, fairly.
They were able to prove it well enough for E. Jean Carroll's civil case to consider the assault a fact
No, it was considered more likely than not. A civil trial has a completely different standard from a criminal one.
Pretty damn fast compared to how long its taking to prosecute Trump.
...because the leaker plead guilty. If he went to trial this would have taken longer.
Does no one read the article or understand basic legal processes?
Technically the pleading guilty part is also in the footer below the post for users on desktop, but I was making a statement about due processes rather than complaining Charles case was too quick. Kind of akin to how a person mentions the beauty of the colors of clouds or the dread incurred by a coming storm just for somebody else to come along and yell "...Obviously. Does nobody watch the forecast or understand basic meteorology?"
A lot of people just want to be mad. This thread is full of people saying he should just be released, without realizing that if we release him because we happen to like the outcome, what’s that saying for the next person who wants to break the same law.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m as happy as everyone else that he did release the documents, but he broke the law to do it and knew the consequences when he did so. He knew this was a possibility.
Surely outrage is a good substitute for the legal system?
So let me ask you something. What do you get out of this? Hanging around in places where you believe that all the people are wrong and foolish? Waiting for some comment that's just low enough hanging fruit for you to know enough to have a basic response to, does this satisfy you? Your statement is no shit and your question is rhetorical. Do you just like standing in the middle of a crowd and screaming, denoting yourself separate and superior? Is this what you do online?
I like to have a diversity of thought and thought the Fediverse of all places would be promoting that. Instead everyone lumps into tribes and follows groupthink without question.
I've been here since LW started and belong here just as much as anyone else.
If you declare you are running for President, it should trigger an automatic disclosure of your entire tax record.
If you try to get any supervisory position in the federal government, they do a thorough background check, including checking on your debts. It's important to know whether someone at any level of management is susceptible to pressure or bribery. This goes for a LOT of non-management federal positions, too.
But the president? No, we'll just trust him. What's a political candidate going to do, get up on a stage and lie?? Don't be ridiculous.
Aight, I mean sure. It was wrong, but 5 years? I understand that not all judges sentence in the same way but 5 years? Insurrection gets basically gets butt pats and this guy gets 5 years?
I hope he manages to survive them.
Epstein jeopardized rich people and got suicided.
To be fair in Epsteins case his testifying could've probably put some people behind bars. This guy won't have anymore information now that he's been pulled away from the system.
True... though an example could be made? I suppose we'll see what happens.
If you mess with wealthy people, they'll come at you fast with prison time. See also Elisabeth Holmes and SBF (I don't necessarily disagree with their sentences, but you don't see someone that scammed a bunch of poor people get the same sentences).
Anyone has ever deserved a pardon it's this guy
Unfortunately a presidential pardon would be as blatant a political act as they come. Or at least that’s how it would be perceived.
He’ll be OK. There’ll be employers lining up to give him a job afterwards.
Putting ketchup on a burger and not mustard is seen as a political act anymore. Trump pardoned a group of war criminals, Charles Littlejohn deserves to walk free.
The law is the law. We need to keep acting in good faith or we’re no better than the GOP. I agree with your sentiment but I think he knew exactly what would happen and did not expect to be let off the hook.
I doubt he expected five years though. It's not like he was making money from what he did or showing classified information that could harm someone.
I do not want him to be punished, but at the same time ‘we’ need to uphold the standards that ‘they’ would not (when it suited them).
Which means GOP would do it in a heartbeat but we for some reason never could dream of doing so
We aren’t the Sith.
"some reason"?
Would you mind elaborating?
Pfffffff Biden is old as fuck and would be on his second term. The final act of his political career, and as political foosballs go about as long lasting as Barak Obama having a ketchup stain on his suit.
he wouldnt pardon this guy, all his friends would be furious
Nope. It’s a bad move and would be acting like GOP scum.
I miss the days when politicians weren't afraid to do political things. These days they can't even pass bills.
This is like a millennial joke wrapped in a boomer joke
Whistle-blowers are not very employable.
What about at a whistle making factory, as a tester?
This man is a hero.
This is what the US does to heros that speak truth against the owner class.
You're not wrong but I feel you might be being overly specific. It's not just the US that protects their wealthy -- this would happen anywhere -- some places maybe a little less harshly, but plenty would be more harsh, too. The Panama Papers journalist was killed "extrajudicially"
Sucks that leaking those returns moved the needle exactly 0% in the fight against Trump.
Trump could be eating his own shit in front of a crowd during a rally and his followers will start doing the same.
Would they eat his or their own?
Yes.
I… I could pay to watch this.
Just watch "The Platform".
sounds like a potentially effective piece of performance art if we can find a skilled impersonator.
They made an example of them. That judge is well enough off to be thoroughly upset that somebody might release their crooked tax documents.
Honestly I think they should slip something into the law, for this type of leak if the person was lying and you release the document proving them lying that you get a slap on the wrist.
I think he was given the maximum to keep the peace and not allow the dimwits to say he was a Dem puppet.
I have a feeling that in the background he’ll likely be treated ok.
So if his sentence is altered by possible violence, ie 'keep the peace' then that means terrorism works on the government. File that one away for later, could come in handy.
Let’s not give them ideas. Uh… I mean validate their previous behaviours.
Yeah. I mean, considering what they could have done, though, I'd say 5 years is less of a slap on the wrist, and more of a whack with a yardstick.
Five years is literally the worst sentence you can get for the crime he pled guilty to. From how it's worded, the most recommended penalty for that crime appears to be a $5000 fine and maybe a little jail time.
They "threw the book at him" by all definitions of the word.
So, they gave him the maximum sentence, and the pro-Trump judge was pissed the sentence couldn't be any higher? What a piece of shit.
Apparently Ana Reyes was appointed by Joe Biden. You can't really call her a fascist, but her delusional liberal view of the world make her an indirect but effective supporter of fascism: If the inequality caused by the insane concentration of wealth and the resulting systemic corruption and injustice is not addressed, it causes degradation of material conditions and creates a fertile ground for fascism. But this they don't want to hear.
In my view the wealth inequality violates the intent of the constitution and Littlejon is a political prisoner.
I can't speak for whether the judge was pro-Trump. It doesn't sound (from other replies) like that was the case.
I think it's more that the everyone in the System (from prosecutors to judges) have a strong dislike for whistleblower crimes.
Could have done worse. Whistleblowers generally deserve significant leniency though I feel. Especially for a crime where no one was injured.
He got the maximum sentence under §7213
I mean, they could have disappeared him or thrown in a bunch of bullshit charges. But for what he did, he got as bad as it gets. The DOJ page even said they sentenced him so harshly to send a warning to people who consider repeating his behavior.
Whistleblowers are always punished harshly on purpose.
yeah we gotta fix that.
Wait. Was this a felony? Okay, then I guess he's not getting off lightly. Sure, he's in prison for only 5 years, but after he gets out he's still a felon. That means no voting, no gun ownership, no passport so he can't leave the country, ever.
Wait, felons can't get a passport so they leave the US? That kind of makes them political prisoners.
I thought the same as you, but it seems it's not so bad. You can vote after a felony sentence in the US, but maybe not right away and sometimes you have to settle court fines first.
Guns take longer and maybe never if your crime was violent or involved gun laws.
For passports, it seems most certain to be a no if your crime involved trafficking, smuggling, or anything to do with another country.
I think this guy can expect these rights restored after his sentence. But you're still right that the conviction will likely be a continuing problem in other ways. I doubt he could be hired as CPA or anywhere else involving confidential records.
I mean, in the eyes of the judge and the lawyers, the crime was premeditated, covered up, and the defendant is remorseless. Pretty clear grounds to give the maximum penalty allowed by law.
I believe the tax records for large corporations and the upper class should fax higher scrutiny without having to be publicly leaked.
No the judge was far more extreme then that:
She practically admitted that her thinking was politically motivated. And that even though democracy in the US was and still is in danger and wealth inequality severely undermines the democratic vote of citizens, there is absolutely no excuse to resist against tyranny using illegal means. She's not a fascist, but she'd make an excellent nazi. Yes Godwin's law but that is how that worked. If Trump wins again democracy in the US could literally end but she sees no morally justifiable reason to resist.
PS: Or she just doesn't understand that extreme wealth inequality and rise of fascism are linked, and you cannot fight the one without fighting the other.
Just like the sentencing for the insurrectionists right? Oh wait...
True, however, power concedes nothing without a demand. The only thing the powerful fear is losing that power. You can call for higher scrutiny of the upper class and corporations all you like, but they won't do it unless forced to. And they're also the ones who write national policy, so good luck writing a law to force them to do anything. It will be shoved into a shredder the second it enters the DC city limits.
Remind me again who are "they" exactly, and what are their incentives?
They are lawmakers.
Incentives would be to engage whistleblowers, forcing all to be more transparent in cases where no one is physically harmed.
Okay. Now pretend for a moment we are talking about the real planet Earth with the existing legislators of it's actual countries.
You get approximately 0% of the change you never seek.
Can you cite anything that the judge has gone outside of the recommended punishment for this type of crime? Or is this just an idea that all of these powerful government officials are conspiring to scare people into not doing something like this? Any evidence that this judge is rich and corrupt? Or is it just that it fits the narrative that you want to be true so you'll assume it's true?
The recommended penalty for unauthorized disclosure is something more like a $5000 fine. The maximum allowable penalty for the offense is 5 years in prison.
"Wanting to do the right thing" is apparently an aggrivating circumstance.
Thanks for actually addressing the point. Where did you get this information from? Not that I don't trust you, I'm just curious to read more.
Weird. I SWORE I linked this. Maybe it was a different reply.
As for the exact terminology, I got the crime he pleaded guilty of from the propaganda press junket from the DOJ on the matter.
Thanks appreciate it. Considering he got the harsher end of the spectrum, I'm going to look into this further.
When you do, you'll find out he did more things (more folks' tax returns, though he didn't publish those AFAIR). I'm sure he pled to this crime because of those other things. But that doesn't really justify maximum sentence for what he was found guilty of.
Considering I was planning on looking into this, can you explain your reasoning? I could easily be convinced one way or another.
He got the maximum sentence because he was unrepentant of the crime, and because anything less than that would seem biased. I didn't see any mention of fines, maybe he got off easy there?
If you check the original article there's a bit at the bottom where the prosecution wanted to charge him for much more than just one Unauthorized Disclosure
E:switch Prosecution for Judge
I thought when I read the article that the judge was upset that the prosecution didn't go for more.
You're right
I can cite a shit ton of the uber wealthy that get off scott free for a hell of a lot worse. But that won't support your point any better.
So, no, you don't have any evidence that this judge has done anything wrong, nor do you know that the ruling was especially harsh. Figured.
Does professional trolling pay well these days?
No argument, empty ad hominem. It's amazing that people still don't realize how much this reveals how little faith they have in their own argument.
Wow, you just keep going, it's truly impressive at this point.
Don't be too impressed as it's easy to keep going when you argue the facts and the other person can't do anything but sling insults. This is especially true when they aren't even good at slinging insults.
Man, another zinger, so amazing.
You got beat at your own game, and are now whining that I played it. Lol
Absolutely amazing
Agreed
That is like saying if you break into someone's house and steal something that was stolen already then your crime is ok? "Two wrongs don't make a right"
The utter irony of saying this.
The defendant's last name is "LittleJohn."
Little John was the sidekick of Robin Hood.
Robin Hood is the embodiment of the idea that, actually, two wrongs can very much make a right - stealing from the corrupt rich and giving to the poor is a good thing, actually. And breaking the law is good when the law only protects and empowers the corrupt and the wealthy
And that is exactly what this defendant did. Much like his coincidental namesake, he stole from the corrupt rich and shared what he took with everyone else. And much like the "Outlaw" Robin Hood, he was punished for it.
The only problem is that the United States isn't waiting for the Good King Richard to return and right all of our society's wrongs. Because, unlike Merry Old England, we don't have such a Good King coming to save us.
The irony of basing your comment on a fictional character
Please elaborate on how that meets the definition of "irony."
Because it's like a traffic jam when you're already late. Or a no smoking sign on your cigarette break. Obviously.
That makes sense. Pretty similar to rain on your wedding day as well
Do you know what allegories are
Nah, I'm saying that sometimes someone does the wrong thing for the right reasons and they deserve leniency
I'm saying I'd like to see him tried and sentenced like he's a billionaire.
Right and Wrong are human concepts that change and adapt depending on the the motive of the story teller.
Is killing another human being wrong? What if we call it Murder? What if we call it Self Defense? What if we call it Sacrifice? What if we call it War?
All these words we use to describe the same thing, but whether its a Right or Wrong highly depends on the era, local, and values of the story teller.
Was it wrong for Americans to help slaves escape to the north before the Civil War? That was illegal. Our hiding Jews during the Holocaust? That was also illegal.
Would it be ok to break into my neighbor's house if I saw them drag another human being against their will, but the cops wont do anything because I can't prove it? Pretty sure a jury wouldn't fault me Breaking and Entry for that.
too bad judge Reyes isnt going to tell us how serious it is to steal classified documents and sell them.
Selling classified documents to Russian and Chinese interests is standard practice for the oligarchy though. Some petty serf peasant slapping a few feudal lords, that is a real crime in Neo Feudal America.
Charles Littlejohn is a hero.
He's a political prisoner.
There is a vast accumulation of power and systemic corruption because of the vast concentration of wealth. That should be unconstitutional and should be opposed.
Coming from. Sweden where all tax records are public, it seems insane to get 5 years for revealing taxes.
Yeah, and wasn't Trump supposed to show his tax returns the moment he became president and promised he'd do it?
It's more of a norm, not a requirement or law.
The last seven years have shown that we can no longer rely on norms or moral codes or anything like that. It should all be codified in law.
It wasnt only Trumps returns
Did he reveal the other peoples taxed?
I’d like to know this too. Apparently it includes jef bezos and elon musk.
Also where to find trumps taxes, the internet is dominated with news about his punishment but not a single reference on where we can find these leaks
In a sane world, he would have been given a Medal of Honor
Hey may catch a pardon depending on how November goes. Could get ugly if Trump wins, too. The Donald is not a forgiving type...
There is a zero percent chance of Biden pardoning him.
If AOC is elected president then maybe.
Naw Biden's not going to do it, and even if asked why not, he'll give some nonsense about letting the nation heal.
And also pardoning him would be corruption
I'm curious, in what way?
The man broke the law in order to publish documents damaging to Trump. Biden pardoning him would be seen as a reward for attacking his political opponents
How did they get him tried and sentenced so fast?
Every time I question why Trump isn't in jail already people keep telling me "these things take time".
Given that Trump is a high profile case, allowing them to take twice the time of a normal person would have still put him behind bars already.
They didn't try him, he
pledpleaded(?) guilty.Trump's case may be a bit more complicated, for one.
I don't know if this sort of thing is allowed, but if outsiders can donate money to his prison commissary account, I will definitely donate.
Would you donate for Assange? Same policy applied on him.
Assange didn't steal anything.
I've actually met this guy a few years ago... crazy... he was a pretty nice guy from what I recall - brought homemade cinnamon buns to a party.
Anyways, his friends set up a gofundme to donate for his legal fees, since of course it costs thousands to continue defending himself and his actions...
I’m honestly considering donating to his commissary account and sending him a letter once he’s actually settled in for his sentence.
If society survives long enough for this to become history, the act will be seen as as heroic. The hardest thing for the relatively comfortable, myself included, to do these days is risk that relative comfort and sacrifice our futures (civil and professional) for something that acts against all of the slow motion attacks on democracy going on right now. I don't know enough about him individually to say, but the act on its face us heroic and needed.
Then why don't we pressure Biden into pardoning him?
Biden's not going to pardon someone who broke the law to Biden's benefit
Corruption is bad, remember?
It's not corruption when he's pardoning someone for doing what is right.
Whether he benefits from it or not is completely irrelevant. Just because it does benefit him doesn't change the fact that what that fellow did was moral and he's being wrongly punished for it.
Your logic can be used to justify not enforcing the 14th amendment on Trump.
Please explain my logic, because I can't make heads or tails of how it justifies not applying the law to Trump
Because accepting a pardon is an admission of guilt.
He already pleaded guilty, but then got hit with the maximum sentence (seemingly from pressure from people like Rick Scott). He's still trying to fight it out legally and his friends put together a gofundme to help cover his legal fees, but a pressure campaign for a pardon doesn't sound like a half bad idea either.
The judge compared his actions to Jan 6 -- so if Trump's elected, he'll surely pardon this guy, right?? Trump was going to release that stuff anyway, he just couldn't because mumbles into hand and then trails off
Who cares? What matters is that he is free, and he was already found guilty regardless of the fact that what he did was right.
Didn't he already plead guilty though?
ITT: people who didn't click the link. It's in like the very first sentence.
Still more time than trump will ever serve.
Even if Trump got the maximum sentence for all of his crimes, he wouldn't live another 5 years. (I don't mean to imply he'd be Epstein'd, or even Chauvin'd -- though i guess that's possible -- I just mean he's old, fat, eats unhealthily -- I can't think of a softer, weaker person. And "dying of old age" happens a lot younger when you're under a lot of stress.)
Evil has a way of persisting.
So who's donating to his commissary? I'd be willing to throw a 20 every now and then.
Got a link?
To donate directly to his prison commissary, the basic instructions are at the bottom of this page here
https://web.archive.org/web/20240129195016/https://www.bop.gov/inmates/communications.jsp
However each of those methods is going to require getting a match on the inmate locator, and since he isn't actually incarcerated yet there aren't any matching results
One other thing I found, though I have no way of knowing if it's legit - https://web.archive.org/save/https://www.gofundme.com/f/charles-littlejohns-legal-defense-fund
(title is legal defense, but text says "defray his legal fees and expenses during incarceration.")
Looks like he's still fighting the sentence and his friends set up a gofund me to help pay his legal fees. Should anyone be interested in showing him some support outside of the commissary.
Biden needs to pardon this guy right after elections
I would rather depend on congress to protect whistleblowers and/or disclose finances for candidates than set precedent for pardoning people who illegally obtain and publish private information of political rivals. Both seem pretty unlikely, for now.
He won't. Man drives me nuts.
If Biden pardoned the guy, it would be seen as a very partisan action and would be seized upon in absolutely no uncertain terms by the GOP. They get their base in a lather over shit they just made up, imagine what they'd do with something that actually happened.
Ok I imagine them doing the absolute same shit they do with their imagined scandals.
It's not like they are holding back waiting for something real.
And btw Trump himself ordered many partisan pardons.
So I don't see any downside to pardoning this guy right now.
It's not like he hurt anybody.
He leaked something that should have been public in the first place.
And that judge is obviously deranged if they think, this is even close to the same level as a violent attack on the capital to hinder a change of democratic power.
That's why you do it after the election. Biden only has 4 more years anyway. GOP can't do anything. Pardons are something a president does, not impeachable.
Careful guys, he’s a hero
Funny thing is that probably in prison they will clap when he enters his cell
How was he not protected under whistleblower laws?
You mean the ones that protected Snowden, Assange, and Manning?
If people believe in this stupid law thing, they have to actually be willing to enforce it. You can't just keep giving into cynicism forever.
The United States' legal system is regularly enforced against the poor and the weak. It is serving its actual purpose
Wow... You're everywhere today beating your drum, aren't you? How soon until your manifesto drops in this thread?
Yes, the justice system has and is used disproportionately against the poor and maligned. The work to overcome that continues - your diatribes about the "obvious result of late-stage neoliberalism policies" notwithstanding.
Not sure what you're upset about. Care to elaborate?
Some people will stop at nothing to defend the 1980's crime tv status-quo where police are the good guys where no broken law is ever justified except their broken law
He wasn't reporting anything illegal - just wrong.
Look up UNAX, he wasn't authorized to even view that information meaning he did technically break the law. Judge is extra for that comment though.
Who cares? It was for the betterment of the country by trying to stop fascism and so he should be pardoned. I'm surprised the jury didn't just let him off.
He pled guilty. There wasn't a jury.
🤔 Who wants to bet they intimidated or threatened him to taking that plea deal?
Intimidation and threats is the whole plea deal system by definition. "We're going to charge you with all these crimes and get you 20 years if you don't plead guilty to jaywalking". Doesn't matter if you have a strong case, or if they don't have a case at all, when they have even a weak case to ruin your life. As my attorney (long story, civil case) puts it "once something gets to the jury, it can always go either way".
But, as the bootlickers will say, the courts will be overwhelmed if EVERY person we lock in a cage has their day in court!!! They can cry me a fucking river.
There will never be justice in our country as long as there's a plea deal system.
Is there a way to write him a letter? Idk how your prison system works, but this dude needs some encouragement for what he did.
Theoretically, yes, that should be a big old 1st amendment free speech right, but since this is a legal right for a poor person expect it to be a big pain to exercise
Anyway, all the instructions should be on this page here
https://web.archive.org/web/20240129195016/https://www.bop.gov/inmates/communications.jsp
However each of those methods is going to require getting a match on the inmate locator, and since I don't think he is actually incarcerated yet there aren't any matching results (and it will probably take some time after he's been incarcerated for his record to start showing up)
I also found what looks like a GoFundMe page for him, which might be a way to get in contact with his family and friends, which might be a better way of contacting him (among other things, the prison email system only allows inmates to send messages to approved contacts and they're limited to 30 of those, so sending everything to someone with regular email who could be one of those contacts and just forward things along might work best) - https://web.archive.org/save/https://www.gofundme.com/f/charles-littlejohns-legal-defense-fund
I should add I haven't verified that GoFundMe is legitimate, but it looks like it is
🫡
Can you imagine the storm in truth social if Biden pardoned this guy lmao, cmon Biden!
And Biden won't pardon him.
But he's gonna lock down the border and bypass congress to ship weapons to Israel.
Trump and his base already conflate his many court cases catching up to him as the DOJ sent to stop a political rival. If Biden just pardoned the person who “stole” Trumps taxes, we’d hear about it nonstop til November.
Don’t do something because it might piss of the Republicans is not gonna cut it as an excuse.
And as we have all seen, they will straight up invent a reason to complain nonstop until November if they don’t have a real one.
They never have a real one.
The guy chose to commit the crime. The republicans are looking for anything that sticks in their idiot bases brain and “Biden chooses to pardon anti trump criminal” will be on the fox or oan scroll until it’s burned into their eyes. Pardoning is Biden’s option, but if he does, that helps trump with his base in a tight race. Obviously he wouldn’t pardon.
How many votes for Biden do you lose if the Fox News viewers decide not to vote for him? Are there many people watching that channel who are on the fence?
Probably very, very few, or none. I know from a small amount of personal conversations, though, that there are quite a few lifelong Republicans who have absolutely had it with Trump. I don’t think they could bring themselves to vote for Biden, however. They’d just skip voting for President altogether.
When Haley drops there will absolutely be unallocated repubs angry with trump.
Fox news viewers don't exist in a vacuum. They actually interact with other people, on a daily basis.
So, what, instead Biden should capitulate to avoid offending them?
We're going to hear about this shit nonstop til November anyway, it doesn't matter if Biden pardons him or not. Might as well earn it.
It would be hilarious if he pardoned him the day he started his second term (not the day after the election, but the day he actually started his term).
Won’t happen, but it’s fun to dream.
This is why I shouldn't be president. I would be doing petty shit like that CONSTANTLY.
I shouldn’t be President either. I’d be like “someone on Lemmy made a really thoughtful post. They should probably be a cabinet member!”
Which is why he should wait until December.
He really shouldn't. What the guy did was still legally wrong, and he probably knew it and weighed he would rather take jail time and commit it. A less scrupulous person could do worse things, which is why those laws are in place.
If he could somehow reduce the sentence that would be great, and if that is on the table he should, but some punishment should still occur.
He's a vigilante hero for what he did, but vigilantes are still criminals. The main issue here is that the punishment is clearly wrong, and the message is wrong, as the judge seems to think this is paramount to treason, which it isn't.
A crime of conscience is exactly what pardons are supposed to be for - doing what is right regardless of the legality or consequences
Yes, how could we possibly expect the president to pardon someone who did something legally wrong, that defeats the whole point of pardons! /s
Anyway, have fun arguing that someone who metaphorically ran into a burning building to rescue a baby deserves
the maximumany punishment for trespassing, that's some real good moral reasoning that will build a just society, for sure /se; ftfy
I literally said the punishment didn't fit though.
Let's hope he didn't sleep under any bridges, too. That would be what they call a repeat offender.
Exposing a convicted criminal is a crime against the US and its legal foundation? GTFOH.
On the other hand, maybe said “legal foundation” is said to protect those with money and influence and punish those who dare to move beyond the systemic injustices present. Maybe this judge was correct after all.
You'd have thought he was Russian opposition and he had revealed something about Putin!
You laugh, but the only other 5 year sentence I can think of in this whole situation is Reality Winner, the biggest unspoken hero of the last decade who leaked the Russian Interference information to the press. I guarantee we wouldn't know that happened if it weren't for her. And yet, quoting the wikipedia entry on her: "No one has ever received a longer sentence for leaking classified information to a media outlet"
Now I can name somebody else who has (if the crime was technically different).
I'm being blocked https://edition.cnn.com/browser-blocked (They seem to block "I don't care about cookies" extension. But the internet is becoming unusable because of all the cookie spam!)
Archive link: https://archive.is/eyFmw
I remember when everything was great on the Internet before the "accept cookies" button 😢
When they took your data without notifying you? What was great about that?
I guess he didn't do a very good job of it.
Honestly, not sure why this is a crime. If I was rich as hell I'd be like "you want my tax returns? why so you can have a crywank?"
That's why Trump didn't release them, he isn't rich as hell
Eh… it’s a crime because he wasn’t even supposed to have access, and in order to get access he had to break the law.
Yeah I don't see any victims here. Also, I love how I can have the exact same opinion as everyone else, yet I'm the one who gets downvoted lol makes sense.