JtothePJan 13, 2023
Qasim Rashid, Esq.

Trump Org CFO Weisselberg is being sentenced to 5 months jail for massive tax fraud, of which he'll serve ~100 days on Rikers.

Kalief Browder suffered in Rikers for 700 days in solitary confinement on the false accusation he stole a backpack, then died by suicide.

Two Americas. And a reminder that a system cannot fail those it was never meant to protect, and that a system will always protect those it was never meant to fail.

Jan 10, 2023 at 4:52pmWeb
Show threadSeanannigansJan 10, 2023
@QasimRashid
Show threadfulanigirl has movedJan 10, 2023
@QasimRashid The criminal legal system in action - in its truest form.
Show threadSteve PopovichJan 10, 2023
@QasimRashid at least Weisselberg will see some jail time, unlike Trump who seems poised to skate yet again. But his privilege did seem to hold down the sentence.
Show threadOtownKimJan 10, 2023
@QasimRashid No one is above the law my ASS!!!
Show threadNLAWScametovisitJan 10, 2023
@otownKim @QasimRashid JUDICIAL REFORM NOW!
Show threadOtownKimJan 10, 2023
@NLAWScametovisit @QasimRashid it will never happen! Unfortunately
Show threadNLAWScametovisitJan 10, 2023
@otownKim @QasimRashid i have hope
Show threadOtownKimJan 10, 2023
@NLAWScametovisit @QasimRashid I used to. Not so much since 2016
Show threadNLAWScametovisitJan 10, 2023
@otownKim @QasimRashid well then i shall have hope for the both of us, and shall hope you are able to some day find yours again.
Show threadflutterfli007Jan 10, 2023
@QasimRashid ugly truth about America they didnt teach us in school. we have to learn the hard way
Show threadDemocracy Dies in DumbassJan 10, 2023

@QasimRashid I hate to say it, I'm hoping Rikers is EXACTLY that bad and that after a week Weisselberg is crying to tell all to get the fuck out of there.

That is a form of torture I can get behind.

Show threadAlan CampbellJan 10, 2023
@QasimRashid I would think the only sliver of justification for that massive discrepancy is weisellburgers gave up something dead-to-rights damning about the mango maniac. Even then it's still quite thin.
Show threadactualeyesJan 10, 2023
@QasimRashid ACAB
Show threadKimberly MarieJan 10, 2023
@QasimRashid 😂😂😂
Show threadKarinaJan 10, 2023

@QasimRashid I used to be a big believer in the law. That lady Justice truly was blind and we were all equal.

I was wrong. Money is all that counts. Those who have the least suffer the most. Those who have the most make the rules for those of us who don't. They make the rules to protect themselves...not us.

Show threadGATEKEEPERJan 10, 2023
@QasimRashid
I doubt he's going to Rikers. they don't have TVs in the cells.
Show threadPat FullerJan 10, 2023
@QasimRashid Just so heartbreaking.
Show threadWade WainioJan 10, 2023
@QasimRashid Yep, and the racist, sexist, and xenophobic system of this country operates on a lot of different levels.
Show threadUrsidinoj/The BjornsdottirsJan 10, 2023
@QasimRashid one of the cannots can be phrased as a will always
Show threadEthan CampbellJan 10, 2023
@QasimRashid Also, there's no chance Weisselberg will have contact with other inmates in that hellhole. The city is supposed to close it in a few years, but they really need to do it now.
Show threadBart GrahamJan 10, 2023
@QasimRashid Absolutely Outrageous ‼️
Show threadAnnie DJan 10, 2023
@QasimRashid that reality is dreadful to acknowledge 😡
Show threadSmplefyJan 10, 2023

@QasimRashid

Financial crimes not withstanding, sending Allen Weisselberg, 75, to Rikers to start a 5 month term, during winter seems unnecessarily risky.

Give him a longer term at someplace that he is more likely to survive.

Show threadKevin RussellJan 10, 2023

@QasimRashid

This is not acceptable. Not acceptable.

Show threadSharon Gibson MorganJan 10, 2023

@QasimRashid

This brings to mind the African American woman who sincerely thought she was able to vote and got the book thrown at her while someone like the underage son VA Gov. Glenn Youngkin attempts to vote twice without consequence.

Show threadራስ ባሪያው Rass BariawJan 10, 2023
@QasimRashid disgraceful
Show threadOMG. WTF is happening??Jan 10, 2023
@QasimRashid this ruling is so transparent and insulting. Even though I fully expected this outcome….it STILL effing infuriates me.
Show threadC.D. LewisJan 10, 2023
@QasimRashid For those who aren't following it you might mention, for perspective, that Weisselberg's 5-month sentence follows over $2m in tax and penalty payments _and_ his active cooperation in the government's case against the Trump organization. Comparing this to terrors perpetrated against the falsely accused is nonsense: the accused should not be mistreated, including the falsely accused, which is why New York paid a $3.3m civil rights judgment to Browder's family. Details matter.
Show threadAdam BurckJan 10, 2023
@Sea_Dragons @QasimRashid Isn’t it nice that Browder’s family got some coin? But then again, he was an innocent person, tortured to the point of suicide and he’s dead. So, call that even?
Show threadMacCruiskeenJan 10, 2023
@Sea_Dragons @QasimRashid Even the judge who sentenced him said it wasn't enough. If there hadn't been an agreement in place over his testimony, he'd have gotten a lot more.
Show threadC.D. LewisJan 10, 2023
@maccruiskeen @QasimRashid That's the point, though, isn't it? He cooperated. He didn't just pay when caught what tax authorities said he owed as taxes plus all the penalties provided by statute for failure to pay timely but he additionally cooperated to ensure the prosecution could make the larger case it wanted to make against his employer and he's still been convicted and despite being 75yo is spending time incarcerated. His deal flows from his cooperation, yet he's still not free.
Show threadMacCruiskeenJan 11, 2023
@Sea_Dragons @QasimRashid Well obviously the judge knew all the when he made his comments. The prosecutor made a deal to get the testimony, the judge okayed the deal, but after the hearing, felt that the deal was way too lenient. But at that point he was unable to change the deal.
Show threadC.D. LewisJan 11, 2023

@maccruiskeen @QasimRashid I've had judges refuse to accept plea deals arranged with prosecutors. Freedom to reject deals, including sentences, may vary by jurisdiction.

A 5-month sentence may be irritating to see for a white collar criminal found owing substantial unpaid taxes, but the alternative might or might not appeal to you. Imagine if only criminals could buy witness testimony because prosecutors could not compensate witnesses with leniency. Maybe better, but certainly different.

Show threadMacCruiskeenJan 11, 2023
@Sea_Dragons @QasimRashid There's leniency, and then there's getting a sweet deal because you're a rich, connected guy.
Show threadC.D. LewisJan 11, 2023
@maccruiskeen @QasimRashid And there's mercy for a 75yo who was doing what he was told by his evil boss until he prosecutors offered escape, and hasn't got a lot of 5-month sentences left in him, and who made the government's case with testimony that bound the entity because he acted for it and knew what it knew. Where else could the government buy this testimony? I wasn't there but this is not a cop getting probation for murdering his neighbor because of his badge or his race. It's a deal.
Show threadmarkJan 10, 2023
@Sea_Dragons @QasimRashid the tax part , that you mention as punishment, was just making good on obligations. That means he got caught trying to steal 2m from the rest of us, and got caught. This wasn't oversight or a mistake. Look at the comparisons being made, and stop to think about the difference
Show threadC.D. LewisJan 11, 2023
@ATLeagle @QasimRashid As a follow up: I don't know how much tax or penalty he actually owed, but he PAID more than $2m. I've certainly had clients shaken down by tax authorities for taxes they very manifestly did not owe, simply because the authorities knew the taxpayer would not be able to afford to fight. Some of the more-than-$2m was penalty and not tax, and the amount that would have been due if calculated by an objective third party is probably a matter of speculation.
Show threadKathrynJan 10, 2023
@QasimRashid So. Slap on the wrist for the swindler’s swindler. This disparity, which you so eloquently point out, is nothing short of obscene.
Show threadReal_JamesCainJan 10, 2023
@QasimRashid @ptoothfish I think you’re forgetting how hard it is for rich upper class businessmen to get a job once they’ve been to prison.
Show threadTwigletJan 10, 2023
@QasimRashid Shameful disparity and injustice 😖☹️😱😓
Show threadShailesh Kumar 🇫🇯🇺🇸Jan 10, 2023
@QasimRashid even the 5 months won’t happen. sick note coming for him, being unable to be in prison. More likely to be in a hospital.
Show threadOberon.OnmuraJan 10, 2023
@QasimRashid 100 days in Rikers will be no picnic for a 75-year-old. That, plus over $2 million in back taxes and penalties is gonna sting. Plus, there may be more charges coming. It's not as much as I'd like, but he's at least paying a price, unlike his boss.
Show threadニルス・スキニールJan 10, 2023
@QasimRashid
Money talks.
Justice walks
Show threadZhi Zhu 🕸️Jan 10, 2023

@QasimRashid

“Conservatism consists of exactly one proposition, to wit:

There must be in-groups whom the law protects but does not bind,
alongside out-groups whom the law binds but does not protect."

~Frank Wilhoit, composer
https://crookedtimber.org/2018/03/21/liberals-against-progressives/#comment-729288

#Conservatives #Conservatism #GOP #Quotes #Inequality #Meme #Memes

The travesty of liberalism — Crooked Timber

Show threadStatmonkey 🙊Jan 10, 2023
@QasimRashid Never forget this.
Show threadWTFJan 10, 2023
@QasimRashid Who the hell wouldn’t do a crime to get that kind of money for only 5 months? Zero deterrent.
Show threadPazOthJan 10, 2023
@QasimRashid 
Show threadFord EytouJan 11, 2023
#NoteToSelf Only steal #backpacks filled with Tax Payer money. 💸
Show threadEmma's Lens ✔️Jan 11, 2023
@QasimRashid it's just so infuriating how the rich will always stroll away from their crimes with pathetic sentences and pampering. If they ever reach prison in the first place.
Show threadMark TisdaleJan 11, 2023
@QasimRashid The rest of us should try stealing a TV and see how long we rot in jail. Shameful but utterly unsurprising.
Show threadEarthOneJan 11, 2023

@QasimRashid I am so disappointed in New York and Tisha James I can't believe I ever thought they'd finally nail even one Trump for their generations of criminal activity.

Anybody but me remember that Wesley Snipes served over 2 yrs. of a 3 yr. sentence for 3 counts of misdemeanor "willful" tax evasion in Florida?

Fuck all of them.

Show threadPaul 💙 28 💔 💚Jan 11, 2023

@QasimRashid great phrase.... can be said of the UK as well re the ruling wealthy elite

A reminder that a system cannot fail those it was never meant to protect, and that a system will always protect those it was never meant to fail.

Show threadBig Beautiful Blue WallJan 11, 2023

@QasimRashid

Because of voter migration patterns Trump will win the presidency in 2034 and it all goes away.

Show threadGodfrey642Jan 11, 2023
@QasimRashid The fact that Trump will probably never serve jail time for his crimes, not least of all for sedition, will herald in the end of democracy in USA. Last week's fiasco being the start.
Show threadLangwidere the RadicalJan 20, 2023
@QasimRashid less than 100 days. This country is seriously f’ed up.