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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsIn Defense of Trump, Rubio Claims Only 'Third World' Countries Convict Their Leaders. He's Wrong.
If facts are important, Marco Rubio could stand to learn a few. His recent claim that only in the Third World are high-level politicians tried and convicted of crimes is easily debunked.
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For instance, Silvio Berlusconi, the media mogul and former Prime Minister of Italy, was convicted and sentenced to four years in prison for tax fraud in 2013, though he wound up serving only community service because of his age. He was expelled from holding public office for a time after his conviction but was subsequently reelected to the European Parliament. His other alleged misdeeds are well documented. Other Italian leaders have also been convicted of crimes. Frances former prime minister, François Fillon, was convicted more recently in June 2020 of corruption charges. He was considered a frontrunner to become the president of that country. He also was forced to pay a fine equivalent to $421,000 in U.S. dollars.
Former French President Jacques Chirac was tried after he left office over a job scandal which he used to fund his political party. [H]e was excused from having to attend his 2011 corruption trial due to ill health, The Guardian reported. He was convicted, but his two-year sentence was suspended, several outlets, including The New York Times, said. And, prosecutors asked a judge to hand another former French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, a four-year prison term last December on accusations he tr[ied] to bribe a judge with a plum retirement job in exchange for inside information on an inquiry into his campaign finances, The Guardian also reported. A final verdict in the case is not expected until March 1 of this year.
Former Romanian Chamber of Deputies President Liviu Dragnea went to jail in 2019 after a corruption conviction. He was described as the countrys most powerful politician for his leadership role in the lower house of Romanias bicameral legislature. South Koreas highest court recently upheld a 20-year prison sentence for Park Geun-Hye, South Koreas former president, on a bribery conviction. Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert served time behind bars for bribery and obstruction of justice. He was released in 2017. Current Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was indicted on corruption charges in Nov. 2019.
While were making a list, former Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond was tried but acquitted on sex assault charges. He claimed the case against him was a smear campaign. But he was tried. Former Bulgarian Prime Minister Sergei Stanishev was tried but acquitted in a scandal alleging lost government documents. For the record, France, Italy, Scotland, Israel, and South Korea are considered first-world, Western-aligned countries. Romania and Bulgaria are considered second-world countries due to their historical alignment with the Eastern bloc.
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https://lawandcrime.com/impeachment/in-defense-of-trump-rubio-claims-only-third-world-nations-convict-their-leaders-hes-wrong/
grumpyduck
(6,199 posts)as that he's counting on his followers to be ignorant and believe this shit.
The more I read about these assholes, the more I believe they think their followers are morons and are counting on it. This might be a good tack for The Lincoln Project to take on, but I've become very cynical about any of these orgs listening to anybody except their own people. If I get ambitious later today, I'll send them an email just to get it off my chest.
LizBeth
(9,946 posts)BlueJac
(7,838 posts)He just spreads lies!