• Sky_Lobster@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    Yeah, but $200,000 for Trump feels like a joke. It should be more in line with his income to be meaningful.

    • Fredselfish@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      To be honest it probably is just he continues to spew his is a billionaire so it should be a billion dollars see what happens. 200k is a joke.

      • Gatsby@discuss.online
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        1 year ago

        That was probably true before he became President but I doubt it is anymore. He spent his entire term lining his pockets with as much taxpayer money as possible… And that’s not even taking into account the fact that he’s been campaigning this entire time to fund his legal defense against the numerous criminal and civil cases against him.

      • cerevant@lemm.ee
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        1 year ago

        I keep seeing this, so I wanted to clear up some details:

        • Bail isn’t a penalty, it is an incentive to return for trial (to get your money back). Bail was waived for Trump in previous cases because not only is he constantly followed by Secret Service, he is a high profile person who won’t be able to hide for long anywhere in the world.
        • Bail is typically a tenth (or less) of what Trump was given for even violent felonies.
        • You must pay the entire amount to be released on bail, unless you get a bail bond.
        • A bail bond is when a third party agrees to pay the bail amount if you do not show up for trial. The 10% frequently cited is a fee to the bail bondsman for taking this risk. You still have to provide some kind of collateral to the bondsman to cover the remainder of the bail amount.
        • You don’t get the 10% back. If you have the cash to cover bail, it makes sense to use it because then you can get it all back.

        Trump getting a bail bond would be a public admission that he doesn’t have the cash. He’ll find the cash.

        • Nougat@kbin.social
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          1 year ago

          You must pay the entire amount to be released on bail, unless you get a bail bond.

          Reporting I’ve seen is that in the jurisdiction which Trump is charged in Georgia, you only have to post 10% to the court. Presumably, if you then abscond, you are on the hook for the remainder.

          EDIT: Reporting I have seen appears to be wrong; parent commenter appears to be correct:

          https://fultoncountyga.gov/inside-fulton-county/fulton-county-departments/sheriff/law-enforcement/bond-administration-unit

          Another edit:

          Hmm. I’m looking at Eastman’s jail record, and all of his charges say “Disposition: 10% bond.” So I really don’t know.

          • cerevant@lemm.ee
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            1 year ago

            Yeah, I looked over the article and they say this, but I can’t find a single reference to that program outside of articles about Trump. Odd.

            Even the article doesn’t say if the 10% is returned. Maybe the FC Sheriff has in-house bail bonding.

            • Nougat@kbin.social
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              1 year ago

              I saw your initial reply and looked into it, edited the above. I think you’re right and the reporting is wrong. I’ve seen wrong reporting on other aspects of this situation, too, so this is not a surprise to me. That’s why my initial reply was in reference to “reporting I’ve seen.” I already had my doubts.

          • thepianistfroggollum@lemmynsfw.com
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            1 year ago

            No they aren’t. The 10% is the fee you pay the bail bondsmen to put up the entire amount so you can get out of jail. The courts need the entire amount before they’ll let you go, but you don’t have to go through a bondsman.

            • kablammy@sh.itjust.works
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              1 year ago

              Is the entire bond amount forfeited when the defendant doesn’t turn up, or is it returned if they are later caught? Like if Trump pays $20K to the bondsman, the bondsman posts the $200K to the court, and Trump runs - presumably the bondsman sends a bounty hunter after him (paid out of the $20K?) so when they hand Trump in the bondsman gets their $200K back (but now has less than $20K profit)?

            • Miasmal@kbin.social
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              1 year ago

              From the link:

              The bond agreement, which also states Trump must not attempt to intimidate any potential witnesses, said that the former president can post bond as cash, commercial surety or through Fulton County’s Jail 10 percent program, whereby Trump can pay 10 percent of the bail if agreed by the Fulton County Sheriff’s office.

              Is that the same thing? Is the county providing bond services?

              • cerevant@lemm.ee
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                1 year ago

                Not clear. I searched and cannot find any reference to this program. I’m going to guess they do bonds in-house, and this is the standard fee. Otherwise it would undermine the bail set by the judge.

              • thepianistfroggollum@lemmynsfw.com
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                1 year ago

                Yeah, the county is providing the bond services, but there’s been some doubt about that excerpt since that information is apparently only found in the news articles about Trump.

  • Steeve@lemmy.ca
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    1 year ago

    Does it feel like the news is all opinion pieces these days? All I see is “someone said something on Twitter” lately.

    • SheeEttin@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      This is the politics community, not news, so opinion pieces are fair game.

      But yeah, even so, I hate how even “news” articles are “elon posted something on twitter”.

    • PrinceWith999Enemies@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      The steep decline in money available to publishers means that they’re going to cut reporting in favor of paying an intern to copy and paste off of twitter. You end up with twenty different publications summarizing the same AP article with one paragraph, the. a dozen hot takes on twitter by people you’ve never heard of.

      And we’re reaching the point where they don’t even need the intern to do it.

    • sab@kbin.social
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      1 year ago

      You might need to update your list of countries outside of the US’ sphere of influence - those are both close allies. :)

  • AutoTL;DR@lemmings.worldB
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    1 year ago

    This is the best summary I could come up with:


    The $200,000 bond approved for Donald Trump in the Georgia election interference case is significant as it suggests the former president “cannot be trusted” to surrender to authorities for processing, according to a legal expert.

    Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee approved the amount for the former president on Monday, the first time Trump has been asked to post bond in any of the four criminal cases he is involved in.

    Discussing the bond arrangement, former Deputy Assistant Attorney General Harry Litman said that while the amount of money is not an issue for the former president, it is noteworthy that Judge McAfee should take steps to ensure that Trump does hand himself in.

    But the bigger provision is the anti tampering condition—he can’t do anything to intimidate any co-deft or witness or otherwise obstruct the administration of justice," Litman posted on X, formerly Twitter.

    The former president is not allowed to communicate with witnesses or any of the 18 other co-defendants in the case, which includes his former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows and his ex-personal attorney Rudy Giuliani, except through his lawyers.

    Trump was previously accused of witness intimidation via his Truth Social posts by legal experts after suggesting that former Georgia Lieutenant Governor Geoff Duncan shouldn’t testify to a grand jury just prior to the Fulton County indictment being announced.


    The original article contains 596 words, the summary contains 226 words. Saved 62%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!

  • theodewere@kbin.social
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    1 year ago

    “… something of an indignity that he has to post something”

    LAWL… that a former PRESIDENT has to post BOND because he’s considered at risk of fleeing the REPUBLIC… yeah, something of an indignity… that’s exactly what Washington would have said…

    on racketeering charges no less… while still in office… against a state…

    if you trusted him your head is on upside down AND backwards… get a friend or a priest to knock it off for you, so you can put it back on straight…

  • Phoenixz@lemmy.ca
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    1 year ago

    Meh. Random lawyer saying things.

    Then again, this is trump and you know he’s dumb as a rock and always ready to put up a show.

    Then again, please please don’t show up. I want to watch a SWAT team kick in his door and drag him out screaming “I thought this was America! MAGAFLGHH” and then a cop puts a knee in his neck. I know, will never happen, bit wouldn’t that be fun for a change

  • Nougat@kbin.social
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    1 year ago

    Premise of the article is flawed. They’re setting bond amounts for everyone. Seems like standard procedure in Fulton County, GA.

    • TWeaK@lemm.ee
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      1 year ago

      The article is deceitful, because it’s quoting former Deputy Assistant Attorney General Harry Litman. So it’s a former prosecutor saying the $200k bond means Trump cannot be trusted, not the courts saying that.