Top engineer who stole trade secrets from Google's self-driving division pardoned on Trump's last day as president
- Reference: 1611167413
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2021/01/20/levandowski_bannon_trump_pardons/
- Source link:
Breitbart founder and one-time Cambridge Analytica board member Steve Bannon was also [1]among those receiving clemency over fraud charges regarding a fundraiser for Trump's infamous border wall, as were some rappers.
[2]
In August last year, Levandowski, an engineer in Google's self-driving Waymo division from 2007 to 2016, [3]pleaded guilty to stealing trade secrets and was sent down for 18 months. He was also ordered to pay Google $756,499.22 in compensation and a fine of $95,000.
He had resigned from Google to co-found Otto, an autonomous truck firm sold to Uber in 2016. Levandowski was accused of leaving Waymo with more than 14,000 files detailing its proprietary Lidar technology and sharing them with Uber.
[4]
Google [5]sued Uber over the matter and the companies settled for $245m of Uber stock in 2018. The US Attorney's office took action against Levandowski, filing 33 charges alleging theft and attempted theft of trade secrets, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1832.
Explaining Levandowski's full pardon, the White House press secretary said he "has paid a significant price for his actions and plans to devote his talents to advance the public good". It was noted the sentencing judge described him as a "brilliant, groundbreaking engineer that our country needs".
Raytheon techie who took home radar secrets gets 18 months in the clink in surprise time fraud probe twist [6]READ MORE
The individuals supporting the pardon include Peter Thiel, the prominent Trump financier and PayPal investor who founded AI firm Palantir, which largely carries out information analysis and processing work for the defence and intelligence communities, including the CIA and controversial US border agency ICE. The firm has also fingers in [7]NHS data in the UK .
Also campaigning for Levandowski's pardon was [8]Palmer Luckey , VR firm Oculus's CEO when it was acquired by Facebook.
Levandowski joins a long list of names to be pardoned hours before the inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden. Among them is Bannon, the media entrepreneur and alt-right cheerleader who led Trump's 2016 election campaign and became senior counsel to the president following the election, leaving eight months later to rejoin the right-wing news site Breitbart, which he founded.
The White House statement said: "Prosecutors pursued Mr Bannon with charges related to fraud stemming from his involvement in a political project. Mr Bannon has been an important leader in the conservative movement and is known for his political acumen."
Bannon stood [9]charged with fraud in connection with the "We Build the Wall" campaign. He is alleged to have received more than $1m of the donations, some of which he is accused of using to cover personal expenses.
Bannon also helped found Cambridge Analytica, which, [10]it is said , harvested millions of Facebook user profiles and used that information to fling targeted political ads at voters.
Facebook later [11]suspended any business with the controversial outfit.
[12]
Others receiving clemency include Elliott Broidy, one of Trump's former fundraisers who illegally lobbied the US administation to ditch its probe into the 1MDB corruption shocker in Malaysia; hip hop stars Lil Wayne and Kodak Black, previously prosecued for federal weapons offences; and Kenneth Kurson, a pal of Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, who was charged in October with cyberstalking. ®
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[1] https://trumpwhitehouse.archives.gov/briefings-statements/statement-press-secretary-regarding-executive-grants-clemency-012021/
[2] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_emergent_tech/artificial_intelligence&sz=300x250&tile=2&c=2YAi2DGCK8IVBmyiCTo7kQgAAAEw&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[3] https://www.theregister.com/2020/08/05/levandowski_prison_sentence/
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_emergent_tech/artificial_intelligence&sz=300x250%7C300x252%7C300x600&tile=3&c=33YAi2DGCK8IVBmyiCTo7kQgAAAEw&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[5] https://www.theregister.com/2020/03/20/anthony_levandowski_pleads_guilty/
[6] https://www.theregister.com/2020/07/24/raytheon_techie_jailed/
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2020/12/21/nhs_awards_23m_twoyear_deal/
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2020/10/27/facebook_oculus_accounts/
[9] https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-53853297
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2018/03/18/facebook_confirms_cambridge_analytica_stole_its_data_its_a_plot_claims_former_director/
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2018/03/21/cambridge_analytica_ceo_suspended/
[12] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_emergent_tech/artificial_intelligence&sz=300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251&tile=4&c=44YAi2DGCK8IVBmyiCTo7kQgAAAEw&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[13] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
404
Even the first link in the article is broken
Re: 404
Ta -- when Biden was sworn in, the 45th president's White House site was archived and replaced. I've fixed up the link to the archived WH site.
C.
All countries reserve a final grant of clemency and exoneration. In the UK it is the Queen (as advised by the Home Secretary). In the USA it is the president. All grants have a political aspect although we hope that it is mostly in the interest of justice.
In other places who is in power has more of an impact.
Well, I would tentatively suggest that the Royal prerogative of mercy seems to be [1]more tactfully, less politically, and much less frequently applied .
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_prerogative_of_mercy
your not in america wendy
Trump can pardon anyone he likes because he is awesome. If you don't like it, suck eggs.
Re: your not in america wendy
Erm... o...kay.
Re: your not in america wendy
Calm down Eric, you cry baby.
The way pardons should be considered and granted...
"President George W. Bush wrote that he was taken aback by the last-minute blitz of pardon requests from well-connected individuals during his final days in office. Bush resolved not to grant any such requests but rather to consider only those pardon applications that had been vetted by the Justice Department's Office of the Pardon Attorney (who traditionally provides nonbinding guidance to the President to ensure that pardons are properly vetted and equitable). In contrast, Trump has largely ignored the pardon attorney."
[1]https://edition.cnn.com/2021/01/20/opinions/trump-abuses-pardon-powers-last-day-honig/index.html
[1] https://edition.cnn.com/2021/01/20/opinions/trump-abuses-pardon-powers-last-day-honig/index.html
>Regardless of the merits of any individual case, the fact that a president can simply overrule all due process and pardon anyone is utterly wrong.
Not if used as intended, eg. pardoning all escaped slaves, or more recently all Vietnam draft dodgers (who weren't fortunate sons) seems reasonable
Disgusting abuse of power
He's out the door and he can do this?
America is corrupt.
Yes, I'm sorry if that offends anyone. I know there are good Americans. But Trump got elected. Apologists like Bob and Jake will bristle, but this is not on.
Pardons for his pals. That isn't justice, its nepotism in the final moment. Story of his career.
Trump you will not be missed. How disgusting.
(btw, politically, I admit the UK is also fucked)
Re: Disgusting abuse of power
It seems just about every recent outgoing president has done the same. Some seem justified, some appear to have been bought (in particular Bill Clinton's pardons - see Marc Rich).
I think we'd all be happier if the power was only used as a final means to correct an injustice or to recognize those people that have since led a life that atones for their conviction.
Re: Disgusting abuse of power
Marc Rich? Small fry.
Carter pardoned Jefferson Davis.
I do not approve of that, or this pardon.
Re: Disgusting abuse of power
I didn't know about Carter's pardon of Jefferson Davis.
I moved down here (Tennessee) eight years ago for a job, and the attitude towards the Civil War is just..... baffling. In particular the idolization of people like Nathan Bedford Forrest, war criminal, murderer, slave trader and leader of the Klu Klux Klan. He has a state park here in Tennessee. And a particularly hideous statue along Interstate 65.
Re: Disgusting abuse of power
Trump is very much missed and twitter is for libtards.
Re: Disgusting abuse of power
So, what is it like to be absolutely, perfectly tedious? And please, be specific, this is for posterity.
Re: Disgusting abuse of power
So Trump was a libtard all these years? Oh sorry was trying to use facts and logic. My bad. Sorry I disturbed you on your cave.
That's a nice Justice System you've got there...
... how much to buy it?
FFS, this isn't even as The Simpson's court house reads, "Liberty and Justice for most", it's "Liberty and Justice for the wealthy ones". In America, you can skip due process if you settle the case, impeding any further prosecution, and preventing the information on your case from being divulgued, as long as you throw enough money on the table. And if you happen to be a good friend of the president, you can get away with whatever crime you committed (especially if it's a financial one) and the Justice System is banned from prosecuting you for it again...
So much for the land of the free...
Obviously when the constitution was written the founding fathers never envisioned the pardon power being used in they way they have been more recently. It now basically allows people working for the president to commit crimes that would help out the his campaign knowing that they can then be pardoned for it afterwards.
Would the US people have put up with it if Trump had pardon sex offender Jeffery Epstein? He was after all a pal of Trump and was rich enough to grease the wheels with the right people should he have not died in jail.
The founding fathers never anticipated a president who completely put personal gain ahead of their duty (job description) and the country.
The 25th amendment assumed that a demented president wouldn't be surrounded by such a sycophantic cabinet.
It's like gun control, whether you believe the word 'bear' means carry or own, the founding fathers were thinking in terms of flint lock muzzle loaders with a maximum fire rate of 3-6 rounds per minute. They weren't declaring that people could own a MAC-10 or an AK-47. Percussion caps were 40 years in the future and it would be 80 years before Mr. Gatling to come up with the idea of a machine gun.
So..
If the second amendment doesn't cover modern firearms, why does the first amendment the internet? The Supreme Court extended the First Amendment to specifically to the internet in a case in 97.
And the founding fathers absolutely did anticipate a president who would put personal gain ahead of the country, that's why they divided the government into the legislative, the executive and the judicial.
Re: So..
"If the second amendment doesn't cover modern firearms, why does the first amendment the internet?"
Very good question. Maybe it doesn't?
Re: So..
Maybe if they had a nightmare about Facebook and Twitter they would have written a different amendment...
It's like gun control, whether you believe the word 'bear' means carry or own, the founding fathers were thinking in terms of flint lock muzzle loaders with a maximum fire rate of 3-6 rounds per minute.
Your 3 - 6 rounds overly ambitious for a muzzle loader, but the main point is that the 2nd Amendment also includes the words (IIRC) as part of a well regulated militia and that bit is consistently never mentioned, because, well, it wouldn't be would it...
the forfathers were thinking of another revolt
gotta keep the citizens strong enough to destroy the libbys.
Colour me surprised
(or color me surprized)
I was expecting a full and unconditional pardon to all tangerines and any looky-likey politicians as part of his final Scorched Earth retreat.
Re: Colour me surprised
Pat Cipollone appears to have convinced him that it wouldn't help; there are enough state-level investigations into Deutsche Bank that he's going down even if the feds do nothing.
Re: Colour me surprised
I was expecting him to pardon Benedict Arnold, just to piss everyone off by showing that he could.
Re: Colour me surprised
> (or color me surprized)
surprized : Not A Word.
However, covfefe.
Justice for sale
In this day and age everything is for sale so why should justice be an exception?
Drain the prisons! Fill the swamp!
Wasn't vice versa?
When Alan Turing was pardoned in 2013, my dad raised his eyebrows and asked... "Why him?".
And that's a damn good question. Not "did he somehow _deserve_ a pardon", but "why didn't everyone else convicted _also_ deserve one"?
Not that either my dad or I disagree with the notion that the whole premise of Turing's conviction was unjust (it obviously was, and he was perfectly happy with the 2017 pardon to everyone else "similarly situated"), nor do we disagree with the reality that Turing did fabulous work which dramatically altered the course of the war. But other people did fabulous work, too (e.g. Barnes Wallis, Watson-Watt, Rowe, Bohr, etc etc)... do they also get a free pardon? If so, what would it cover?
It seems to me that clemency is a much less problematic system: yes, you committed the crime; yes, you deserve punishment; but for whatever reason, that punishment will be reduced.
seems like he's investing in trump 2024 - bannon to drive the right wing propoganda, and probably this levadowski guy for section 230, maybe to start a new Trumpetter service, with theil funding.
levadowski can steal from parler this time round.
how many people here use twitter.
I'm doing a poll to see how many liberal idiots are on here.
I'm doing a poll too, I need to know how many idiots (not liberals) are on here
Finally, after much trying I just found my first subject, thanks for helping me.
It would be nice if everyone could be as helpful as you but i'm having no such luck, a poll with one idiot alone is not what I had in mind, I fear I will have to cancel it.
oh NO! the sky is going to fall!
Wait, I just found my second subject
Two idiots (not liberals) in my poll, perhaps I can salvage it.
Regardless of the merits of any individual case, the fact that a president can simply overrule all due process and pardon anyone is utterly wrong. But I guess it's also incredibly wrong that there's any political involvement in the appointment of judges, so maybe it's all just broken.