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There has been a nice little scandal brewing here recently.
I noted it, but hadn’t thought too deeply on it – but perhaps we should, there is more going on than appears on the surface.
……… Kim Dotcom ……………….. John Banks ………………. PM John Key ……
The way the story broke was like this: Kim Dotcom is front page of a national newspaper saying he gave a large political donation to John Banks. Allegedly, Banks wanted it broken into smaller payments, so he didn’t have to declare where the money came from. Which is against the law.
So, on the face of it, Banks is now criminally liable for an offence that is punishable by up to two years imprisonment. Naturally he is ducking and diving for all he is worth. I am reminded of the comment that: it is not the crime which gets you, it is the cover-up… and there is a lot more for this story to run. Banks is looking Smarmy(and deceitful) in the extreme.
But the real problem here is that if he ends up being charged and convicted of breaking the law, then he could take a lot of other people with him.
Due to the possible sentance for this type of offense, there is a very real danger that he would be ejected from paliament. If that happens the government is almost certain to fall. They only have a slim majority – and a coalition one at that. The opposition parties are going to be ALL over this.
So the real dagger is pointed at John Key, the Prime minister.
It will be fascinating to see what sort of hoops Key jumps through to try and save his government. Or even, what sort of influence and manipulations he is prepared to use. There is huge potential for this to get really, really nasty.
I am just fascinated by the back story here though.
Kim Dotcom was welcomed into our country and was buddy-buddy with a number of politicians in the process – John Banks for example. Dotcom spreads around a lot of money, making friends and influencing people. In theory he has bought his way into the club. But then he gets shafted by the FBI led takedown of his business (Megaupload) – with the active connivance of the NZ government.
He spends something like a month in a cell before he can get bail. His assets are seized, and his business ruined. All before he is convicted of anything by the way – and for a white collar crime (if it is ever proved, which is looking more and more unlikely). This is normally the sort of police tactic usually reserved for drug dealing gangsters. (How come we haven’t seen them doing raids like this on any Bankers?)
I am guessing Kim is feeling a bit pissed-off about now. The people who should have been looking out for him – they have been bought and paid for afterall – have proved to be fair weather friends. Well, two can play at that game.
Looks like Kim was a bit smarter than a lot of people thought. He had a noose around John Banks’ balls, and now he has cinched it tight. At this point I don’t see Banks getting out of this without getting castrated. But taking down Banks, also has the added bonus of having a very good chance of taking down the government. That is a better than average revenge on perfidious “friends“.
The whole takedown of Kim was distasteful from the start. Now it is looking like all those involved are going to reap what they sowed – tenfold. I won’t mourn for any of them.
Hopefully there is a lesson there for others about cuddling up to the US authorities as well. Lie down with dogs and you will get flea’s. Although that I suspect they already had more than enough of their own to begin with.
The demise of this government won’t be mourned by me, and I am hoping it happens sooner rather than later. In any event, I doubt this government will run its full term.
Nice knife job Kim. Bravo.
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