Bernie troubles

[Bagwan]

One of the German papers is saying that Bernie's team of scary lawyers has negotiated a deal to pay $100,000,000.00 to have the whole thing dropped , leaving him clean and ready to lead the parade again .
So , that's fifty to Gribowski , and a hundred to the courts , and some ghastly amount to the scary lawyers as well .


And , the scariest part of all is that he can afford it .

[henners88]

People shouldn't be able to buy themselves out of trouble and should do the time to fit the crime. If Bernie buys his way out of this one it'll demonstrate how corrupt the legal system is and in very public fashion. Bernie should end his days in a cell IMO.

[AndyL]

I guess it makes some sort of sense to get your bribery charges dropped by paying people off. Kind of like getting off a murder charge by killing the witnesses.

[journeyman racer]

We're in a stalemate right now. It's not unreasonable to expect that Bernie will die sooner, rather than later. The top level of motorsport has to move past him, it's long overdue. His presence (and a few others) is holding f1 back.

[Bagwan]

Can I point out here , that Bernie has not been proven guilty ?

It seems like all and sundry have him locked up already , with the key stashed in a very dark place .
And , that's without having heard any of the evidence first hand .

What if he's telling the truth ?
Consider Bernie , seeing Gribowski get sent down for accepting a bribe , knowing it wasn't true .
He would be expecting the same treatment .

He wouldn't give a damn about the extortionist , himself , having been burned for $50 million already .
The scary lawyers are bleeding him , with no real end in sight .

And , the guy has a big pile of money , so it's natural that he would reach for it .

If it were as cut and dried as all here are seemingly thinking , the judge would not likely agree to any deal here .
It seems to me he's picking a course that will have Bernie thinking twice about being involved in such affairs again , unless Bernie has decided now that he actually can't take it with him .

This was expensive , and embarrassing for the big guy .
And , they'll do good things with the fine money .


If this is officially announced in the next few days , it will mean that he was charged , but that the charges were dropped .
That means no admission of guilt , and no decision otherwise .



So , put the noose away .

[henners88]

If Bernie is willing to settle the case with that much money, he has something to hide. He wouldn't be giving away that much over nothing and he could afford to defend himself with the best lawyers in the world if he was innocent.

I hope he is guilty and I hope, along with a lot of people that his time dealing with F1 is numbered.

[Whyzars]

If Bernie is willing to settle the case with that much money, he has something to hide. He wouldn't be giving away that much over nothing and he could afford to defend himself with the best lawyers in the world if he was innocent.

I hope he is guilty and I hope, along with a lot of people that his time dealing with F1 is numbered.

I actually hope he is not guilty. I also hope that any settlement is more to do with his advanced age than the restrictive travel implications of a guilty verdict.


I don't know where F1 would be today if Bernie wasn't involved but I do know that F1 has continued to build on its history under his watch and that is a positive thing.

There's plenty to not like about F1 in 2014 but in saying that the "show" at times has been superb.


I'm happy to see Bernie growing old disgracefully and be surrounded by pit girls. If he has to write a $100million cheque to do that - well... [Damn, that's a lot of money. ]


If the F1 we have today it is to be Bernie's legacy then lets hope he isn't forced to watch it on TV.

He hasn't done too bad. Keeping it all together at times would've been like herding cats.

[BDunnell]

I do know that F1 has continued to build on its history under his watch and that is a positive thing.

What does that actually mean?

[steveaki13]

What does that actually mean?

Search me

Doesn't anything which ever direction it takes build on its history? Otherwise it doesn't exsist anymore.

Anyway, I always think the arguments about where F1 is with Bernie are slightly overplayed. I mean without him F1 would have continued in most probability and safety would still have been improved no matter who ran it.

It might not be where it is now, but that may not have been a bad thing.

[driveace]

But if Bernie is guilty and can pay a massive amount to the courts to escape a custodial sentence ,what message does that send out to the other poor guys ,who are not in half as much trouble,BUT have not got the readies that Bernie has to pay his way out of the shit ?