Saul Spitzer --the Hasid from New Square who attempted to commit arson and wound up nearly burning his target alive-- has now agreed to a plea bargain. The timing is especially telling; his defense team hammered out the deal in the 11th hour, on the day jury selection was to have begun for trial in which his defense asserts he may have gotten "up to 25 years". According to the terms of the plea bargain, charges of attempted murder and arson were dropped reducing Spitzer's sentencing exposure to an estimated 5-10 years.
What makes this plea so striking, however, is that it also entails a two million dollar award settlement as compensation to the victim, which will presumably take care of the civil suit the victim has lodged against both Spitzer and New Square Rabbi/Rebbe David Twersky in whose name and interest he allegedly acted.
Two million dollars -- say what? From where does the kid get the money? I don't believe he had the foresight to purchase personal "arson/attempted murder insurance". The money is apparently coming from the grand rabbi's coffers himself. But why? and why now?
The timing of the event as well as the general mise en scene is highly suggestive that the Rabbi is determined to avert a trial in which he is likely to be implicated, morally if not legally.
Analysts in the case mostly agree that Spitzer, a personal butler of the Rebbe, would not have been engaged in such activities unless he received tacit approval from his master, at a minimum. More likely, as the person in the lowest rung of the Rebbe's inner cabinet hierarchy, he would have be expected to earn his stripes through the execution of such sordid acts.
Hey, someone's gotta do it?
And now that we screwed up. Oh, gosh... what are we gonna do? Oh, of course; Nixon offered it to Hunt and it almost worked... it's called hush money!
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