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FBI Arrests Trump Associate Roger Stone Over His Communications With WikiLeaks (nytimes.com)
Roger J. Stone Jr., a longtime informal adviser to President Trump, was charged as part of the special counsel investigation over his communications with WikiLeaks, the organization behind the release of thousands of stolen Democratic emails during the 2016 campaign, in an indictment unsealed Friday.
From a report: Mr. Stone was charged with seven counts, including obstruction of an official proceeding, making false statements and witness tampering, according to the special counsel's office. F.B.I. agents arrested Mr. Stone before dawn on Friday at his home in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and he was expected to appear in a federal courthouse there later in the morning. F.B.I. agents were also seen carting hard drives and other evidence from Mr. Stone's apartment in Harlem.
The indictment is the first in months by the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, who is investigating Russia's interference in the 2016 election and possible coordination with Trump campaign associates. Citing details in emails and other forms of communications, the indictment suggests Mr. Trump's campaign knew about additional stolen emails before they were released and asked Mr. Stone to find out about them. Moments ago, Stone was released on a $250,000 bond.
The indictment is the first in months by the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, who is investigating Russia's interference in the 2016 election and possible coordination with Trump campaign associates. Citing details in emails and other forms of communications, the indictment suggests Mr. Trump's campaign knew about additional stolen emails before they were released and asked Mr. Stone to find out about them. Moments ago, Stone was released on a $250,000 bond.
Tangential to wikileaks, I imagine. Also because events taking place at the highest level of US politics have such wide-ranging impacts that they are of importance to every field. Even when everyone is sick of hearing about them, they still matter.
And why he would be indicted with stuff instead of other things is because it's a simple charge to make stick - did he lie under oath? Bigly. Did he intimidate a witness / suborn perjury? Yup.
He's going to go jail and the only question is for how long. That depends on his cooperation with the investigation or not.
Well, the DOJ did find Clinton and Kavanaugh innocent of wrong doing.
Clinton: 20+ years of nonstop partisan driven investigations originating from congress and an FBI field office that is widely known for hating Hillary. From the present House minority leader: "We are doing a great job driving her poll numbers down."
Kavanaugh: 4 days including the weekend to make a determination and here is a long list of things you cannot look into.
Yep. The investigations into these two individuals was exactly the same.
Go and read the indictment and stop pretending this was some minor slip-up.
You look for reasons to declare people to be witches.
Pretty easy when they walk up and tell you they're a witch, or they have text messages saying they're a witch, or their associates tell you straight up that they're a witch, just look at this email they sent. Seriously, read the indictment.
Which you should know, as a lawyer.
I'm not one, I just have the ability to read and understand an indictment. Weird, I know.
now the FBI and Mueller have to invent ways of charging people of crimes to justify their waste of time and money.
No reason to invent anything when they make it so obvious that they're breaking the law. Again, maybe take a little glance at the indictment.
Here, let me help you out. The words of someone who is definitely not a witch (probably can't even build a bridge out of him):
e. On multiple occasions, including on or about December 1, 2017, STONE told
Person 2 that Person 2 should do a "Frank Pentangeli" before HPSCI in order to
avoid contradicting STONE's testimony. Frank Pentangeli is a character in the film
The Godfather: Part II, which both STONE and Person 2 had discussed, who
testifies before a congressional committee and in that testimony claims not to know
critical information that he does in fact know.
f. On or about December 1, 2017, STONE texted Person 2, "And if you turned over
anything to the FBI you're a fool." Later that day, Person 2 texted STONE, "You
need to amend your testimony before I testify on the 15th." STONE responded, "If
you testify you're a fool. Because of tromp I could never get away with a certain
[sic] my Fifth Amendment rights but you can. I guarantee you you are the one who
gets indicted for perjury if you're stupid enough to testify."
Here you go:
39. Following Person 2's invocation of his Fifth Amendment privilege not to testify before
HPSCI, STONE and Person 2 continued to have discussions about the various investigations into
Russian interference in the 2016 election and what information Person 2 would provide to
investigators. During these conversations, STONE repeatedly made statements intended to
prevent Person 2 from cooperating with the investigations. For example:
a. On or about December 24, 2017, Person 2 texted STONE, "I met [the head of
WikiLeaks] for f[i]rst time this yea[r] sept 7 . . . docs prove that. . . . You should
be honest w fbi . . . there was no back channel . . . be honest." STONE replied
approximately two minutes later, "I'm not talking to the FBI and if your smart you
won't either."
b. On or about April 9, 2018, STONE wrote in an email to Person 2, "You are a rat.
A stoolie. You backstab your friends-run your mouth my lawyers are dying Rip
you to shreds." STONE also said he would "take that dog away from you,"
referring to Person 2's dog. On or about the same day, STONE wrote to Person 2,
"I am so ready. Let's get it on. Prepare to die [expletive]."
c. On or about May 21, 2018, Person 2 wrote in an email to STONE, "You should
have just been honest with the house Intel committee . . . you've opened yourself
up to perjury charges like an idiot." STONE responded, "You are so full of
[expletive]. You got nothing. Keep running your mouth and I'll file a bar
complaint against your friend [the attorney who had the ability to contact the head
of WikiLeaks]."
So, what do you do when you've done nothing illegal and you don't care what anyone is claiming about you? You call them a rat and tell them you're going to take their dog. Makes perfect sense. "Rat" is just a term for someone who lies, right? It's not a term for someone telling the truth about the shady shit you did, right?
"Our two-party system is like a bowl of shit looking at itself in a mirror." - Lewis Black
If you have communications with WikiLeaks, you're a witch.
Nice try, but wrong. Communicating with WikiLeaks is not a crime. No one is being charged with that. Nice attempt to derail though.
Go read the indictment if you want to talk about it.
"Our two-party system is like a bowl of shit looking at itself in a mirror." - Lewis Black
Hold on. How the fuck does that dumb analogy have anything to do with the 24-page indictment against Stone. Have you read it?
"Our two-party system is like a bowl of shit looking at itself in a mirror." - Lewis Black
Another reason to NEVER talk to the FBI...
This is where you should have stopped.
2) Don't talk and Trump will pardon him in a couple of years right before he walks out of the white house.
That's very optimistic. Stone would be betting his freedom and life on that happening. Getting a pardon and Trump serving out his term are not guaranteed at this point. And, guess what happens if anyone finds out that Stone or his lawyers were communicating with Trump or his team to discuss a potential pardon. That's another charge against Trump.
"Our two-party system is like a bowl of shit looking at itself in a mirror." - Lewis Black
The same James Comey, former registered Republican, who chose to gratuitously kneecap Hillary's campaign at the last minute, is the one who could not justify bringing charges against Hillary. And you think she benefitted from some kind of privilege in that matter?
Also CNN had staked out Stone's house for days beforehand because they strongly suspected Roger Stone would be arrested. That's good ol' fashioned American hard work, don't Republicans normally pretend to admire that sort of thing?
"When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
Kind of makes you wonder why this list of the best people thought that the lesser evil was lying to either Congress or the FBI. That's the thing to keep in mind, people keep suggesting that the only crime was lying, you have to keep in mind that they chose to lie versus just telling the truth. The question is why.
"Our two-party system is like a bowl of shit looking at itself in a mirror." - Lewis Black
The freaky detail on this is that Stone has a richard nixon tattoo (not kidding).
If they get the definitive proof that Trump colluded with Russia then Nixon is going to look a saint in comparison. If Nixon were alive today he'd be excited that he could be on the verge of losing the title of the most vilified President.
"That's the way to do it" - Punch
The evidence of the text and emails he made are right there in the indictment. The evidence will be easy for any jury or judge to understand. He's toast. It's kind of pathetic to rationalise this away and yet...
There will be some people who will never admit the world is not flat, that we landed on the moon, that O'Blama is an American Citizen, or that there is any evidence of Russian interference, collusion, or criminal acts. They still think PizzaGate is real.
I read the document. Stone isn't in a real good place, no matter what the kooks think.
The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
I'll just stick to the facts, thanks. Facts like the DNC announced that Russians were responsible for attacking them (unless you're trying to assert that the DNC was never hacked in the first place, in which case good luck explaining away all of that evidence), facts like the numerous Russians who have been indicted or sanctioned by the US, facts like Ms. Butina being charged here after attempting to infiltrate various conservative groups (with mountains of evidence), etc.
Keep your conspiracy theories to yourself, you don't speak for me.
"Our two-party system is like a bowl of shit looking at itself in a mirror." - Lewis Black
Frankly, until the same standards of justice are applied equally, nobody gives a fuck about these indictments.
You don't speak for anyone else.
Why should we care if Roger Stone lies?
Because doing it was a crime. Try to keep up. The indictment is only 24 pages.
Oh, that's right, that will never happen, because they are not under investigation
2 years of Republican controlled White House and Congress, and no Democrats under investigation. It must be because Mitch McConnell and Trump and his buds are willing to let the Democrats break the law and get away with it. Yeah, that's the most obvious answer. Because they're such great friends.
"Our two-party system is like a bowl of shit looking at itself in a mirror." - Lewis Black