1/25/19: Day 35 of the Temper Tantrum
Shutdown starts with a bang when F.B.I. agents raid the home of former Trump
adviser Roger Stone.
____________________
“F.B.I.
Open the door!”
____________________
At 6:00 a.m. a caravan of law enforcement vehicles pulls up at
the suspect’s Fort Lauderdale address. It’s dark and dozens of officers, some
heavily armed and wearing tactical vests, fan out to cover the exits, guns
drawn.
An officer knocks at the front door. “F.B.I.,” he shouts.
“Open the door.” (Too bad he didn’t add, “You dirty rat!”)
Still no light inside. And the agent shouts again, “F.B.I.
Warrant!”
Moments later, Stone opens the door, lets the agents in, is
placed under arrest, and led off in cuffs.
 |
Sorry, my image is a bit cockeyed. |
*
A THOUSAND MILES to the north, in Washington D.C., the
president is either sleeping late or hiding under his bed, because when we
check his Twitter feed at 8:07 a.m. he still hasn’t posted. This is a rarity
for a man who typically tweets before the sun has peeked over the horizon.
Once the president does catch up to the story, he’s going to
lose his sh*t. First, Stone has been indicted on seven felony counts. You have obstruction of justice for an
appetizer, five counts of making false statements for the main course, and
witness tampering for a tasty dessert.
Even worse for Trump and his pals, the indictment makes clear
that while Stone was allegedly breaking the law, senior officials in the 2016
campaign were alleged to have urged him to continue. If you dive into
the indictment, which “Fake News” CNN was kind enough to
provide for your reading pleasure, you realize that this is bad news for
Twitter Thumbs. From page 2, forward, we see land mines that could explode as
he and his shady crew try to tiptoe through a legal minefield without blowing
themselves to tiny Team Trump bits. A senior campaign official, for instance,
“was directed” by an unnamed person to contact Stone and find out if WikiLeaks
(“Organization 1”) was planning to dump more stolen emails to harm the Clinton
campaign.
Press Secretary Pinocchio will claim later in the day that,
“The charges brought against Mr. Stone have nothing to do with this
president [emphasis added, unless otherwise noted].” But with that,
Sanders’ nose grows half-a-foot.
Reading between the lines, the entire filing is likely aimed
at the president.
Candidate
Trump called on the Russians.
Who in his 2016 campaign, for example, could have directed a senior official, save a more
senior individual?
Suspicion falls immediately on Trump, himself. (There’s also
a chance Stone could have been directed by Don Jr. or Jared Kushner or some
other disreputable character, like Steve Bannon.) For whom was Stone doing all
his dirty work? Everything described was done in furtherance of the campaign.
In the summer of 2016, for example, the indictment notes,
“Stone was contacted by senior Trump
Campaign officials to inquire about future releases [of stolen emails]
by Organization 1.”
Note: “officials.”
Those emails were hacked (as we know now) by Russians and
passed on to various media sources to harm the Clinton campaign.
We know today how a great deal of the story unfolded. In
those days, Stone could claim he had no idea the Russians were behind the hack.
Yet, days after the first dump of damaging emails, Trump could go on stage and
say, “Russia, if you’re listening, I hope you’re able to find the 30,000 emails
that are missing,” a reference to Mrs. Clinton’s now closed private email
account.
Trump didn’t call for Julian Assange and WikiLeaks to find
the emails, which would have made sense if he didn’t know the Russians were
at work.
He called on the Russians.
Soon after Trump took office, the story of Russian
interference broke. Yet the president insisted for more than a year that there
was no evidence the Russians interfered. Now, this indictment piles up even
more proof that Trump and his aides knew all along who was helping them out.
We know both houses of Congress eventually went to work. The
Senate conducted a serious, bipartisan investigation.
Mr. Stone was also called to appear before the House
Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI), at the time chaired by Rep.
Devin Nunes (R-CA). Stone was asked about any contacts he had had with
WikiLeaks or Russian hackers. He “made multiple false statements,” all aimed at
obstructing justice. He “denied possessing records that contained evidence” of
interactions involving WikiLeaks and the Trump campaign – and those records he
still possessed.
Stone
asks for specific emails damaging to Clinton.
The indictment is damning in multiple ways:
After the July 22, 2016, release
of stolen (Democratic National Committee) emails by Organization 1 [again:
WikiLeaks], a senior Trump Campaign
official was directed to contact STONE about any additional releases and
what other damaging information Organization 1 had regarding the Clinton
Campaign. STONE thereafter told the Trump Campaign about potential future
releases of damaging material by Organization 1.
In other words, people close to Trump, possibly Trump himself,
knew what Stone was up to and urged him to keep up the good work.
“On or about August 2, 2016,” prosecutors allege,
Person 1 emailed STONE. Person 1
wrote that he was in Europe and planned to return about mid-August. Person 1
stated in part, “Word is friend in embassy [Julian Assange of WikiLeaks] plans
2 more dumps. One shortly after I’m back. 2nd in Oct. Impact planned to be very
damaging.”
(Jerome Corsi, a right-wing conspiracy theorist has admitted
he is “Person 1” and says that the information contained in the indictment is
substantially correct as far as his role is concerned.)
At one point, according to the indictment, Stone went so far
as to request “Person 2” to contact the head of “Organization 1” and ask him to
provide “any State [Department] or HRC [Hillary Rodham Clinton] e-mail from
August 10 to August 30, particularly on August 20, 2011,” to support a damaging
narrative related to the Democratic presidential candidate.
Stone was putting in
an order for specific stolen emails. He and “Person 2,” known to be
Randy Credico, exchanged a series of emails and text messages and sometimes
spoke by phone. According to the indictment, on or about October 2, 2016,
Person 2 assured Stone, “big news Wednesday…now pretend u don’t know me.”
Assange was about to drop another load of emails.
Two days later, Stone is communicating with a “supporter
involved in the Trump campaign.” That supporter wants to know about other
damaging info that might be coming. Stone replies, “Yes - want to talk on a
secure line - got Whatsapp?”
These guys know they’re up to no good, and from what we can
tell, worry they’re breaking the law.
On May 22, 2017, Mr. Stone notifies Nunes and HPSCI that he
has “no documents, records, or electronically stored information, regardless of
form” that might help in any investigation. Delighted to hear this news,
Chairman Nunes – who has zero interest in uncovering any info damaging to Trump
or his band – wishes Stone a good day and prepares to send him on his way.
“You
have no emails, no texts, no documents whatsoever?”
Before the witness can make a dash for the exit, a Democratic
member of the panel asks if Stone has any
information about WikiLeaks, the timing of the email dumps, or the
stolen Clinton emails. “You have no emails, no texts, no documents whatsoever,
any kind of that nature?” his questioner asks.
“That is correct,” Stone responds. “Not to my recollection.”
The indictment alleges that Stone was lying at that point and
would continue to do so for months:
In truth and in fact, STONE had sent
and received numerous emails and text messages during the campaign, in
which he discussed Organization 1, its head, and its possession of hacked
emails. At the time of his false testimony, STONE was in possession of many of
these emails and text messages…
Stone didn’t lie once or twice. He was asked if he had ever
communicated by email or text with Person 2. “He’s not an email guy,” Stone
explained. “No,” he added, there were no texts.
Mueller’s team includes a raft of emails and texts between
Stone and “Person 2” in the indictment.
Stone was asked by investigators if he had discussed his
conversations with “an intermediary” to Organization 1 “with anyone involved in
the Trump campaign?”
The indictment notes: “Stone falsely and misleadingly
answered, ‘I did not.’ In truth and in fact…STONE spoke to multiple
individuals in the Trump campaign about what he claimed to have learned
from his intermediary to Organization 1[.]”
Stone knew when he testified before Congress that there were
witnesses who might reveal his trail. On or about October 19, 2017, he began
“urging Person 2 [Credico]…to falsely confirm” parts of his testimony. Person 2
“repeatedly told STONE that his testimony was false and told him
to correct his testimony to HPSCI. STONE did not do so. STONE then engaged in a
prolonged effort to prevent Person 2 from contradicting STONE’s false
statements to HPSCI.”
In November, “Person 2” was invited to testify. Stone and
Credico talked and emailed frequently. Stone suggested that Credico say he
“could not remember what he had told STONE,” or, “alternatively, invoke his
Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination” when called before the panel.
On November 19, Credico notified Stone that his lawyer wanted to talk.
“Stonewall
it. Plead the Fifth.”
According to the indictment, Stone made it clear he wanted
his friend to cover their tracks. Stone responded by quoting that pillar of
rectitude, Richard Nixon, from the worst days of the Watergate Affair.
“Stonewall it.” Stone suggested. “Plead the Fifth. Anything to save the plan.”
As if citing Nixon wasn’t bad enough, in December 2017, Stone
and Credico repeatedly discussed the latter’s coming testimony. Stone channeled
a character from The Godfather: Part II.
Credico, he said, should pull a “Frank Pentangeli.” That is, like the film
character, he should tell the House panel he did not know “critical information
that he does in fact know.”
Stone was clear. If Credico turned anything over to the
F.B.I., he was “a fool.” Credico again advised Stone to correct his own
testimony before it was too late. Stone responded, “Because of tromp [Trump?] I
could never get away with a certain [sic] my Fifth Amendment rights but you
can. I guarantee you are the one who gets indicted for perjury if you’re stupid
enough to testify.”
As events transpire, when called before Congress, “Person 2”
did assert a Fifth Amendment right. Still, Stone and Credico realized they
remained in danger and continued to discuss how to deal with ongoing
investigations.
On December 24, Stone writes again to Credico, “I’m not
talking to the FBI and if your [sic] smart you won’t either.”
By the spring of 2018, Credico had weakened. When he finally
began opening up to investigators, Stone went bonkers. “You are a rat. A
stoolie. You back-stab your friends,” Stone howled. He threatened “to take that
dog away from you,” a threat to Credico’s furry best friend.
“Prepare to die [expletive],” Stone added to hammer home the
point.
This latest indictment alleges that from May 2017 at least
through December 2017, “the defendant, ROGER JASON STONE JR., corruptly
influenced, obstructed, impeded, and endeavored to influence, obstruct, and
impede the due and proper exercise of the power of the inquiry” of
congressional oversight panels.
*
MEANWHILE, THE PRESIDENT has trotted out a new, tall tale to
justify the government shutdown and pump up support for building the Great Wall
of Trump. He keeps trying to scare us all with stories about poor women,
smuggled across our border, by human traffickers. “Women
are tied up, they’re bound, duct tape put around their faces, around their
mouths, in many cases they can’t even breathe,” he said during a Rose Garden
briefing today. “They’re put in the backs of cars or vans or trucks” and
dragged here, to face a life of prostitution or worse.”
Trump doesn’t want to help these victims, of course, he just
wants to keep them out of the United States.
The problem: No one from Customs and Border Patrol seems to
know what the boss is talking about. Experts tell the Washington Post that the president’s claims are
“divorced from reality.”
Vox soon reports that a source
inside Customs and Border Patrol has provided a copy of an email sent to all border offices,
asking for “any information (in any format)” to support Mr. Trump’s claims.
Good luck with that.
