Government

Unpaid FBI Workers Show Up To Work, Arrest Roger Stone

Indictment alleges obstruction of justice and witness tampering.

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Roger Stone (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

Would you like to see longtime Donald Trump helper Roger Stone get arrested just before 6:00 a.m.?

I’m going to imagine you said yes. This is from CNN:

We can quibble about whether a morning arrest raid was really necessary to nab a public person who either expected or should have expected to be arrested for months. But, given that the agents who arrested Stone haven’t been paid in a month, I’m instead going to laud them for waking up at dawn o’clock to see that justice was done.

Stone was arrested and indicted today on multiple counts of obstruction of justice, making false statements, and witness tampering. Most of the charges stem from Stone’s connection to WikiLeaks. It would appear, according to the indictment, that Stone had special knowledge of the illegal hack of Democratic party emails.

The indictment does not allege that Stone had contact with “Individual 1” — a.k.a Donald Trump — about the hack, but it extensively details how Stone coordinated with “Organization 1” — a.k.a. Wikileaks — about the impending release of illegally stolen documents. Then the indictment alleges that Stone repeatedly lied about his efforts, including to Congress.

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Now, a normal person would see the connections between Stone and the Trump campaign and be horrified that legally actionable evidence has emerged between the Trump campaign and a successful criminal effort to hack into opposition party documents. But, Rudolph Giuliani is not a normal person.

We already know the White House play here. It will involve Donald Trump and all his enablers saying “no COLLUSION” 1600 times, as if the conspiracy to help the Russian government interfere with an American election is the only crime.

It’s not the only crime — and if it were, then Paul Manafort has basically already copped to it. But, beyond collusion, THERE ARE A LOT OF CRIMES that Trump, his campaign, and his enablers seem to have committed. NBC has a good breakout of the most damaging allegations from the indictment:

“During the summer of 2016, STONE spoke to senior Trump Campaign officials about Organization 1” — WikiLeaks — “and information it might have had that would be damaging to the Clinton Campaign. STONE was contacted by senior Trump Campaign officials to inquire about future releases by Organization 1.” (Page 2)

“STONE also continued to communicate with members of the Trump Campaign about Organization 1 and its intended future releases.” (Page 2)

“After the July 22, 2016 release of stolen DNC emails by Organization 1, 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.” (Page 4)

“On or about October 3, 2016, STONE wrote to a supporter involved with the Trump Campaign, “Spoke to my friend in London last night. The payload is still coming.” (Page 8)

“Also on or about October 3, 2016, STONE received an email from a reporter who had connections to a high-ranking Trump Campaign official that asked, ‘[the head of Organization 1] — what’s he got? Hope it’s good.’ STONE responded in part, ‘It is. I’d tell [the high-ranking Trump Campaign official] but he doesn’t call me back.’” (Page 9)

“On or about October 4, 2016, the head of Organization 1 held a press conference but did not release any new materials pertaining to the Clinton Campaign. Shortly afterwards, STONE received an email from the high-ranking Trump Campaign official asking about the status of future releases by Organization 1. STONE answered that the head of Organization 1 had a ‘[s]erious security concern’ but that Organization 1 would release ‘a load every week going forward.’” (Page 9)

“Shortly after Organization 1’s release, an associate of the high-ranking Trump Campaign official sent a text message to STONE that read ‘well done.’” (Page 9).

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Allegedly, Stone lied to Congress about all this.

Lying to Congress is bad. OBSTRUCTION OF JUSTICE IS BAD. This indictment would be devastating to a normal administration.

But, Trump and the Republicans will continue to move the goalposts. Instead of dealing with these serious allegations about the Trump campaign’s crimes against our justice system, they will focus on the fact that Trump is not an unindicted co-conspirator to these charges.

Team Trump is treating the Stone indictment like it’s this crazy thing, but has nothing to do with Trump. That is a pure spin. The only person allowed to say that the Stone arrest was “exciting” but had nothing to do with them is… former Cincinnati Bengal wide receiver Chad Ochocinco.

I’m not joking:

No, in the movies, the FBI gets paid to do this work.

READ the Indictment: Trump Ally Roger Stone Charged in Mueller Case [Law.com]

Elie Mystal is the Executive Editor of Above the Law and the Legal Editor for More Perfect. He can be reached @ElieNYC on Twitter, or at elie@abovethelaw.com. He will resist.

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