Trusted Donald Trump aide Roger Stone got his long awaited comeuppance for his behavior in the special prosecutor’s Trump Russia investigation. Stone was arrested at his office in the wee morning hours of Friday, January 25. While Roger Stone may have been expecting an indictment, nothing prepared him for the manner in which he was arrested.
Mueller’s team sent a strong and serious message to Trump confidante, Roger Stone, by arresting him at 4 a.m. much like everyday street criminals, mob bosses and narcotic dealers are arrested. Of course, following his arrest, Stone complained about the nature of the arrest with over 29 FBI furloughed agents coming to his house to take him into custody. Stone for his part declared his innocence.
The lack of common prosecutorial courtesies usually afforded to white collar clients/defendants to conveniently turn themselves in with their lawyer upon indictment shows the seriousness of the case and the possible indication of a flight risk by Stone.
Prosecutors obtain indictments on what they can likely prove. The indictment shows Mueller’s team intends to prove that Stone acted like a mob boss in witness tampering, threatening to do harm to witnesses’ pets, lying and obstruction of justice. Stone may soon be singing another song and re-considering his loyalty to Trump.
The prosecution does not need to set out its entire case in an indictment. And at any time, the Special Counsel’s office could file a further amendment or addition to the indictment. While we don’t know the strategy of the special prosecutor’s office, the case was laid out for possible collusion in the indictment.
The decades long relationship that Trump has with Roger Stone makes it difficult for Trump to distance himself from Stone. The possibility of jail time for Stone makes it easier for Stone to re-consider his Trump loyalty and consider his loyalty to his life and family. While Stone does not presently intend to make statements against Trump, other white-collar defendants in the investigation, like Cohen, Flynn, Papadopoulis and Manafort took deals rather than go to prison. Persons who wear suits don’t normally want to trade them in for an orange jumpsuit and leg braces.
While Trump may state that Stone’s indictment has nothing to do with Trump, is a witch hunt and is more about lying, the indictment allegations and details suggest otherwise. The indictment states a high ranking Trump campaign official was “directed” to ask Stone in October, 2016 to obtain further information about Clinton leaked emails. This indictment is likely just a tip of the iceberg in the chain to the Trump campaign and stolen leaked Emails during the campaign.
I suspect that the Mueller investigation has far more incriminating information on Stone than what is listed in the indictment. And when Stone’s lawyers come to meet with the prosecutors, they may see a preview of what might be awaiting Roger Stone that is not contained in the indictment. Prosecutors may use this tactic as leverage for Stone to plead guilty and cooperate, if facing more charges.
At some point, Stone may want to take a deal and cooperate rather than face the potential for years in jail. And of course, a president can pardon a convicted felon. It is unclear if a convicted person can be pardoned by a president who might also be an unindicted co-conspirator. What is clear is Roger Stone is the 6th Trump campaign aide to be indicted. The others, Rick Gates, Paul Manafort, George Papadopoulos, Michael Cohen and Michael Flynn all pled guilty. That’s 5-0 for Mueller and one is pending. That’s like Tom Brady having won 5 previous Super Bowls and now he is facing number 6. The odds do not bode well for Roger Stone. Ditto for the Rams.
Washington, DC based Debbie Hines is an attorney and former prosecutor.
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