By: Lisa M. Hayes – Confluence Daily is your daily news source for women in the know.
We’ve all known it was coming, mostly because Roger Stone himself kept telling us. On multiple occasions, Roger Stone has predicted in media interviews that Mueller’s team was coming after him and he thought he would be indicted. In the process of giving those many interviews, Stone all but confessed to several crimes while the cameras were rolling. The problem is Roger Stone kind of comes off like a wingnut snorting cocain. It’s hard to take him seriously.
However, in the most seriously executed arrest of this investigation to date, it’s clear Mueller takes Roger Stone quite seriously. Stones arrest tells us more about the seriousness of his crimes than the inditement itself did.
To be clear, Roger Stone was indicted for obstruction of justice. In the cattle call of indictments that swirl around this investigation, that’s a softball kind of charge.
The arrest of Roger Stone looked more like something out of a crime thriller movie than a formality. It was glorious in its execution. He is the only suspect in this criminal ring to be brought in that way. All of the indicted so far have either been picked up at the airport or given the opportunity to walk in with their attorneys. The raid looked much more like the arrest of a dangerous criminal who may destroy evidence than anything that has come before.
The White House can say his arrest has nothing to do with them. However, the indictment tells a very different story. While the charge is obstruction of justice, the indictment is all about Trump’s campaign and how eager Roger Stone was to conspire with WikiLeaks for stolen emails on Trump’s campaigns behalf – at the request of an unnamed senior campaign official.
Betting pools are open: Who is the unnamed senior campaign official? My money is on either Jared or Don Jr.
And here’s the thing about what happened today: That indictment is not the whole story. It’s quite likely the intro chapter. Just because the charge today is obstruction of justice doesn’t mean many other charges against Stone won’t emerge. We’ve seen that happen repeatedly in the way the Special Council works. Think both Cohen and Manafort. Once they were indicted the charges just kept flowing.
Additionally, the real prize in this box is: The unnamed senior campaign official.
I can guess all day long who that person is. However, Mueller and company already know and you can bet there is either a sealed indictment on the shelf or an indictment in process for that person.
So, yes, Roger Stone has been released on bond. However, he’s going down and whether he cooperates or not, he’s not going down alone.
READ THE FULL INDICTMENT HERE.
More by Lisa:
Lisa M. Hayes, Senior Editor of Confluence Daily.
Confluence Daily is the one place where everything comes together. The one-stop for daily news for women.
