Roger Stone and Alex Jones now face a no-win situation that could have them arrested within weeks
As the Department of Justice has prosecuted hundreds of lower level and mid level people involved with the January 6th Capitol attack, we’ve been waiting to see if and when it would finally land on the doorsteps of ringleaders like Roger Stone and Alex Jones. Thus far Stone’s hired bodyguards for the event, and one of Jones’ top InfoWars sidekicks, have been indicted. But now things have taken a different kind of turn.
The January 6th Committee has just subpoenaed Roger Stone, Alex Jones, and others. Why is this a big deal? We just saw Steve Bannon get indicted and arrested for failing to comply with a similar subpoena. So if Stone and Jones also fail to comply, they’ll also be referred to the DOJ for contempt, and they’ll also very likely be indicted and arrested. But will they comply?
Jones has a recent history of simply ignoring legal action and ending up with default judgments against him, as he continues to unravel. Of course that’s been on a civil level. If Jones takes the same mindset with regard to the January 6th Committee, he’ll ignore the subpoena, and because this is a criminal matter, he’ll end up arrested.
Stone is more of a wildcard. At times he seems to revel in the opportunity to mouth off in public, even to his own detriment, so he could decide to testify. Other times Stone behaves like he’s scared of his own shadow when it comes to potential criminal charges.
One problem that both men face is that if they agree to cooperate with the January 6th Committee, they risk further incriminating themselves in the DOJ’s criminal probe into the Capitol attack. So they might decide, as Bannon did, that it’s better to take their chances with the comparatively short prison sentence that comes with contempt, than risk sending themselves to prison for years.
In any case, Stone and Jones both have a short window to decide which no-win choice they want to make. If they fail to comply, they could both end up indicted and arrested by perhaps Christmas. That would be a fascinating gift to the nation.
