Roger Stone just got the worst news possible
One week ago today, Roger Stone was arrested and charged with several felony counts, and his homes in Florida and New York were raided. That means the bar is set pretty high when it comes to what would qualify as Stone having an even worse day. But the events of today may end up being even worse for Stone, because it hits him in a way that he truly cares about.
Remember when Paul Manafort was facing two different federal judges? The one in the Eastern District of Virginia, T.S. Ellis, was a cranky guy who kept meddling in the case and frustrated everyone involved. The judge in Washington DC, Amy Berman Jackson, showed herself to be tough but fair, and not remotely interested in nonsense. As it turns out, Roger Stone had the bad luck to draw Berman Jackson for his case, and it’s already going poorly for him.
Roger Stone really, really, really wants to litigate his criminal case in the court of public opinion. It’s not that he necessarily expects to change any minds. It’s that he’s hoping to continue to rile up his fans and Donald Trump’s fans, so they’ll keep buying his political books, and donate to his legal defense fund. The more Stone paints himself as a victim, the more he’ll profit from the criminal charges against him. But the judge has no interest in letting him do this.
Judge Amy Berman Jackson told Roger Stone in court today that if he tries to inappropriately discuss the case against him in public, she’ll hit him with a gag order. This means Stone is headed to what he probably sees as the worst fate possible: irrelevance. The day of Stone’s arrest, we said he should enjoy his fifteen minutes while he could, because eventually, he was going to become as broken and faded from relevance as his old pal Paul Manafort. Now it sounds like Stone is headed there even sooner than expected.
