Robert Mueller seems to think Roger Stone might swiftly cooperate
In the weeks leading up to his arrest, Roger Stone repeatedly insisted in public that he would he never cooperate with Special Counsel Robert Mueller, and that he would remain loyal to the Donald Trump regime to the end. Immediately after his arrest, Stone began singing a different tune, publicly hinting that he’s willing to cooperate with Mueller after all. Stone is a constant liar, so we can’t take him at his word. But based on his filings, Mueller seems to think that Stone is going to swiftly cooperate.
When Robert Mueller signed off on Roger Stone’s release on bail, he stipulated that Stone was allowed to travel to a number of federal court districts, ostensibly for the purpose of court proceedings. Included in the list are the Southern District of Florida, which is where Stone lives, the Southern District of New York, where Stone has a secondary residence in Manhattan, and the Washington DC District, where Stone will be tried. This is all standard procedure. But Mueller also tacked on two more districts.
Robert Mueller decided to give Roger Stone the freedom to travel to the Eastern District of Virginia and the Eastern District of New York. This is fascinating, because these are the other two districts where Mueller and his prosecutorial allies have been carrying out various aspects of the Trump-Russia investigation. For instance it’s believed that the EDNY may be targeting Jared Kushner, due to the properties he owns in Brooklyn.
The thing is, if Roger Stone were to cut a plea deal next week or next month, Robert Mueller could easily amend Stone’s travel restrictions to include these additional federal court districts. Instead, Mueller is already laying the legal ground work for Stone to testify in five different districts. Even if Stone isn’t willing to sell out Donald Trump, he may have promptly agreed to testify against people like Steve Bannon and Kushner, whom he despises. In any case, stay tuned.
