Guess who’s getting subpoenaed tomorrow in Donald Trump’s Russia scandal
Even as Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s probe into Donald Trump’s Russia scandal aggressively moves forward behind the scenes, the parallel investigations in the House and Senate are still playing their supporting roles in the investigation. In fact one of those committees is about to subpoena a major player in the Trump Russia scandal – and that subpoena is likely to land tomorrow.
The House Intelligence Committee has given Donald Trump’s longtime personal adviser Roger Stone until tomorrow to produce the name of his intermediary with cyberterrorist Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks. The committee is making clear that subpoenas will fly if the deadline is not met (link). Stone is still under the delusion that he’s not going to end up in prison, and he has no intention of voluntarily cooperating. Thus he’ll ignore this deadline, instead preferring to get subpoenaed – so he can then play the victim in front of his own lunatic base, to whom he sells books. What happens then?
Assuming that Stone ignores the subpoena, he’ll end up in front of a judge. The House Intel Committee will argue why he should be compelled to turn over the name of his contact, while his attorney will argue the opposite (or perhaps Stone will represent himself and use the hearing to recite deranged conspiracies about Hillary Clinton while standing on his head). If the judge rules in the committee’s favor, Stone will either have to name his contact, or he’ll be held in contempt of court and tossed into a local jail until he complies.
Meanwhile, Robert Mueller’s own Trump Russia probe has quietly been a step ahead of everyone in general. Stone’s refusal to cooperate with the deadline could see Mueller spring into action in response. For instance, after Paul Manafort failed to satisfy Congress, Mueller responded by having the FBI raid his house the next morning.
