Trump co-conspirator Roger Stone permanently banned from Twitter as Robert Mueller files criminal charges
In the hours since it was confirmed last night that Special Counsel Robert Mueller had filed the first criminal charges in Donald Trump’s Russia scandal, a number of Trump’s allies have taken to Twitter to stage defenses or meltdowns. Now, in yet another fast paced turn of events in the rapidly unfolding Trump-Russia scandal, one of the key suspects in the scandal has been suspended from Twitter.
Multiple Trump allies have melted down on Twitter in response to the indictment news, including Sean Hannity, Sebastian Gorka, and Roger Stone. True to form, Stone took his meltdown far beyond the pale. His ranting included a homophobic slur aimed at CNN reporter Don Lemon, who is gay, among other obscene and harassing violations of Twitter’s terms of service (link). Palmer Report publicly called for Stone to be suspended, as did others, and sure enough his Twitter account disappeared around 5:45pm eastern time. So now what?
Twitter suspensions can range from several hours to being permanent, and the specific nature of Roger Stone’s suspension is not yet clear (Update: multiple sources now confirm Roger Stone’s Twitter suspension is a permanent ban.) He has been suspended multiple times in the past, for making sexist remarks and specific threats against people. In the case of repeat offenders, Twitter has been known to eventually suspend people permanently. Many have argued that Stone should be banned from Twitter due to his alleged role in helping Donald Trump conspire with Russia to rig the election, in what was an attack on the United States.
However Twitter has yet to suspend WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, despite his confirmed role in cyberattacks against the United States, and his overall status as a cyberterrorist and wanted fugitive. So it’s clear that Twitter doesn’t suspend people simply for treasonous behavior. Then again, if Stone is arrested, he won’t be able to tweet from prison anyway.
