I am wondering why Mr Trump has not ‘pardoned’ Paul Manafort? Seems the Pres in his most manic states starts to sign pardons.
He’s a stranger in our strange land these days
8
This whole story is disgusting. The countless numbers of black/brown men beaten and killed for perceived threats to cops...and this clown is treated like a star as he mocks judges, Congress, and the entire criminal justice system. He has violated laws and is a criminal. Where’s the shadowy photograph with the ominous lighting? His behavior and past have been given the Hollywood reality show polish to entertain. America like Trump is corrupt and doesn’t care who knows it. And the media is complicit in presenting the criminal, the unjust, the immoral, the corrupt as normal as long as the subject can sell stories and doesn’t in any way undermine the status quo. America, you are so deep in evil that you think it’s righteous. I can’t.
42
Even if he does 3 years in prison, which I’m sure he won’t, it’s not punishment enough for a lifetime of dirty dealings and living with impunity for our laws and constitution. It’s a disgrace.
25
Roy Cohn learned to succeed by cheating, lying, and always behaving destructively from Senator Joe McCarthy. In the end McCarthy’s bad behavior ruined his own life. Similarly, by seeking to advance by means of bad acts, Cohn lost all. Stone acts the clown in a silly effort to portray himself as superior to laws and the inferior minds of moral people, but he’s a convicted felon who’s only hope is rescue by a man with no character, Trump. Meanwhile, Trump tries to undo the laws which give the President authority to act, because he never learned to think, and is going to force the rest of the country to remove him from office or see the country descend into an unworkable and corrupt mess.
17
I am angry, and my anger has nothing to do with Roger Stone, i am angry because this is front page news. We face serious problems yet this is where our attention is focused
As part of a report i am doing , i had to make a list of where the United States ranks in certain categories. This is what i found and it's very depressing:
US ranks 27th in the World for Health Care and education.
US ranks 13th in quality of life
US ranks 26th in high speed data
US ranks 17th in the human poverty index
US ranks 23 in the corruption perception index ( interestingly 4 socialist countries score the best in terms of least corruption in government)
US ranks 25th in the Democracy index ( which ranks us as a failed democracy)
US ranks 27th on Environmental performance (Switzerland is the best at #1)
US ranks 26th in terms of life expectancy at 79 years(Japan is first at 85 years)
we do lead in some areas:
The US spends more on Healthcare per person than other wealthy countries.
The US by far has the most people in prison
The US has the most debt per person
And on and on it goes, its not just depressing its maddening, why, is the greatest country in the world ranked so low in so many key elevators of quality of life. The answer is our politicians spend so much damn time getting involved in nonsense and fighting each other, that they have little time or little desire to do the work that would improve the quality of life of ALL Americans.
It's sad.
26
Did the founders anticipate that the power to pardon could provide a President the means to build a personal army of people immune from the law to do his bidding?
Did they anticipate that a president would direct people to do anything he pleases and then pardon them for it?
Did they anticipate a president who believes he could pardon Himself?
I believe the the ability to pardon is a power not a right as defined in the Constitution and as such it is constrained by the Constitution and the oath the President takes to faithfully execute his office. This should preclude the rising of such an army of "untouchables". But as we've learned such oaths have been rendered meaningless as has been the Constitution leaving this President to do as he pleases where he can set criminal enterprises into motion, benefit from them, and then relieve all actors of any responsibility or consequence. In effect, a person, untouchable army if he so desires.
104
Yes. The Congress was given the authority to impeach such a President who did not respect the rule of law.
14
@Casual Observer
I would then inquire if the founders anticipated that Congress would conspire with a president who did not respect the rule of law. Which is exactly what McConnell and Graham stated they were doing. Working hand in hand with the one brought before them in trial.
I would say no, they believed that there would be more than enough man of good faith and character to prevent a president from running amok. This was, of course, before parties became institutionalized into the government.
21
No, this is the problem with the law, and wealth, in that it isn't anymore about who has done criminal behavior, it is about being able to run in the right circles, of who you know, and who else might be caught up in that particular web of deceit, and wrongdoing, so that people get let off the hook. The current Weinstein case, the Jeffrey Epstein case, and really, the DT case, where he got let off the hook by those Republicans in the Senate who refused to remove DT from office. His lesser minions, Michael Cohen, Michael Flynn, Rick Gates, Paul Manafort, George Papadopoulos, and now Roger Stone are having to pay for their crimes, but only a little tap on the wrist. We have lost the ability to believe that adults should be held accountable for their behavior. I remember having the older people I came to know, tell me in our small town, who had to quit school at 12 to work out to help their families, the neighbor who had to walk in winter across parts of Russia before he came to America. They had to grow up at puberty. If you ended up in a situation, as a female or male, especially, you had to accept the responsibility, grow up. Now, not so much, as it is lying, blaming others, and believing you shouldn't be held accountable. Everyone needs a second chance, and a third to continue their behavior at that age. No, they don't, as few change, as arrogance, and callousness sets in, the longer you get by with things.
18
Stone encouraged and facilitated Russian interference in our 2016 election to benefit his lifelong friend Trump. He then lied about his actions to a bipartisan congressional committee and threatened a witness. A jury of fellow Americans found him guilty on all counts. Congress has just been briefed on renewed Russian interference in the 2020 elections. Meanwhile our President criticizes and demeans both our national intelligence and justice officials. While laying the groundwork to use his official powers to pardon a lifelong friend who broke the law trying to help him personally and politically. And Republicans seem to be ok with all of this based on their collective silence. Obama played too much golf. But this is just fine.
149
@Gene I wish that someone would make a split screen commercial of Trump talking about not playing golf when president and how much golf Obama plays, while on the other side, it shows Trump playing golf, riding a cart and the numbers appearing on the screen of how much our government is paying for his trips to FL.
26
@Gene That is tRump/GOP corruption. We'd better have a huge blue turnout in November....
20
@Gene
Don't forget, Obama also wore a tan suit! You must admit, that really crossed the line.
14
Does Putin pick out who Trump protects with pardons?
2
This country has become a joke. May the King live forever.
3
The headline of this article should be "Stone sentenced to three years in prison, but Trump will pardon him".
5
Stone won’t serve a nanosecond in prison nor will he feel one moment of shame - sociopaths never do.
8
Not "unless" -- the title should say "until"
2
One thing for sure -
Roger Stone and Donald Trump deserve each other………
Oh, and one other,
America doesn't deserve either………..
7
Stone got off easy.
4
trump will pardon stone. Not because the latter is important to him or as payment for services rendered. No, trump will pardon him simply to show the your fellow citizens that he's not above the law, that he is the law. The word of a King is the law, as they say.
Keep reading & talking & watching sports on TV - whilst your nation goes down the drain.... Your collective inaction is appalling.
7
Roger Stone’s career provides yet more evidence of what a cruel joke our system of “government” has become.
Politics is a now simply another industry. One driven by greed, egotism, the lust for power, and, as a result, a win-at-all-costs mentality. The primal scream of those involved in the industry: ME, ME, ME, ME, ME, ME, ME, ME, ME, ME, ME, ME, ME, ME, ME, ME!
23
@Robbiesimon
That looks like a pretty simplistic shrugging off of civic responsibility to me. And buys into a particularly noxious form of Republican voter suppression by breaking our trust in our institutions. 'They're all the same. It's all politics. Government is the problem.'
They are not all the same. Clinton might have promoted policies you disagreed with but she would not be dismantling government. And guess what - government matters. Even if you're totally off the grid - government policies are going to impact the air you breath and the water you drink and what crops you can grow.
5
@Robbiesimon I saw ME and thought it was about Maine. Actually, it fits Susan Collins to a T.
3
I don't believe there is anyone in recent history so many Americans want to see locked up as Roger Stone. A rather despicable person.
5
The ultimate drama queens; Stone and Trump.
2
Every king has a joker in his court. Enter stage right, Roger J. Stone Jr. to amuse and stroke the current occupant of the WH's ego.
3
Let Trump pardon his dear friend, the arrogant Roger Stone, who lied under oath to cover up for Trump.
Then line up all those pardoned or whose sentences Trump commuted for a photo shoot with the Donald and blast the headlines worldwide...
"Pardoned for a Price".
America is getting fed up with this raving narcissistic liar called Trump.
5
I was very disappointed that the traitor, liar, cheat and criminal Roger Stone got off so easily. I understand, Judge Berman-Jackson gave a fair sentence. But when young men of color are sentenced to 20-30 years for possession of marijuana, I’m disgusted!
7
Please let me see this tacky dandy decked out in an orange jumpsuit, likely with an ascot and handkerchief. Please.
4
No doubt, he will release Roger Stone, just like the other corrupt people he has pardoned in the past. He is building his army of thugs.....
2
They send a swat team to arrest him and his handicapped wife in the middle of the night and tip off CNN so it can be recorded.
This is an horrific abuse of the justice system.
Everyone involved should be fired.
2
Why does the media continue to call him a “trickster playing tricks,” when we all know he’s a “criminal committing crimes?” Would a woman be afforded the same nickname?
5
"Unless his friend the president bails him out." Is the Pope Catholic?
4
Roger Stone says he’s not worried about going to prison, as he has many friends on the ‘Former Associates of Donald Trump’ wing.
6
I am not sure how you measure stupidity. I suspect it's one of those things you just know when you see it. All of the goings-on with Trump, Stone, Barr, and the DOJ just seems inane. I really must applaud Judge Amy Berman Jackson for holding this all together. At least she showed common sense.
2
He was convicted of lying to liars. What is wrong with that? When congresspersons, individually and Congress collectively lie to ALL the time. Private citizens are morally entitled to lie them, as reciprocity is the basis of all morality. With regard to lying to federal investigators, he probably should serve some time to contemplate his stupidity for talking to them in the first place.
1
Asking 'whether history will catch up with Trump' puts the spotlight on Trump as an individual. Looking at Trump as the personification of the Republican party puts him in a larger historical perspective.
What does the GOP stand for and is it sustainable?
The party which started in social justice, stood for fiscal responsibility, and celebrated the rule of law and good government, now resorts to racism, indulges in reckless spending, bends the law to breaking, and breaks the public's trust in institutions. Add to that rejecting TR Roosevelt' concern for the environment and Eisenhower's embrace of equitable taxation and skepticism of the military industrial complex and you get the picture.
Empires crumble as internal corruption undermines their foundations. Capitalism without regulation serves personal greed at the cost of national prosperity. Lies create new facts on the ground, heaping wreckage on wreckage. Trump stands in the rubble as the planet burns.
The arc of history bends towards justice. But will we have that long?
30
Stone must have spent a fortune on clothes over the years.
1
Roger Stone just might be the creepiest oddball in all of Trump's vast coterie of creepy oddballs. He's right out of central casting — for a movie about grifters, hangers-on and miscreants.
8
"...unless his friend the president bails him out". I believe the better phrase is "unless his friend the president countermands the rule of law".
4
A long time ago someone pointed out the difference between the US and Russia. He said in Russia everything is against the law, but in the US nothing is against the law. We proved it in spades with Trump releasing dozens of criminally convicted political friends. The truth is you can get away with anything in this country. In Russia you simply disappear.
1
"Dapper Republican" you say.
Stone's clothing always struck me as garish. And then there are those puerile, dumb tattoos he sports. A professional would dress like Max von Sydow.
I'd really like to read a truthful bio of Stone's career. He seems too self-involved and possessive of a marginal intellect to be effective in executing political dirty tricks.
But the results speak for themselves. He has made a living out of it. I really don't know why his political opponents don't go to his home in Florida, ring the doorbell, and have someone like Christopher Moltisanti have a chat with him.
3
He is a convicted criminal. Why does he get the benefit of a cutesy-eccentric photo (shot by a Times photog, no less) on the home page, as if this was a personality feature of an up-and-coming fashion designer?
Part of Stone's mystique comes from how the press covers him (like this), and the way such stories often tout his brash and brazen communication and implausible denials as hard-nosed resilience when really, it's just him toying with us as he runs afoul of the law. To him, rules are for other people. A tantrum and some 'what-aboutism' is always the answer.
If journalists inject into (what should be) a story about a corrupt person, lines such as "Mr. Stone became bigger than life himself, driving Jaguars, wearing flamboyant suits and dishing out delectable quotes," they invariably give the person the oxygen they crave , the exposure they need to plot, grift and be taken seriously. It normalizes the corruption folks like Stone embody.
So long as stories like this get run, Stone will get larger-than-life exposure the article mentions, and that invariably entices copycat acts. It's funny to read about in the abstract, but when it comes to politics, these law-breaking tricksters have outsize impact influence on policy, candidates, and our lives.
Write about Stone's crimes. Spare us the bits about his lavish spending and eccentric suits. The 'delectable quotes will be there, but they are just bait.
Please, stop taking it. Leave it to a biographer.
3
One assumes Roger Stone knows many, many things about the President that could lead to his downfall. Any concern being expressed right now about the fairness of Stone's trial might better be read as a front page signal to the newly convicted felon that there's a path to freedom if he continues to keep his mouth shut.
4
As the remarkable Representative Adam Schiff said—
If Trump abuses the pardon power to pardon Roger Stone, it would be “breathtaking corruption”.
6
Trump will pardon Stone because Stone while also claiming to be so influenced by Roy Cohn is really a man emulating Joseph McCarthy and that is what Trump admires. When Trump pardons Stone the media will bombard us with stories of Trump and Stone, and just imagine where that will take the discussion - 2020 is about re-election.
2
Does Roger Stone have songs to sing that are yet unsung? Of course the Donald can never be guilty of anything, anymore than God could be guilty of turning Lot's wife into a pillar of salt for merely looking back over her shoulder at the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah ( were they twin cities like Minneapolis and St Paul?) Was it just a glance or did she watch the whole thing?. Roger Stone's not going to look back. There's no need.
1
Roger Stone will certainly be in the history books. Donald Trump is, by far, the most corrupt President in US history. Stone's sordid career as a "dirty trickster" for GOP politicians came to fulfillment under Mr. Trump. Trump surrounds himself with a host of unethical and amoral sycophants, and Roger is there at the top of the list. Mr. Trump and Mr. Stone offer a cornucopia of sleaze for historians to ponder and assess.
2
How was the release of email that Hillary sent and received
on her own server, against State Department Rules,
the fault of anyone but Hillary ?
As for Stone, better to have him work helping the
homeless for three years then going to prison.
2
This path is the same one followed by the great Fascist Dictatorships of the last Century. It started with the people electing the dictatorship from popular emotional clamor. It then proceeded to a Oligarchy of the dictator's friends, like Roger Stone. After 20 years they tragically collapse because the government is focused on making the plutocrats rich rather than tending to the economy.
Was it obvious for those fascist dictatorships after 3 years what was happening? No it wasn't. If we wish not to be doomed by ignorance of history, it is time to avoid the political cancer and have it removed now. Now rather than in 10 years when our only hope is to emigrate to Canada or Mexico.
2
Wake me when history catches up to Teflon Don. Trump is overdue a reckoning. Corrupt con man.
5
How long has Manafort been in prison? This should prove as a cautionary tale for Stone.
Once you've lost your usefulness for Trump, Trump drops you like used kleenex.
4
When will history finally catch up with the Trump family?
7
Stone will go down in history as creepy minor player who sullied everybody he touched. Hard to believe anybody thinks this guy is any kind of political mastermind.
3
Stone is a guy that has “TRUMP “tattooed across his chest, of course trump will pardon him. He did nothing wrong trump will say.
2
Do you ever wonder why all of Donald Trump‘s friends end up in jail? It is not because the system is unfair as our delusional and deranged president thinks . It is because Donald Trump himself is a criminal who hangs out with other criminals, individuals who see themselves as above the law.
Meanwhile Vladimir Putin is grinning from ear to ear knowing that “his boy“ in the White House is doing all of his bidding, tearing America apart and bringing it down in the worst possible way .
This act of betraying America in favor of a hostile foreign enemy makes Donald Trump, according to the Constitution guilty of treason and it makes the Republicans in Congress and AG Barr ,who have supported him accomplices to the fact. The next Democratic president who comes into office will need to clean house, and hold all of these reprehensible people accountable for the nearly irreparable damage they have done to this country.
6
If Trump pardons Stone, he will forever have been found guilty of a felony. Trump wouldn't exactly be doing him a favor.
1
Trump may let him remain in jail or pardon him fairly soon. Stone does not seem to care much, so long as he makes the front page or the evening news. He’s another silly man who just craves attention like Trump.
1
Stone, Trump, McConnell, Graham and their ilk will hopefully soon find themselves seeking shelter in some other banana republic. Be sure to vote.
3
I feel like the word "friend", used in many stone headlines, downplays the political relationship between stone and trump. Is it a fear of frivelous lawsuits that is discouraging journalists from printing more precise descriptions like "political ally" or "one of trump's political operatives"?
1
When you say 'unless the president pardons him', it is a scary prospect. Please, do not even suggest it, another trampling of the rule of law, and justice as we knew it before AG Barr. Stone is a most corrupt loyalist for vulgar Trump and fully deserving of jail. Bully Trump is providing not only 'circus' to entertain his clueless 'base', he is placing an awful precedent that justice depends on one's allegiance...or not.
3
Could we dump this pardon nonsense. It is a loophole for a president to use to let his friends get off easily? Maybe instead, a President can request a retrial of the offender, this way they can request it based on new facts or evidence. Still it would be a retrial.
3
Roger didn't deserve 7-9 years for a white collar crime, first offence. We put too many people in jail for far too long. Forty months is about right.
But for his smirk, his reptilian smile, his grotesque self-confidence and especially, that Nixon tattoo, he should be confined for life.
2
When Stone prattles " I revel in your hatred" , he really has the wrong idea in sort of juvenile self dramatizing way .
If I do happen to think about him , it is more along the lines of disappointment, not hatred.
The same sort disappointment that one feels for a ner-do-well child , who plays with matches and can't get along with the other boys and girls.
It's embarrassment, Roger. With your creativity , you could have amounted to something besides an annoyance.
2
Doubtless we will soon whiff the stench of a partisan presidential pardon, replete with whining and mock outrage about the "unfair bias" of Roger Stone's rather light sentence.
There is nothing unfair about this judgment, notwithstanding whatever absurd presidential spin pollutes the media channels over the coming days. Roger Stone was convicted by a fully vetted jury of his peers on seven criminal counts.
The jurors and the court examined and argued the evidence from both sides of the case and came to its conclusion in full compliance with all constitutional norms and rules, with neither fear nor favor in any direction. "President's mob buddy" appears nowhere in the US Constitution.
To label the process "unfair" is to project a bleeding heart for a primping, preening convicted criminal most undeserving of the tiniest shred of empathy, sympathy or support.
6
So it's not a question of if, it's a question of when.
I think he won't spend more then a month in jail and chief bone spur will send the DOJ after the judge and prosecutors.
2
Trump's pardoning Stone will be a function not of Trump's belief his sentence is a miscarriage of justice but rather Trump's fear that Stone will spill the beans on him in exchange for a lighter sentence. Nothing Trump ever does is without something in it for him.
6
Remember when pardons were something a president or governor did during the last fifteen minutes of their term in office? When people voted for Trump because they thought he would "shake things up"; is this what they wanted? What happens when he turns the page and demands the arrest of Bernie Sanders, or Vindman, or Oprah?
4
Stone and Trump will continue creating problems within the political sphere and this trial and sentencing is just a blip in their radar screen.
On Feb 12th Trump Tweeted that Stone "will never ever serve time as long as I am in office."
1
Six months in jail and a fine is more than enough punishment for such an offense. No criminal record. Lying to investigators is not a danger to the public. And the witness who was allegedly threatened testified that he never felt threatened. It was just Roger being Roger. And he was not convicted of any involvement with wikileaks or stealing any data.
1
@Mikey
If you lied to investigators they'd give you ten years. Lying to law enforcement is a crime. You are emblematic of the "no harm, no foul; rules don't count" nihilism that is running through our society. Strangely being led by formerly "law and order" Republicans.
5
Way less than he deserves for conspiring to facilitate and cover up Russian influence in our elections. Hopefully further evidence of his actions will come to light after the elections.
1
Reality is Stone got off lightly with a short sentence he is unlikely to serve out in a comfy white collar country club prison. If Trump decides to pardon him or grant any clemency it will just show how pervasive the swamp is and that the White House is at the epi-centre! Even the hard core Trump base, many who claim to be moral God fearing people must be getting tired of the slim.
2
I bet Trump will bail him out, for one reason only, not that he’s his friend: to show others that if they lie for him he will bail them out!
Trump I think feels that he has to bail him out just to send that message. He can’t be seen to neglect him, because it might send the message to others to throw him under the bus! Perhaps, that’s why he’s even acting reckless with the pardon process, to convince the many who might betray him to hold strong, that he’s able and willing to bail them out, if only they won’t throw him under the bus.
1
Roger Stone will remain the Republican Party's poster boy for committing any and every fraudulent activity to seize power. People interested in keeping our democracy intact will remember every vile deed summoned from this dandy.
Especially, remember who hired / hires him.
2
Trump wins in November, “it”, anyway you want the describe “it” is over. If he loses, during the 78 days between the election and the inauguration Trump will finish off what’s left of the country.
2
Stone knows “where the bodies are buried “. By the time his motion for a new trial is considered and a new trial occurs, OR it is denied and his appeal takes place, the election will be over, leaving Trump free to pardon him.
3
Is there any question that tRump will pardon him? Before or after the election, it doesn't matter, he's out.
2
This is but one of dozens, if not hundreds, of outrageous Trump scandals which Adam Schiff and Nancy Pelosi negligently and cravenly refused to examine as part of the recent House impeachment inquiry, which they stalled on until the last minute, made no real effort to seek bipartisan cooperation with, and ignored or even actively pushed back against public support for.
Similarly unfortunate dereliction was exhibited by Tom Steyer, who dumped money into developing the only really active on-line website promoting impeachment, only to completely abandon it, right at the clutch, in order pivot on a dime towards buying a seat at the ridiculous insult-exchanges masquerading as Democratic presidential primary debates.
1
Curious what effect if any Berman's observation that Stone was covering up for Trump has on the power of pardon. It seems fundamentally unjust that a president can pardon someone convicted of a crime in furtherance of obstructing an investigation into that president.
2
Think about this. Frank Nitti (one of Al Capone's henchmen) is now awaiting a pardon from Al Capone!! There ought to be a law against pardoning someone who was associated with the President.
4
@John Libretti
Perfect analogy.
1
Like a Strolling Stone. Walking right into his Pardon.
NOVEMBER.
1
Pardon or no pardon, Trump, Stone, Manafort and everyone in their intersecting circles are the worst people. The WORST people.
Of course there have always been low-lifes, self-serving crooks and bad actors in politics, as there have always been such people in every field. But the worst of the worst have risen to the top, damaging the lives of every citizen, and until the last of them is weeded out, it almost doesn't matter who is or isn't in jail... because we'll continue to be defiled by whoever remains.
There is no greater call in November than to remove Trump from the White House, and every one of his enablers who are up for re-election in the House and Senate (and the rest of them in 2022 and 2024). Just get them out, so we need never hear their names again for the rest of their natural lives.
4
Stone may be pardoned by Grifter Don, but he will forever be tarnished rightly with evidence of his quilt, saved only by his ‘Don’.
2
He will bail him out, after the elections. If he loses, he will have 3 months to bail as many people as he wants and if he wins he'll do the same.
13
@Jonathan Don't hold your breath.
This list of improvements our Constitution needs is getting longer. Electoral College has to go, pardon power needs to be limited, a sitting President can be prosecuted for crimes, tax returns must be released in order to be on the ballot, all assets must be in a blind trust, financial conflicts of interest, such as having secret service stay at his own hotels must be an impeachable offense and the list goes on and on. Hopefully, if not all changes to the Constitution, many of these can be implemented legislatively by a Democratic President and Congress. We need to stop another Trump before it ever happens again.
29
I strongly agree with you. Unfortunately, the one important thing we cannot edict is a more intelligent electorate. Hence Franklin’s caution to the early citizenry. The founding fathers never foresaw how such a dangerous person could become president. Thanks Donald and those of you who elected this crook. And republicans who refused to do their duty. History will not be kind to you.
1
@KL
Agree with all you say. Let us also add must release full medical records. Maybe be tested for mental fitness as well, given the current occupant.
1
@KL In spite of Trump, I hope we keep the pardon power in place. Used correctly, it can be the final check on judicial mistakes. It can also restore the rights of those who have true remorse for earlier crimes.
I completely agree with everything else on your list.
1
Stone had to know that, given the overwhelming evidence against him, he had a choice: cooperate with investigators and prosecutors in return for some degree of immunity (assuming it was offered to him) or, take steps to insure that his silence (and/or theatrical obfuscation) would guarantee him a presidential pardon.
So why would Stone expect an erratic, narcissistic man, loyal to no one but himself, to protect him? Perhaps because Trump knows that his “friend” has first-hand knowledge (and likely evidence) of Trump crimes and indiscretions going back decades.
But, perhaps even more importantly, Trump understands that, if betrayed, Stone, a man much like himself, will do whatever he needs to do to save himself.
19
Note that the judge, who is clearly not a fan of Trumps's, nor of Stone's, could not bring even herself to give the man 108 months as the four “heroic” prosecutors requested. She gave him 41.
That sentence fits the crime. Stone should serve it, Trump should not pardon him, and the four prosecutors who recommended 108 months are no longer where they shouldn’t have been in the first place.
Justice.
4
This judge is amazing. But don’t blame the prosecutors. They only recommend. It shows the importance of a nonpartisan judiciary.
2
Prosecutors routinely seek maximum sentences under the guidelines and judge's frequently give shorter sentences than recommended. Berman seems to have ignored the refiled, shorter recommended sentence offered by Barr's henchmen.
2
We all know that Trump’s been warming up to pardon each and every criminal in his gang, with the likely exception of Cohen.
There is no reason to run articles like these. They only serve Trump’s purpose by warming up the national audience for the next step in the failure of our country.
6
The Republican members of Congress have given Donald Trump a green light to do whatever he wants as POTUS. He claims an "absolute right" and so far he has been given that absolute right. So now he can pardon his fellow corrupt colleagues just like an emperor. We can thank Mitch McConnell and his Republican Senate caucus for demeaning the intent of our Constitution. History may treat them as they deserve, but for now it is Trump's world and it does not look like a nice world for our children.
11
He'll be pardoned once the appeal is rejected. Trump continues to make a mockery of justice and democracy.
13
As much as I'd like to think that Stone will at least serve a portion of his sentence for a well-deserved conviction by a jury, it's a fairly foregone conclusion that he will be pardoned.
I lost hope several years ago that anything or anyone will step in to save our republic. This includes senators who I may not have agreed with philosophically, but at least respected, who have revealed themselves to be nothing more than weak sycophants to a man they all despise and criticize behind his back (I know this, because I work on Capitol Hill). Yet they are so afraid that they've consciously chosen to fall in line, rather than face the wrath of his Twitter account and his massive collection of Oppo Research. Let me repeat that: A "twitter" account and Oppo Research.
It also includes the chief justice of SCOTUS, whose weak admonition that there are "no Obama judges or Trump judges" did exactly nothing. Meanwhile, Roberts & Co. has effectively given Trump everything he's asked for on a silver platter. To wit: the fact that SCOTUS accepted not one, but *three* cases (it only took one, but who's counting?) on the issue of Trump's finances and is intentionally slow-walking them through the system sends a well-telegraphed signal that he's going to get the court's imprimatur that his tax returns and financial information will remain under seal. Therefore, as a charter member of the Federalist Society, John Roberts is merely following orders.
He knows exactly what he's doing.
17
So what? You're giving up? Quietly, all over this nation, people are phoning, writing, texting, and knocking on doors to get out the Votes that can save us. And you sit here and wring your hands. The America I grew up didn't breed quitters. Stand up! Pitch in! If we fail, at least we go down like the soldiers who have given their lives for this country over the centuries. We go down fighting!
1
@BothSides He will go to prison and not paroned.
1
There really ought to be a law curbing pres. pardons, commutations etc. Some standards, litmus tests, conflict clauses. No more cart blanch. Pardoning someone because he's a buddy is unconscionable. What ever happened to the rule of law? Oh, right. Now I remember.
5
Yet more evidence that Trump 'changes direction' 'walks back' 'is inconsistent' (and all the other euphemisms for a word once used against the quite-consistent John Kerry), even about Roger Stone.
And that Republicans with honor, like Sen. Bob Dole, are all dead.
4
I got a buck that says Stone is going to have to do eight to nine months, depending on when he has to surrender to begin his sentence. He (and likely Manafort, Flynn, etc.) will get pardoned after the election, regardless of who wins.
4
Who is this guy? A model for senior dandies? I completely disagree with his sartorial portfolio: he's definitely more Joker than Phillip!
8
@Marco Avellaneda I fear he will put top hat makers out of business!
1
As a person who was brought up by parents who held up personal honor and decency above everything, I find it easy to resent Stone, Trump, Barr, McConnell, et.al. to a tremendous degree. They say the true measure of your morality is how you behave behind closed doors. These folks aren't hampered by this closed-door rule. They flaunt their terrible natures in full view. So, no, I don't have "Trump-derangement syndrome". I am practicing the lessons that better people have taught me all of my life, lessons that I have passed on to my children and theirs. I just hope we return to the days when that mattered.
13
Will Trump pardon Roger Stone? It is a safe bet that he will. Trump has as much interest in advancing the rule of law as a bordello owner has in promoting chastity.
7
On top of everything, he looks like a character from The Hunger Games, and he’ll be pardoned just in time for the next election.
6
However contemptible it would be for Trump to pardon Stone, his supporters would not hear about it on Fox News; and if they do hear about it, they will be told that Trump pardoned him because the trial was rigged.
7
That recipe for Martinis won’t come in handy in the Big House, where I hope he resides for as long as is possible.
3
Stone lied to protect the president. For Trump to pardon Stone would be an obvious abuse of authority. Thanks, Republicans. Your corruption will feature prominently in the chapter on The Fall of the American Republic.
7
Stone's a gadfly that needs to view the world from a setting beyond his control. Jail-time sounds like what he deserves.
4
Where is his money coming from? Has anyone done a deep dive on his finances? I'd love to know how he gets paid.
6
@Uncle Eddie Political consultants are well paid.
2
The whole issue is unnecessary. Nonviolent criminals should be forced to give service to the country; they should be MAKING money for Americans, not COSTING us more. Then there would be no question of Presidential pardons. Criminals who have stolen money, like Madoff, could, in this framework, at least begin to pay it back. Criminals who have obstructed justice, like Stone, could serve in some useful capacity. Surely it is a ridiculous waste to let non-dangerous people sit in jail, draining our tax dollars. Let them pay it back - and forward.
1
@Mr. Little Nice thought, but I would hesitate to classify Stone as non-dangerous. His behind the scenes crimes could throw another election.
3
This is not about Stone, Manafort, or Flynn. This is about Trump sending a message to everyone working for him that they can break the law. He's got their back as long as they have his.
Rome is burning.
8
UNLESS??? That word is as ridiculous as the abhorrent persona that Mr. Stone has worked so hard to cultivate. Stone will not, as other commenters understand, spend one night in prison. What's more, when Trump pardons him, it will constitute yet another win for the president--not only in terms of cancelling out his countless other scandals du jour but also result in a media freak-out that will for the thousandth time elevate the stable genius in the eyes of his disciples.
2
I suggest that the President think long and hard before acting on the Stone question. The more he exercises his clemency powers to benefit his friends the harder it will be for him to obtain clemency, if he ever needs it.
11
@Indy1
Trump has 99.9% of the GOP protecting him no matter how disgusting or appalling his words and actions. The GOP will not be in power now for a long long time.
2
I believe it was a comedy site which gave us the cold, hard truth: Stone has been sentenced to wait a few days for a presidential pardon.
50
Prediction: Roger Stone will not spent one night in prison. If he's not granted a new trial, Trump will pardon Stone, Flynn and Manafort in one fell swoop.
32
@Paul Drake I agree about his being pardoned. However, I have a perfect grouping of cell mates for Stone; add Trump & Madoff, for the ultimate collection of charlatans & con-men, along with those Trump-men already serving time.
2
@Paul Drake He might be still holding a grudge with Manafort or making a deal for a credit on his billing.
3
I hope to god Trump pardons him. That has to splinter support across America, otherwise we have completely given up on democracy as a whole. This administration has shown the worst of America and it is uglier than I ever imagined.
60
@Doug Trump will wait until the second week in November
2
There is a fair probability that Trump will wait, under pressure from many of his Republican enablers, until the general election to issue the pardon.
The raw corruption in springing Stone quickly would be obvious to even the most clueless idolators of this vile pretender.
As unseemly as the pardon will be, there may be some small satisfaction in Stone's tenure as a federal inmate for 5 or 6 months.
19
@JS, I think Trump supporters would simply claim that the whole thing was rigged by the deep state. Independents might balk though.
4
Mr Stone is a sterling example, among many in recent years of the reprehensible opportunist, a reprobate, utterly lacking in morals, driven by access to power and those who wield it. It's clear that anyone adhering to maxims coined by Roy Cohn shouldn't be welcome in civil societies, yet it's also clear, that ours has been moving away from civility for some time, if indeed we ever really had it. In the end, it may be that trump and his sycophants represent a fruition of the energies our country has brought into the world. While much of our history is laudable, there is right much there that is sordid and shameful. This can stay hidden for only so long. trump emergence may be an example of this as he represents the worst of what American culture produces. The fact the Roger Stone smirks after sentencing only underscores the profound sense of entitlement and utter shamelessness of his cadre. I'd like to think that we can recover some semblance of decency for our society, but the longer this circus of deceit, dismantling, derogation and derision goes on, the more the external stressors of the current environment increase, I believe this ever less likely. If trump takes another term, I fear we will be well and surely lost. He will view such a thing as vindication for himself and for his tactics. The gloves will come fully off at that point, and we will be left a shell of what we once were or what we could have been. What a loss.
49
The negative stories circulate better than the positive ones and people will believe the worst with less proof than the best about people who exercise power on their behalf. Cohn learned that from Joe McCarthy and people like Trump and Stone simply ape what McCarthy did.
Stone is about as significant as a thirteen year old who never learned any boundaries, like Trump. I expect nothing useful to result from their having lived. The big problem is the half of the country that backs these clowns out of fear. That is something about which to be concerned.
5
@Mitchell Gershten
Bravo, sir! Very well said. I find living in the USA now, under Trump and McConnell, is a redux of Germany in the 1930's, under its amoral government. It is certain that we will have similar consequences as that regime, if the evil that is Trump is reelected.
4
Interesting that Stone thrives on being hated. It's difficult for me to comprehend such a desire. He clearly is intelligent and fully understands the need to feign loyalty to Trump in order to be successful and gain more wealth and whatever else gives him contentment.
Once his options for a new trial are over and he is imprisoned, Trump will surely pardon him and put him back in the swamp with the other cronies who support the president.
7
Good grief, why all the brouhaha regarding Roger Stone? Trump, and Barr, voiced opinion that DOJ sentencing recommendation was much too harsh. Presiding judge agreed, and imposed sentencing less than half that of DOJ recommendation ... It's over. Move on.
6
Good Grief, how casually you accept the subversion of our legal system and democracy for what in return? A few more dollars for corn rotting in a silo? Try growing biodiesel and reading The Constitution, please.
7
@BD
The judge beat them at their game. The lower sentence accompanied by her scathing judgement will make it harder to find grounds for appeal.
2
@Kate ... but why the hysteria? Both Trump and presiding arrived independently at the same conclusion.
1
Frankly, I don't care if Stone rots in jail or slips out with a pardon by his equally rotten benefactor.
My issue is the fact that all of this is playing out in public with no discernible consequence. The republican house and senate offers a stern sigh. The democrats are cautiously condemning trumps continuing fits of 'autocratic delusions'. The media continues to point out the endless dysfunction in this administration and my head is spinning in disbelief.
Is the country overwhelmed by the daily disaster known as the trump administration or are we (the voters) saving our energy to storm the ballot boxes and throw trump, and all of his minions, out on the street?
The final battle line is coming in November...which way America?
28
@Lalo I am going to the ballot box, and praying my army comes with me.
1
@Lalo
What about the time between November and January if/when Trump loses? Equally concerning as the next 8 mos with this despot. Ugh.
2
@Tim
Our work in the next 8 months is to actively struggle against trumps mindless cruelty, Vote with our friends and neighbors in November, and continue to hold trump accountable after he loses until a newly elected sane person takes their place as president.
2
How this plays out seems predictable. Stone will appeal his conviction and sentence and get bail pending the hearing of the appeal. The appeal will not happen until after the 2020 election. As soon as the election is over, win or lose, Trump will pardon Stone as well as Manafort and Flynn. So Stone will not spend any time in prison or at most a few days while bail is arranged. This explains his cocky attitude during the proceedings - he knows he has a get out of jail card in his pocket. It may also explain some of his lawyers tactics, bringing many motions, they serve to waste time and to provide many grounds of appeal.
13
This reminds me of Stone's "Brooks Brothers Riot," on November 22, 2000, when he organized dozens of Republican operatives, lawyers and staffers, many flying in from Washington and some carrying bats, to physically threaten - and successfully shut down - Dade County vote re-counting, during the Bush-Gore debacle that leveraged George W into the White House.
The Dade County votes would have likely put Gore over the top. They were never fully re-counted.
Stone deserves to be in jail now - and he deserved to be in jail then - for his work to cynically undermine democratic processes including the right to vote and have your vote counted.
44
@Jake1982 Apparently the democratic plan to throw popcorn at the republicans didn't work.
1
Stone's major problem at present is to quickly find a tattoo artist sufficiently skilled to turn that portrait of Nixon this pyscho had engraved on his back into some semblance of the Trumpster.
45
He will be pardoned the day AFTER the election, win or lose!
30
@Morton Litvin ... and just before Trump demands to be called "Your Majesty" from then on.
1
Manafort thought he would get a pardon, too. Crickets, crickets.
And Cohen. More crickets. Plus heaps of opprobrium.
So while Trump is capable of issuing a pardon because he enjoys being the law, he might not simply because he also enjoys cruelty--toward those who oppose him and to those who support him.
Trump supporters: Are we learning anything yet? No one is sacred to that man, no one.
34
@Thomas M Perceptive comments.
The Donald loves to use his power to demonstrate his power and to pander to his base for reelection purposes. But there is also, as you mention, a strain of just plain cruelty.
"No one is sacred to that man, no one." I think that is completely true. Many people don't grasp that statement.
To The Donald nothing is sacred, no one is sacred, and there is no limit to his shamelessness and brazenness. His most loyal sycophant could be out on the street tomorrow if The Donald doubts his/her loyalty.
Best wishes and stay positive.
13
No, they aren’t learning anything. The worse he is, the more they like it.
13
@Thomas M he doesn't need to pardon Manafort. Mandatory is too scared of his mob connections and will stay quiet. Cohen has already spilled his guts.
1
'Unless' ? Of course Trump will pardon his friend. To think otherwise is just naive.
13
@sheikyerbouti Trump pardon "..a friend"? Trump has no friends, so that can't be the reason. No, Stone will be pardoned because he has already passed the word to Trump that he will sing like a bird about WikiLeaks and eMails and Trump if he doesn't get pardoned.
4
@paulyyams
I was using the term loosely. Conspirator ? Better ?
1
@sheikyerbouti Conspirator can work. I was thinking more along the lines of 'Boy-Toy', but couldn't decide which one I would apply it to.
1
Most interesting stat I've seen lately...Trump, 26 pardons, Obama 1927. Let's all keep trying to make Trump look bad. That seems fair, no?
5
@Rachael
Trump only pardons when it serves his self-interest. There are hundreds in the huge prison population who would deserve a pardon, but Trump is not the man to even consider to do what Obama did.
27
@Rachael
ALL of Trump's pardons involve special favors to corrupt interests. Maybe a few of Obama's don't pass the smell test, but certainly not all 1927. Facts.
20
@Rachael It's not the number of pardons, it's the reasons.
28
Of course Trump will pardon him! Is there any doubt? Look at all the other blatant criminals he's pardoned.
We should celebrate those that stand up for justice, the judges and prosecutors.
But let's move on now and give Trump and his pack of criminals the attention they deserve...a paragraph in the back, not front page. We know the ending of this chapter of the story.
14
A pardon absolves a convicted criminal of his crime, but a pardon requires a confession or admission of guilt. How can Trump pardon Stone when he lied under oath and hasn’t admitted any crime? How can he be absolved of lying which hid his, and likely Trump’s, crimes?
12
@Sherry While that is usually the case, it’s not required. Ford pardoned Nixon.
2
@Sherry: Not only that but I read where someone who is pardoned can be interrogated again and they must tell the truth or they can be jailed again. Come on Dems, get your questions ready!
2
Even after Trump pardons Stone, Stone still has the weight of his own history to carry. Nothing about a pardon changes that.
And Trump’s supposed “firing” of Stone in 2016? It was a charade. Stone was a guest on Michael Smerconish’s radio program shortly after the “firing” and was asked about it. Stone’s wink-wink nod-nod could be clearly heard, no video feed necessary. Stone acknowledged he and Trump were still close and would still be working together. And shortly thereafter came Stone’s orchestration of the Wikileaks dump.
Stone is as much a stone cold narcissist as Trump himself. The photograph of him at the top of the article shows clearly who it is.
So, regardless of when Trump pardons him, Stone has created his own sordid legacy which no one can erase.
23
One the ways you "punish" a man like Roger Stone is to "punish" his family, since his wife stands by his side and supports him. Deny his wife a table at a restaurant and be vocal about it. Is she a member of any clubs or organizations in their home town? Tell her she is no longer welcome. When we as a society are too "polite" to criminals, they go through life believing they got away with it.
22
@Tom That would not "impress" the narcissist Stone.
Do you really think a person like Stone cares about his family? His actions do not convince one that he is a "family man". Furthermore, one can name a few others in his orbit who care only for themselves - it's the entire swamp.
2
@Tom
His wife was convicted of no crime.
2
@Paul Ruszczyk
His wife supports him. When his wife tells him that her book club says she is no longer welcome, that will hurt Stone. Treat them as social pariahs.
2
The slammer now has a revolving door; hardly in when one is out....with the right connections of course. The pardon power was continued from the king's right to pardon as it was seen as a protection for those too harshly or too quickly rushed to judgement. It assumed some enlightenment and protection from mob rule through a flawed jury. It was not assumed to be tool for corrupting the rule of law. We have to keep in mind that much was seen in light of the character of George Washington, with worries about abuse somewhat distant.
Trump, and some earlier questionable pardons, makes it clear that another amendment to the constitution might be in order to require some kind of fair process for review, not whim or whiff of favor for corrupt friends of whoever is president.
8
“I’m going to let this process play out,” Mr. Trump said, but he added that “Roger Stone and everybody has to be treated fairly. This has not been a fair process.”
I just put this quote through my Trump-to-English translator app.
In English, the quote reads: "I am going to pardon Roger Stone."
24
Trump is right, it wasn't a fair prosecution - because Trump applied pressure via Barr to reduce the prosecution's sentencing recommendation.
If Trump pardons Stone, it will not only be a gross act of political corruption, it will also be evidence of blatant covering up of Trump's involvement in the Russian hacking of Democrats in 2016.
Republican Senators are allowing this to happen. They also refused last week to respond to the testimony of our intelligence agencies that the Russians are currently meddling in our 2020 election. So, Republican Senators are willing to undermine the integrity of our elections - the basis of democracy - to win elections and stay in power.
Americans only recourse now is to vote them and Trump out of office. And, it will take a massive turnout to do that given their continued cheating and Trump's Electoral College advantage.
23
In other news, Trump opens new office to monetize Presidential pardons and clemency.
44
What kind of banana republic is it that allows a so called president to over rule the judiciary, in fact what civilised democracy politicises the judiciary.
240
We don’t but about half of Americans condone whatever Trump and his minions do.
5
@dan Elected judges can be worse. Life tenure for federal judges ensures that they can rule without fear of political payback.
And doesn’t the Crown still have pardon power?
6
The US is currently out of order.
8
This is another of Trump’s quid pro quos: If Stone keeps his mouth shut and wont “rat” on Trump, then president Trump will pardon Stone.
That’s why Stone promised in his indictment he won’t “rat”: “I have made it clear, I will not testify against the president!”
42
"attack, attack, attack. Never defend. Admit nothing, deny everything, counterattack"
A modern day Stonewall Jackson minus reverence and intelligence. Hopefully this his his shot in the arm, amputation, and slow deterioration.
23
@Christine A Roux
This is also Trump's mantra: always attacking, never defending, never admitting guilt or incompetence.
13
"unless his friend the president bails him out"
We all know this will be the outcome.
Vote blue no matter who
50
stone will likely appeal. before he serves any time.
6
I would say
"..until his accomplice Trump, bails him out".
That would be factually correct.
22
I certainly hope that history has finally caught up with Stone, whose role models were Nixon, McCarthy and Roy Cohn-three notorious enemies of truth! None was devoted to the United States and its Constitution.They ended their years in disgrace-time for Stone to join his heroes in the Hall of Shame!
34
Of course he will pardon him. He's made it quite clear. If not now, after the election (win or lose).
9
Whether or not Trump pardons Mr. Stone he will hopefully be toxic enough that no one will ever hire him again to work his dirty shenanigans. Now that would be poetic justice.
9
@EMiller He will write a memoir
1
Trump will pardon Stone but only when it will benefit him and only if that ensures that Stone will never testify against him by revealing the full extent of collusion and cooperation between Trump and his campaign and Russia. They are both so amoral and corrupt! Two of a kind!
12
@IN Good comments.
There is an old saying that "an honest politician is one that stays bought." In other words if you pay him/her to be on your side, he/she will not turn around and vote against you.
Is Stone sure that The Donald won't betray him? If I was Stone I would definitely be uneasy. I always think that if someone will cheat other people, he/she will cheat me.
It is said that The Donald claimed to be a great friend of Roy Cohen. But when Roy was old and had aids and was of no more help to The Donald, The Donald dropped him.
Best wishes.
9
Then Stone becomes a celebrity martyr to Trump’s self centeredness. The only thing that can break Stone’s heart is being ignored.
3
Trump considers him a "good person". And yet here is an example of a wasted life. Nothing of value produced, nothing of importance developed---just dirty tricks and deceit. Trump's good buddy is typical of the hanger's on who are able to prosper by notoriety. Trump is making "the determination" of when (not whether) to issue the pardon without weakening his own election prospects; remember that Trump always thinks of himself first.
17
Is the Times actually interested in investigating the exact relationship between Wikileaks, Stone, and the Trump campaign? It seems, so far that is far more convenient for this and other media outlets to avoid looking at an process that ended by providing a distribution platform for Putin to interfere in the US election.
11
All of these articles basically encourage trump to pardon stone. So maybe just stop it.
4
There is this saying in Germany that the US became under Trump a banana republic. It means an autocrat is using the justice system and the law to do whatever he wants, nurturing fears of external danger or enemy to rally his allies and fans.
It's a pity though, isn't it? It's like watching some political South American telenovela.
14
Perhaps its time to re-visit The Daily Show's Noah Trevor's 2016 piece on "How South Africa Could Prepare the U. S. for President Trump". Packing the courts was Zuma's only obstacle to total power as his family enriched itself on government largess. Can't control the Press? Control the courts.
12
Perhaps our country wouldn’t be in this mess today if this man and the stable genius had been held accountable for their actions years ago. They’ve been able to get away with their shenanigans for far too long.
The poor who don’t have the right connections or live in the wrong zip code have probably spent more time in jail for doing much less than these two. The laws of this country need to be applied in a just manner across the board.
If this GOP nightmare ever ends, we need to reform the criminal justice system to assure that white collar criminals do some hard time not just get a slap on the wrist. And law enforcement needs to stop looking the other way and go after the likes of this man and the stable genius.
19
To those Democrats who might sit out the election because their candidate doesn’t get the nomination, please take heed.
22
The Mueller report documented Stone’s involvement in the sabotage of Hillary Clinton’s campaign, but that section of the report was heavily redacted because Stone was then under indictment. Trumps attorney Cohen testified in Congress that he heard Stone tell Trump that he ‘d spoken to Julian Assange and there would be a massive email leak soon.
Now that Stone’s been sentenced, Barr better release that section of the Mueller report.
Stone and Trump were both involved in getting those Russian-hacked emails (“Russia if you’re listening.,.), and then having them published through Wikileaks. How involved? Because Stone lied repeatedly under oath we don’t yet know. But it’s quite obvious Stone lied to protect Trump, and Trump wants to protect Stone not out of fairness but to protect himself from yet another criminal charge of corruption and conspiracy.
16
Nixon's tattoo looks forward to its 'yard' reveal.
7
I have no doubt Trump wil pardon Stone. The only issue is timing. I would expect it after the November elections to avoid it becoming more of an election issue. Same with Manafort but maybe not Cohen who was"disloyal" and revealed more than the others. It would not surprise me if this has already been agreed upon between Trump and Stone or his lawyers in exchange for as much silence as possible.
156
Right on!! There is some possibility in my mind that Stone will be pardoned immediately to reinforce Trump's belief that the trial was tainted and his conviction unjust. I agree. Cohen will never be pardoned. All those years of making it right for Trump down the drain and a seat in jail the reward. So dismal!!
14
@expat : I guess if Trump thinks polling indicates he is not going to win reelection he may issue pardons at the last minute. The timing of pardons may tell us what Trump really thinks about his reelection prospects.
9
@sceptic even if he loses, Trump has 2+ months before the inauguration of the next president.
3
I don't think Trump will pardon Roger, just as he hasn't pardoned his other partners in crime, Manafort and Cohen. Unlike the criminals he did pardon, Roger has knowledge of Trumps involvement in nefarious activities, and being pardoned can force Roger to provide truthful testimony about that.
70
@Islandgirl
That's a point that should be explained in detail. If manafort and stone are pardoned, they can't use the Fifth. If their sentences are commuted, they can. Cohen is not on a commutation list, maybe a bit list though.
See this article: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/volokh-conspiracy/wp/2017/06/02/if-youre-pardoned-can-you-be-compelled-to-testify-about-your-crime/
12
Pardoning Manafort may be a parting shot just before the end of Trump's first term. Not enough time has gone by yet to determine Manafort's fate. Cohen was not loyal. No chance. Stone will be pardoned soon to reinforce Trump's opinion that Stone's trial was unjust and the jury tainted. You do make a good point, though, and it could happen like that, too. We'll both know in time.
7
@Islandgirl But why hasn't he sung yet? It might have helped his case.
1
If Trump pardons him the rule of law means nothing in the USA.
338
@Gerry
It's almost inevitable because Trump has to send a message to all the others who are or may become caught up in the justice system: keep your mouth shut, and I will take care of you.
Otherwise he knows that it's only a matter of time before someone with a lot of verifiable dirt turns on him.
30
@Gerry
The pardon power IS the law.
9
Nobody says the power to pardon is not the law. But pardoning someone in order to obstruct justice is an illicit use of the power. Get it?
61
“The truth still exists. The truth still matters. Roger Stone's insistence that it doesn't -- his belligerence, his pride in his own lies -- are a threat to our most fundamental institutions, to the very foundation of our democracy.”
These lines are from the sentencing report of Federal Judge Amy Berman Jackson, who emerges as the only genuine hero in the Stone Affair.
Predictably, Trump has condemned Judge Jackson.
30
it would be a shame if poor Roger got fed up with living in a jail, and agreed to speak to Congress under oath to questions posed by Robert Muller!
5
I have never seen so much smirking in one picture as in the one of Stone and his entourage leaving court yesterday.
8
Without even needing to be asked he'll pardon him. Why wouldn't he? Stone knows where all the Russian bodies are buried, and helped trump bury them.
Self-described "dirty tricksters" don't much like the other guy not holding up his end of the bargain.
The Blagojevich commutation was meant to normalize this sort of thing, to soften us up for the pardons that matter to trump-- like Stone's.
17
MAY BE up to trump?
it may be the sun will rise in the east tomorrow and set in the west.
and, as an aside, stone used to look like a normal human being.
not sure what's happened in the past four decades.
2
If "lying" is a crime, who among us is innocent? The next step, will, of course, be thinking.
Welcome to your Police State. What's that? A State where cops and prosecutors, have become more powerful that the people you elected to run our government.
An "independent" Justice Department is a terrible thing, not a good thing. If you doubt that, read up on J. Edgar Hoover's activities.
4
And you make no distinction between lying and lying under oath to duly constituted authorities? Fatuous beyond words.
11
You need to read judge berman Jackson's sentencing report.
1
@Chuck Burton
Clearly, you have a "duly constituted authorities" problem - sometimes known as "Lt. William Calley syndrome".
1
Dear 2020 Presidential Candidates,
Please release a comprehensive plan on how you would go about investigating President Trump’s corruption, illustrate your plan for getting rid of the legislative filibuster should the Democrats get a majority in the Senate and please release a list of potential Supreme Court nominees (with your disposition on expanding the court). If we can claw our way to 51 seats in 2020 we can expand it to a much larger majority it 2022 - signaling a potential generational shift in the Senate for years to come. It would be the ultimate “firewall” in the face of increasing Republican insanity.
As Democratic voters we need something to bring us together. We need to get past the messaging hodgepodge we are seeing from the campaign trail.
18
Three years seems more reasonable than nine year. Robbing someone with a gun or vehicular manslaughter get less time than that. In some states, even if the driver is drunk, the time is shorter. The person he threatened to steel his dog, said he knew the threats were not real. The jury foreman was a avid anti-Trumpite. It is probable that if the sentence was like it is now instead of nine years, none of this controversy would have come up. The Wikileaks were not created by Stone. Even Comey said the leaks had no effect on the election. Does anyone really believe droves of Clinton supporters switched their vote to Trump? Was there even one who switched? What the leaks did do. was shine a light on the DNC and their efforts to stop Sanders. The highly touted transparent became transparent. Comey also testified there was no collusion between Trump and the Russians. Almost two years of investigation by Mueller, could not prove collusion either. If Trump does nothing, Stone probably won't serve half of that time. I hope Trump stays out of it now. We need to move on.
1
Roger Stone will be pardoned, and the pardon will follow the predictable Trump playbook: Pardon Stone before a DNC debate, or before Super Tuesday, or on the eve of the Democratic convention. Whenever the pardon comes it will be done to change and disrupt the news cycle to keep Trump above the fold and front and center in the news.
12
Trump revels in lawlessness in plain sight; and a compliant GOP (now the Party of Trump) fears him and his base more than the broader polity. At some point an outraged public will say, “Enough!” Pardoning Stone before the November elections could be that turning point to finally banish Trump and his Party to the dustbin of history.
5
"Now he will serve more than three years in prison, unless his friend the president bails him out."
This is at best conclusory and at worst false.
Unless Stone does not appeal, which would be foolish on his part, he may yet get acquitted on retrial - it only takes one juror to say innocent.
Although he may fail at appeal, the notion that it is certain he will go to jail is, as we are taught by judges to say politely, "inaccurate".
2
Trump stated that he was going to "let this process play out" all the while chanting in the background, "This has not been a fair process."
Gosh, I wonder that his intentions might be. . .
Somehow serving 40 months in jail for helping a president "dodge accusations that his 2016 campaign conspired with the Russians" doesn't sound all that lenient, but no doubt Trump probably feels it's a travesty of justice.
For a "smart guy" he always seems to team up with losers like Nixon and Trump.
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Likely scenario - late November or December 2020. Following Donald Trump's stunning election loss/win, the lame duck/second term President has pardoned Roger Stone.
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@Gongoozelery this is not going to wait till late November
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It's hard to believe Trump will not pardon Stone. I suspect Stone doesn't serve a single day in prison.
5
Trump's abuse of power ....
"Someday - and that day may never come - I'll call upon you to do a service for me. But until that day, accept this justice as gift …"
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Trump is evaluating how useful Stone may or may not be to him before exonerating him. It may be that Stone’s usefulness to Trump has worn out. But Trump wants to keep his options open.
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Right after the election, regardless of the results. You can take that to the bank.
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It is telling that Trump thinks Stone will be cleared. But if not he may pardon him.
I suspect it will not be if but when Trump pardon's Stone.
The unfair that Trump sees is having to obey the law and simply tell the truth. Using hate as the article quotes Stone as a talent is what he and Trump do.
Success not by talent. How Proud the Republican Congress must be. That is what they cleanly want to make America. For Taxes, Honesty, morality, voting/representation, Safety, Environment, pretty much everything.
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"It May Be Up To Trump." That speaks volumes. Too bad nobody is listening.
"“... but he added that “Roger Stone and everybody has to be treated fairly. This has not been a fair process.”"
It's amazing how the president uses the word "fair." I bet he couln't define it if he tried.
Is it fair to practice "political dark arts" in public campaigns? Such actions are usually vile, often illegal, and sometimes criminally documented.
While Stone wants to come off as a gadfly, it's an act, designed to feign innocence while bullying. I'm surprised Judge Jackson didn't give him more time, as belligerent and threatening as he was in and out of court.
Is it fair that Stone could be let loose in time for the last days of the election? Is it fair the man threatens a judge and still receives lenienancy?
Trump's definition of fairness is personal: pals should get off, enemies put in jail.
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The president has flouted the law and flaunted his lawlessness on a daily basis makes us- the self-proclaimed law-abiding beacon of democracy a banana republic.
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@tedc deomocrat
still have still have no real crimes just ones imagined ones committed by Trump.
Making democrats mad and scared is not a crime.
1
Trump will get him out. Its a done deal.
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The prison sentence of more than three years-imposed Thursday by a federal judge on Trump associate Roger Stone demonstrates that Attorney General William Barr was correct in his assessment that trial prosecutors were seeking an unduly punitive sentence. Barr advocated a term of 36 to 40 months. The four prosecutors, two of whom worked for Mueller, requested an absurd seven-to-nine-year prison sentence for Stone. Barr determined that this was “excessive” and suggested that the prosecutors had become so invested in their case that they had lost perspective. Barr directed that the sentencing recommendation be revised to reflect a more appropriate penalty in conformance with federal guidelines. Federal Judge Amy Berman Jackson agreed with Barr’s assessment and meted out a punishment of 40 months. In so doing, she vindicated Barr’s judgment. Her sentence also exposed as folly the demand by more than 2,000 former prosecutors that the attorney general resigns. Importantly, Trump’s provocative tweet that the original sentencing recommendation was “horrible, unfair and a miscarriage of justice” was posted after Barr’s decision to revise it. In retrospect, Trump was right. But none of this seemed to matter to the ex-prosecutors who chose to prejudge the attorney general’s motivations as nefarious.
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Those prosecutors were following guidelines created by this administration. Which has been pushing for harder sentences.
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@NYChap the judge wasn't going to impose the max recommended anyway. It was an issue of Trump taking a personal interest in defending ANYONE related to his campaign, and sending Barr to do it.
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@NYChap The prosecutors were using established department guidelines for their sentencing recommendations. AG Barr has publicly stated that prosecuting attorneys should go for the maximum sentences possible, and it is department policy when a case has multiple charges to pursue the charges that carry the maximum penalty. While Judge Jackson gave Stone a shorter sentence than originally recommended, many judges have said that they believe that the department guidelines are excessive and are willing to give shorter sentences. So, no, this is clearly a case of Barr intervening for a friend of the president to get an exception to department policy. If you read the transcript of the sentencing hearing, Judge Jackson clearly did not vindicate Barr's judgement.
10
Roger Stone publicly boasted that he had back-channel communications with WikiLeaks and sometimes spoke directly with WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. None of this was true. He actually asked a political commentator and a radio talk show host what they knew of WikiLeaks’ plans to publish hacked email and relayed this information to a Trump campaign official. WikiLeaks got so many similar requests from journalists that Assange held a press conference, in which he told reporters it would be releasing more tranches of purloined email. None of this was illegal.
The mystery is why Stone lied when everyone else involved contradicted him by telling the truth. Since they had done noting wrong, they had no reason to lie. If Stone had told the truth, he wouldn’t have been indicted.
In her sentencing statement, Judge Jackson said: "He was not prosecuted, as some have complained, for standing up for the president. He was prosecuted for covering up for the president.” But the Muller Report did not alleged President Trump, the Trump campaign or the Trump administration had anything to do with WikiLeaks’ publication of the purloined email. If Stone was prosecuted for covering up for the president, his conviction should be thrown out.
3
Maybe he lied because he and trump are two peas in a pod. The lies just come out more naturally to them than the truth.
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When a person swears to tell the truth and then lies, that’s perjury, and doing so to protect another is still perjury.
4
Stone is playing at being above the law and of legitimate authority because he is the superior man who will not bend to inferior people. He’s got the emotional maturity of a middle school boy who is defying his parents and teachers to gain attention. A silly man.
1
In addition to all his other crimes, Stone threatened a judge, but later recanted to say it was a “joke”.
I’d like to see any of the commenters on here try that and see how long it takes for them to be sitting in jail.
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"Get Me Roger Stone" is on Netflix and a great way to learn about this swampiest of swamp creatures, and how we ended up where we are now.
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Bails him out? Subvert the US legal system in yet another fundamental way involving the Presidency, is more like it.
15
Roger Stone did not get a fair sentence. Multiply it by ten or more and justice might then begin to apply to this evil presence.
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He'll do 10 months in a very comfortable place. Max.
2
Stone got a generous, modest sentence.
I don't like that Trump. Is overruling the judiciary. There is a separation of powers, you know.
8
Trump has repeatedly called Stone "a good person". Isn't that troubling in itself?
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@Don Turner Same with Rod Blagogevich. Trump also loves dictators.
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@Don Turner Wait, you don't enjoy it when the president of the United States calls convicted felons good people? Next thing you'll tell me is that you think the people in Charlottesville Unite the Right Rally aren't good people either. Don't be ridiculous.
1
Trump will definitely pardon Roger Stone. Stone has all sorts of incriminating information on Trump regarding his coordination with Julian Assange in 2016 to get dirt on Hillary from Russian spies.
It’s only a question when. If he were smart, Trump would wait until after the November election. But he isn’t, so who knows?
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@Demosthenes "Stone has all sorts of incriminating information on Trump regarding his coordination with Julian Assange in 2016 to get dirt on Hillary from Russian spies." What you said is absolutely unsubstantiated and false. If it were true it would have been mentioned in Mueller's report and it was not. Two of the four prosecutors in the Stone case were also on Mueller's team. You and the rest of the people who comment here ignore the truth and what can be substantiated with actual evidence and just make stuff up.
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@NYChap You overlook the fact that Mueller said that due to obstruction by Trump and canal he was unable to exonerate Trump of collusion. Never has there been such deep and broad obstruction by so many to conceal the corruption of a President.
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Stone's next problem is deciding what to wear to his medal of freedom ceremony.
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@RNS
Couldn't have said it better.
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We're getting sleazier all the time. It truly beggars the imagination.
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The Judge’s transcript from the sentencing hearing was masterful and her statements were forceful, objective and honest in explaining why Stone was convicted. Will the NYT run and discuss that or just feed the frenzy about the potential pardon?
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@CAE Please tell me where to find the transcript, I'd love to read it.
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@CAE Here's a snippet from the judge's remarks: “The truth still exists, the truth still matters,” Jackson said. “Roger Stone’s insistence that it doesn’t, his belligerence, his pride in his own lies are a threat to our most fundamental institutions, to the foundations of our democracies. If it goes unpunished it will not be a victory for one political party; everyone loses.”
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@CAE Rachel Maddow read it on her show last night. I think the NYTs should publish or provide a link to anything on the record which helps preserve or explain or rule of law to it's readers.
We need the media to help save our democracy. Will it step up?
1
I hate olives in a martini. So that makes it 100%.
@KBD I prefer olives without a martini. I hate gin!
1
Roger Stone did not “come of age during Richard Nixon’s political ascent.” That ascent took place in the 1940s when he was elected to Congress, and 1952 when he was chosen to be Dwight Eisenhower’s Vice President. Roger Stone is 67. Do the math.
Nixon lost the 1960 presidential election and after his 1962 loss to be California’s governor, famously said “you won’t have Nixon to kick around anymore.” His 1968 victory was his comeback, not his ascent.
This is not a trivial point, because Nixon earned his “Tricky Dick” nickname for dirty tricks he used in his earliest campaigns, long before Stone was even born. Nixon was who he was even without Stone’s influence.
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@William Feldman Good points, well made.
Roger Stone and his ilk always lurk around the Republican Party. Stone and others like him are the reason I have not voted for any Republicans since Nixon.
Imagine if someone of Stone's obvious intellect and talents had used their skills for the betterment of mankind. Then again, maybe the only thing he's good at is causing disruption and harm to society.
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Good seeing these early photos of Stone and. tRump. I sometimes forget that they were both detestable young men as well as deplorable old ones. Thanks for the reminder.
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Is there really any doubt that trump will pardon Stone? The other pardons were just to provide context.
18
Stone will stay out of jail during his appeals, which will easily get him past Election Day. Win or lose the election, Trump will pardon Stone - and all of his other loyalists - the day after the election.
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Trump will pardon Stone and the rest of his cronies the day after the election. Only if he is reelected though.
4
@Joe It won't make any difference if he is reelected. If he is reelected, he will feel even more empowered to do what he wants. And if he is defeated he will try to get his final revenge by pardoning more people than ever thought possible, all while trying to negate the outcome of the election.
2
Roger Stone is guilty as charged. His trial was fair, and the sentencing was reasonable. This is yet another case in which the president is trying to over-write truth and actuality with his own self-serving version of it. He must not be allowed to get away with this. He keeps trying to re-interpret the world in his own version, and every time he is partly successful in that his next such offense gets worse. We are dealing with a sick man, who has been far too often indulged and coddled as he pursues his quest to redefine the nation itself as a kind of Trump-branded property. This must end. We need this threat to be defeated, and this man to go--preferably to a hospital or to some place of confinement where he can do our country no more harm than he has already inflicted.
27
Agreed. We tried once with the best of minds, and the Senate did not live up to their mission. The last stop is the ballot box and then under what circumstances will Trump leave if voters boot him out? A huge monetary incentive? Almost nothing escapes the imagination anymore when it comes to this man. What influence might he have if he is out of office?
1
The framing of this article is so disingenuous. Trump’s pardon of Stone is not just helping out a buddy...it’s a pure complicit act to continue their mutual coverup (which the article also downplays). The journalistic normalization of Trump’s corruption continues...
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@James
Concur. What is the motive behind this article that praises stone for his accomplishments on behalf of a party that seeks to eradicate democracy?
1
How remarkably like a movie portrayal of the Mob is this all?
Scoundrels running around committing crimes, telling lies, and threatening anyone who gets in their way all in service of the Boss who embraces or casts them aside depending on how much they can help him and how good they are at avoiding their own accountability and more importantly how they never, ever saying a bad word about The Boss, who is, of course, the President.
To add to all that slime is that now, Mr Trump considers himself above the law.
27
Why wouldn't the serial criminal Trump pardon Stone?
The congressional republicans showed that they will not rein in the criminal and he will only get bolder and bolder.
Where are the Romneys, Flakes and Corkers?
19
I'll believe it when he goes to jail.
24
53 co-conspirators support this corrupt administration and accept the illegalities of a low life like Roger Stone. Completely understand #45’s support and praise but why have the 53 Senators abdicated their oath to our Constitution? All of them should be defeated next time they stand for reelection. Roger Stone deserves to rot in jail.
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@Broz Please don't forget Republican House members who have and continue to aid and abet this president.
5
This blatant corruption of justice is only possible because the Right Wing propaganda machine excuses it. The GOP is being wagged by its own tail, and heading towards an awful place.
208
Following are the qualifications to find employment on Trump's team
Must be a profligate liar.
Must be a con man
Must not have your own opinions
Must not have a moral compass
Must disrespect women
Must have a history of cheating the system. gotten rich by misleading others.
Must be a traitor to your own country
Must be willing to practice all of the above. If you get caught, Trump will pardon you.
Republican Americans are O.K. with that
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@bob karp
But at the very top of the list is:
Must be personally loyal to Trump first, not even the party and certainly not the country.
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@bob karp
Isn't it amazing how many ills in our country can be traced back to Roy Cohn?
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@JD Ripper
Excellent observation. Cohn recognized very early that one can amass tremendous power by playing as dirty as possible and by ignoring previously accepted standards and limits. Trump clearly learned the lessons well.
His Presidency has been an amazing revelation of how reliant our system of government is on people of good faith operating within the bounds of accepted conduct. And what happens when someone comes along and refuses to accept any of those limits.
20