President Donald Trump saw his decades-long pal and political adviser Roger Stone was convicted on Friday. The jury was clearly swayed by the argument that Stone lied to protect Trump and convicted Stone on all seven criminal counts in just a week and a half’s time. The case was prosecuted by Trump’s Department of Justice.
Despite those facts, Trump promptly dismissed the conviction as the product of a double-standard, in which Democrats get away with everything and Trump’s supporters get away with nothing.
….A double standard like never seen before in the history of our Country?
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 15, 2019
Behold the litany of Trump enemies invoked post-Stone conviction by the president, as if it had any bearing on what had just occurred [emphasis on “they” ours]:
So they now convict Roger Stone of lying and want to jail him for many years to come. Well, what about Crooked Hillary, Comey, Strzok, Page, McCabe, Brennan, Clapper, Shifty Schiff, Ohr & Nellie, Steele & all of the others, including even Mueller himself? Didn’t they lie? A double standard like never seen before in the history of our Country?
UC Berkeley Law Prof. Orin Kerr and others quickly noted the president’s use of the word “they” [i.e. blaming no one in particular for Stone’s conviction while suggesting that a railroading had taken place].
Kerr pointed out the Trump appointees and the Trump Justice Department — which is often accused, by the way, of carrying water for the president — has prosecuted these cases and gotten convictions.
“They” is the Trump DOJ led by Trump’s political appointees. Why the Trump DOJ keeps prosecuting Trump’s friends, and why juries keep convicting them, is left as an exercise for the reader. https://t.co/kpKbQZc5Rx
— Orin Kerr (@OrinKerr) November 15, 2019
“‘They’ is the Trump DOJ led by Trump’s political appointees. Why the Trump DOJ keeps prosecuting Trump’s friends, and why juries keep convicting them, is left as an exercise for the reader,” Kerr said, before quipping, “Trump is like the pro se litigant who insists the judge is biased because he loses every motion he files.”
Kerr was not the only one to clarify what “they” meant in this context.
“They now convict”?
“They” = Trump DOJ + a jury of Stone’s peers. Among other things, you can’t say that about the others, even if Trump has unsuccessfully tried to get his DOJ to do that. https://t.co/Rz24nS6b8T
— Neal Katyal (@neal_katyal) November 15, 2019
Former Bush ethics lawyer Richard Painter said the president threw a “hissy fit.”
Donny is having a hissy fit.
His pal Roger is going to the slammer…. https://t.co/H56gQeMJ7G— Richard W. Painter (@RWPUSA) November 15, 2019
Attorney and Lawfare executive editor Susan Hennessey noted that the president often “tries to tie ‘unfairness’ to controversial pardons he wants to issue.”
“Safe to say that if he attempts to pardon Stone here, that will become the basis for an additional article of impeachment and one that would be harder for congressional Republicans to ignore,” she opined.
Trump often tries to tie "unfairness" to controversial pardons he wants to issue. Safe to say that if he attempts to pardon Stone here, that will become the basis for an additional article of impeachment and one that would be harder for congressional Republicans to ignore. https://t.co/dOyCOizYg4
— Susan Hennessey (@Susan_Hennessey) November 15, 2019
Hennessey and others saw the president’s lamentation and immediately thought of Rudy Giuliani (the Southern District of New York probe of Giuliani is coming more and more into focus by the day).
Stone is someone who has gone all in on trying to align himself with Trump in apparent hopes of seeking a pardon. He's now been found guilty on all seven counts. And we'll find out whether that gamble pays off. I imagine Giuliani will be watching closely.
— Susan Hennessey (@Susan_Hennessey) November 15, 2019
Have you prepped Rudy for his indictment? https://t.co/aTu6190K5q
— Bradley P. Moss (@BradMossEsq) November 15, 2019
Reporters et al. noted that this sort of thing (convictions of individuals close to or prominently employed by the president) keeps happening over and over again. It’s almost like there’s a pattern here.
List of convicted Trump associates:
Paul Manafort
Michael Cohen
Rick Gates
Michael Flynn
George Papadopoulos
Roger Stone— Aaron Blake (@AaronBlake) November 15, 2019
Trump national security adviser: pleads guilty
Trump campaign chairman: guilty
Trump deputy campaign chairman: pleads guilty
Trump personal attorney (Cohen): pleads guilty
Trump camp foreign policy adviser: pleads guilty
Trump long-time friend and associate (Stone): guilty— Manu Raju (@mkraju) November 15, 2019
Stone is at least the sixth associate of Trump to be convicted in the last few years. The list also includes:
– Paul Manafort
– Michael Flynn
– Rick Gates
– George Papadopoulos
– Michael Cohen https://t.co/5t0PXJikKH— Rebecca Ballhaus (@rebeccaballhaus) November 15, 2019
Trump aides convicted of crimes, including guilty pleas:
– National Security Adviser (Flynn)
– Campaign Manager (Manafort)
– Deputy Campaign Manager (Gates)
– Personal Attorney (Cohen)
– Longest-serving Political Adviser (Stone)
– Foreign Policy Adviser (Papadopoulos)— southpaw (@nycsouthpaw) November 15, 2019
Stone was tried by the president's DoJ on charges that prosecutors said included lying to protect Trump. https://t.co/mbH2i307j2
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) November 15, 2019
Roger Stone is the 5th Trump operative to be convicted. The house of cards are teetering. https://t.co/kXkzrBKIDe
— Nada Bakos (@nadabakos) November 15, 2019
[Image via Alex Wong/Getty Images]
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