Russiagate: Stone Free!

Well, that went from rumor to fact in a hurry. CNN, Trump implies he's ready to grant clemency to Roger Stone and Politico, Trump advisers fracture over Roger Stone pardon "The president signals he's prepared to shield his longtime adviser from prison time, but Stone has little support in the White House." And then . . .



To Fox, Trump commutes Roger Stone's sentence, days before prison term set to begin, From Wombat-socho's In The Mailbox: 07.10.20, Legal Insurrection: President Trump Commutes Roger Stone’s Sentence. John Sexton Hot Air, VIP, President Trump Commutes Roger Stone’s Sentence Days Before It Was Set To Begin, while the peacock whines President Donald Trump commutes ally Roger Stone’s prison sentence, AP moans Trump commutes longtime friend Roger Stone’s prison sentence, NPR whimpers that Trump Commutes Sentence Of Longtime Friend And Adviser Roger Stone  and never-Trump Republican prosecutor Patterico practically fulminates Trump Commutes Roger Stone’s Sentence "As corrupt as it gets...".

Sundance at CTH, CONFIRMED: President Trump Commutes Sentence of Roger Stone – “Roger Stone Is Now a Free Man”…

I don't care much about Roger Stone on a personal level, (he's kind of an asshole, but who isn't?), but it's pretty clear he was targeted for take down by Mueller's mafia. It was never clear that the charge of lying to Congress involved any serious or material falsehoods. I think the same argument that the DOJ recently made regarding Flynn applies here too; without a baseless Russiagate investigation, he would never have been questioned. Moreover, he was one of the few of many possible people who could be charged for lying to Congress (including Clapper and Brennan), a charge about as often brought as Logan Act violations or FARA. Nunes has sent numerous referrals to the DOJ for lying to Congress, and the only two charged out of Russiagate were Michael Cohen and Roger Stone. I think we have a moral duty to lie to Congress. The sentence enhancer of witness tampering for threatening Randy Credico was clearly a joke, and the trial a charade with a jury forewoman who was clearly a biased DNC shill in an unfavorable location. The commutation merely relieves him of the sentence, he can still pursue true exoneration in the courts, which has a decent chance I believe.

There's continuing movement in the movement to get Gen. Flynn. Matt Vespa at Town Hall claims The Case Against Michael Flynn Peddled by Anti-Trump DOJ Officials Suffered *The* Kill Shot Today, as even more exculpatory material emerges from the bowels of the DOJ (sorry, not sorry for that image). "One last question remains. This evidence was withheld for three years. Who gave that order?" AlexTheChick at Ace's gives A Short Tutorial On The General Flynn Case Procedures "Welcome to the insane world of the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure",  and Ace himself has DC Circuit Court Stays Decision for Ten Days to Allow Sydney Powell to File Response. Sundance has two, Flynn Case Update: DC Appeals Court Requests Flynn Response to Sullivan En Banc Petition…

Notably the court is not permitting a re-response from Sullivan (implying they have enough information) only a brief reply from Sidney Powell, and inviting a brief response from the DOJ as appropriate.  In the interim the writ of mandamus (Rao order) is stayed until the court decides whether to grant the en banc review.

and Flynn Defense Files Supplement #2 Motion to Dismiss – Includes New Exculpatory DOJ Release…, and a stroll through the new notes from Tash Guahar and Dana Boente.

On Vindman's "retirement", Robin Wright at the NYer scribbles a love letter to Alex in Trump’s Impeachment Revenge: Alexander Vindman Is Bullied Into Retiring, and via The Wombat's In The Mailbox: 07.10.20,  The Lid: Alexander Vindman Is No Martyr

Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, who testified against President Trump, retired from the Army Wednesday. Per his attorney, the reason for his retirement was “a campaign of bullying, intimidation and retaliation” for cutting short his military career. Of course, the mainstream media has been all over his attorney’s claim, and cite his testimony as a reason for the supposed bullying. The liberal media ignored the fact that Alexander Vindman is no martyr. He was accused by a U.S. Senator of possibly being a leaker who thought he could overrule the President’s foreign policy decisions.

The US Army has a lot of Lt. Colonels. They don't get to determine foreign policy.

John Solomon at JTN pens New Steele evidence strengthens Durham prosecution as frustration over inaction grows

This week when a British judge ruled against the former FBI human source Christopher Steele, the decision delivered more than an order for the former spy’s company to pay damages to two Russian businessmen maligned by his dossier.

It also introduced new incontrovertible evidence that bolsters Attorney General William Barr's and U.S. Attorney John Durham’s probe into whether the FBI engaged in misconduct and criminally deceived the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court to win permission to spy on the Trump campaign.

Buried in Justice Mark Warby’s ruling were several new pieces of evidence that answer long lingering questions about just what the FBI knew, and when it knew it.

For instance, Congressional Republicans have long questioned when exactly the FBI knew that Steele’s dossier was a product ordered up for the Hillary Clinton campaign and Democratic Party. After all, the bureau never revealed the connection to the FISA court despite its central relevance to the motives of the dossier.

Warby’s lengthy ruling unearthed a gem of new evidence to answer the question: Steele kept his own notes of what he told FBI agents the first time he met them on July 5, 2016 in London to discuss his anti-Trump Russia research.

And, Warby revealed, the notes make clear that Steele told his FBI handlers from the get-go that the dossier’s “ultimate client were (sic) the leadership of the Clinton presidential campaign.”

So the FBI knew immediately that the dossier it used to justify a FISA warrant targeting the Trump campaign was a political opposition research product designed to help Clinton defeat her Republican opponent and did not divulge the connection.

From The Wombat's In The Mailbox: 07.10.20, Don Surber worries that  Durham covers up Obamagate

14 months ago, Bill Barr appointed John Durham to investigate Barack Hussein Obama's use of our national intelligence apparatus to spy on Donald John Trump, a political opponent.

Conservatives called him Bull Durham apparently because he has a nice goatee and glowers menacingly.

But Bull Durham is really Bull Shit Durham. He has yet to indict anyone, despite ample evidence that FBI agents lied 17 times to get the secret permission of Judge Rosemary Collyer to spy on The Donald.

I get that these things take time, but I also get that you get the little guys first and work your way up.

Where are the little guys?

To my mind, the trouble with the Durham probe is that he seems to be seeking an end point at which no more evidence will emerge. That won't ever happen, at least partly due to reticence of the DOJ to give up the good. He needs to starts some trials, preferably in red county in a red state, and start squeezing.

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