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roger stone
'Our Carceral System Laid Bare': Trump Pardons Cronies Stone and Manafort as DOJ Proceeds With Lame-Duck Execution Spree
"Trump is pardoning his political allies while he's executing people on death row at an unprecedented rate. His deeds are unconscionable."
Dec 23, 2020
Throwing the deeply unequal nature of the U.S. criminal justice system into sharp relief, President Donald Trump late Wednesday issued another wave of pardons for his wealthy political and personal allies as his administration continues its unprecedented lame-duck spree of executions--a punishment almost exclusively reserved for the poor and marginalized.
Just 24 hours after issuing full pardons or commutations for two Republican loyalists, four former Blackwater mercenaries jailed for massacring Iraqi civilians, a Medicare fraudster, and others, Trump rolled out an additional list of pardons that includes longtime adviser Roger Stone, former campaign chairman Paul Manafort, and Charles Kushner, a wealthy New Jersey real estate developer and father of the president's son-in-law, Jared Kushner.
"A flow of pardons for the wealthy and corrupt, yet Brandon Bernard was left to die when his own jurors and prosecutor begged for mercy."
--Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
"A flow of pardons for the wealthy and corrupt, yet Brandon Bernard was left to die when his own jurors and prosecutor begged for mercy," Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) said late Wednesday, referring to the 40-year-old Black man the Trump Justice Department killed earlier this month for a crime he committed at the age of 18. "Our carceral system laid bare for the world to see."
Rep.-elect Cori Bush (D-Mo.) tweeted that the combination of Trump's wave of pardons for the well-connected and last-minute rush of executions amounts to "mercy for the rich and state-sanctioned murder for the poor."
"Trump is pardoning his political allies while he's executing people on death row at an unprecedented rate," said Bush. "His deeds are unconscionable."
According to the Pew Research Center, the outgoing president "has used his clemency power less often than any president in modern history," and many of his "clemency recipients have had a 'personal or political connection to the president.'"
"The only modern president who granted clemency almost as infrequently as Trump is George H.W. Bush, who granted 77 pardons and commutations in his single term," the research outfit noted. "Trump has granted clemency to less than half of 1% of the more than 10,000 people who petitioned him for it through the end of the 2020 fiscal year (which ended Sept. 30), according to the Justice Department."
\u201cTomorrow marks 28 years since George H.W. Bush pardoned six defendants as part of the Iran-Contra cover up, one of whom, confessed criminal Elliott Abrams, was brought back into government by George W. Bush, and now serves as Trump\u2019s Iran/Venezuela envoy. Corruption is the rule.\u201d— Matt Duss (@Matt Duss) 1608777851
Kyle Herrig, president of watchdog group Accountable.US, said in a statement Wednesday that the president's lame-duck pardons "are just the latest example of Trump's longstanding pattern of promoting cronyism and corruption in his administration at all costs."
"As millions of Americans are suffering and afraid of losing their homes and livelihoods, all Trump has time for is handing out political favors to his friends and allies," said Herrig. "There's little more we can expect from a president who has held ethics in low regard and ignored the struggles of everyday Americans for his entire four-year term."
The Trump administration's execution spree, meanwhile, appears on track to continue as the Justice Department--which resumed federal executions in July after a 17-year hiatus--aims to execute three additional people before President-elect Joe Biden, an opponent of the death penalty, takes office next month.
Attorneys representing the three federal inmates set to be executed--Corey Johnson, Dustin John Higgs, and Lisa Montgomery--have asked Trump to commute their sentences to life without parole. Johnson and Higgs have both tested positive for the coronavirus as it sweeps through the federal penitentiary in Terre Haute, Indiana.
In a letter (pdf) on Monday, a group of Democratic senators and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) demanded that the Justice Department inspector general investigate the Trump administration's execution spree, which the lawmakers described as "a break with both modern history and decades-old practice."
"The federal government had not executed a federal prisoner since 2003 and had only executed three people in the previous 50 years," the senators wrote. "The executions that have already taken place since November 3, 2020, and those scheduled to occur in January 2021, are 'the first executions under a lame-duck president in over 100 years.'"
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Roger Stone Coaches Trump on How to Stage an Election Coup
There's a strong possibility that the period after Election Day could make Bush v. Gore in 2000 look like a tea party.
Sep 15, 2020
Roger Stone, long-time Rasputin-like political advisor and confidant to Donald Trump, should be in federal prison right now. Stone was convicted and sentenced for seven federal felonies, based, among other things, on his lying to Congress regarding his communications with Wikileaks about coordinating release of Hillary Clinton's stolen emails for maximum advantage to the 2016 Trump campaign.
Instead, Stone is back on the streets after Trump commuted his sentence. Stone had told the media that Trump should let him out of the slammer so he could more effectively help Trump to stay in office. Trump apparently agreed.
"This election could determine whether American democracy, no matter how imperfect, can survive."
Now Stone is advising Trump to have federal agents seize ballots in Nevada, physically block certain voters from casting ballots, arrest media critics and shut-down their publications, and even invoke the 1807 Insurrection Act to arrest the likes of the Clintons, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, and Apple's Tim Cook.
Trump is apparently listening. In a Fox News interview just two days after Stone made his advice public, Trump referred to potential pro-Biden demonstrations around the election as "insurrection," telling Jeanine Pirro, "We'll put them down very quickly if they do that."
Trump added, "We have the right to do that. We have the power to do that if we want. Look, it's called Insurrection. We just send in and we, we do it very easy. I mean it's very easy."
Stone laid out his advice on Alex Jones' Infowars program last Thursday. Stone advised Trump to form "an election day operation using the FBI, Federal Marshals and Republican state officials across the country to be prepared to file legal objections and, if necessary, to physically stand in the way of criminal activity...The President's authority is the Insurrection Act and his ability to declare marshall law."
Using the Insurrection Act, Stone suggested that Trump arrest the Clintons, former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Mark Zuckerberg and Tim Cook, among others.
Stone attacked The Daily Beast for reporting on progressive discussions about countering Trump's efforts to discredit the election, advocating that "their entire staff can be taken into custody and their office can be shut down."
Stone also proposed that "The ballots in Nevada on election night should be seized by federal marshals and taken from the state. They are completely corrupted. No votes should be counted from the state of Nevada..."
If these were normal times and Trump were a normal President, Stone's comments would likely be dismissed as the ravings of a lunatic. But Fox's Chris Wallace asked Trump, whether he would "give a direct answer that you will accept the election." Trump refused, saying "I have to see. No, I'm not going to just say yes."
In a recent column in Forbes magazine, hardly a pillar of liberalism, Seth Cohen wrote that "Stone's calls for dramatic actions by Trump may not just be the rambling ideas of a disgraced felon. They might be actions the President actually, and dangerously considers."
And Harvard constitutional scholar Laurence Tribe, generally a liberal but no extremist, tweeted: "If Stone were some random QAnon-like dude, this might not be worth worrying about. But Stone has Trump's ear, so his advocacy of totalitarian takeover by Trump has to be taken seriously. A normal president would tell Stone to shove it. Not Trump."
A number of experienced political hands are warning of chaos and even civil violence after Election Day if, due to delays in counting mail-in ballots, the winner isn't certain. The Transition Integrity Project, "a bipartisan group of over 100 current and former senior government and campaign leaders and other experts" conducted "war games"of various post-Election Day scenarios. In three of their four scenarios (excepting a Biden landslide) "the potential for violence is high."
There's a strong possibility that the period after Election Day could make Bush v. Gore in 2000 look like a tea party. Both the Biden campaign and the wider progressive movement have to be making contingency plans now for legal, political and mass action so it's not taken by surprise.
Initial strategy discussions have begun among activist groups, led so far by the Indivisible Project and Protect The Results who have formed a coalition of dozens of progressive organizations to plan for mass mobilization if Trump tries to overturn the election. So far, I haven't seen much reaction from the Biden campaign--at least not publicly.
Many commentators have warned that this election could determine whether American democracy, no matter how imperfect, can survive. Stone's proposals--and the possibility that Trump might do something along their lines--make these warnings seem even more relevant and alarming.
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How Justice Works in the Trump-Barr System
In furtherance of his sycophancy, nothing pleases Barr more than doing things that please the Trump.
Jul 25, 2020
"There is no such thing as justice--in or out of court."
--Clarence Darrow, 1936 Interview
A number of readers have asked me to explain the different ways the Trump justice system impacts those who have been convicted of criminal activity. It is the mark of a truly just justice system that not every criminal is treated the same since it suggests that there is a concern for the individual and not a mindless imposition of punishment on those convicted of criminal activity notwithstanding their other virtues. And so it was that within a very short time we saw how a Trumpian justice system furthers the cause of justice.
Of the recent examples the most notable is, of course, the commutation of the four year, four month sentence of Roger Stone. Stone is a man who has, until recently, avoided the consequences that flow from lack of integrity, as brilliantly described in the Netflix drama about Stone's career. Of course, lack of integrity can sometimes has adverse consequences, as Stone learned when he was convicted of seven felony counts, including witness tampering and lying to investigators. And further adverse consequences can flow from such convictions, as Stone learned when the judge in his trial imposed a sentence of 40 months in federal prison. Here is something else Stone learned. He learned that properly placed friends can be more important than avoiding the consequences of criminal conviction for unlawful activities. And no friend can be more properly placed than the man permitted by the people to live in the White House.
The Trump has long been a friend and colleague of Stone. In an apt demonstration of how justice works in the Trump world, the Trump commuted Stone's sentence, meaning Stone would not have to serve any time in prison. Explaining the reason for the commutation, Kayleigh McEnany, the Trump mouthpiece, explained away Stone's witness tampering and lying, saying: "Roger Stone is a victim of the Russia hoax that the Left and its allies in the media perpetuated for years in an attempt to undermine the Trump presidency." In other words he was convicted of seven felonies because of the investigation of corrupt activities involving the 2016 election. She concluded her remarks saying: "Roger Stone is a free man!"
A second example of justice in the Trump era is provided by William Barr. Barr is the attorney general of the United States and a sycophant of the Trump. In furtherance of his sycophancy, nothing pleases him more than doing things that please the Trump. The conviction of Michael Flynn afforded Barr the perfect opportunity to demonstrate his eagerness to please the Trump.
Flynn's career as a Trump crony began on November 18, 2016 when he was named the Trump's national security adviser. During December 2016 he discussed with the Russian ambassador U.S. sanctions on Russia imposed by the Obama administration. In describing those conversations to Mike Pence he misled Pence as to the nature of the conversations. When that was disclosed, the Trump dismissed Flynn, explaining that he did so because Flynn "had lied to the vice president and the FBI."
On December 1, 2017, Flynn pled guilty to lying to FBI investigators about his communications with the Russian ambassador. While Flynn awaited sentencing, the Trump concluded that Flynn had been improperly charged. When the Trump came to that conclusion Flynn had already twice pled guilty. In response to the Trump's concern, Barr took the unusual step of asking the judge in the case where Flynn was awaiting sentencing to dismiss the charges, thus bringing an end to the prosecution of Flynn. The judge refused to dismiss the case and Barr then appealed to the next higher court to compel the dismissal. As this is written it is not known whether the case against Flynn will be dismissed or whether Flynn will be sentenced by the trial court.
Justice is, of course, not always deflected in the Trump world. Daniel Lewis Lee and Wesley Purkey could attest to that were they still with us. The United States has not made use of the death penalty since 2003. The executions of Lee and Purkey on July 14 and 16 respectively ended that hiatus. Daniel Lewis Lee was executed on July 14, 2020 over the objections of the family of his victims, who sought a life in prison sentence for him instead of imposition of the death penalty. Wesley Purkey, whose execution had been put on hold by a federal judge to determine his mental competency, was executed on July 16 after the U.S. Supreme Court lifted the stay.
The reawakening of the death penalty as a tool to be used to punish certain convicted criminals was explained by the Trump sycophant in response to one of Lee's lawyers who said, after Lee's execution, that it was "shameful that the government, in the end, carried out this execution in haste." Not wanting to permit that appeal to decency to go unanswered, Barr responded: "We owe it to the victims and their families to carry forward the sentence imposed by our justice system."
As we now know, nothing is owed to a country whose national security adviser admits to lying under oath to investigators, nor is anything owed to the country when a sometime close friend of the Trump is sentenced to prison following his conviction on seven felony counts. That is how justice in the Trump-Barr justice system works.
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