THE STONE AGE

According to the American Thinker, which seldom has to retract anything, the Roger Stone case just took a potentially deadly turn:

https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2019/02/roger_stones_lawyer_offers_proof_cnn_is_in_bed_with_fbi.html

The early morning raid on Roger Stone never passed the smell test. Even liberal commentators have not even attempted to justify this. This raid was clearly designed to put on a show to embarrass and intimidate Stone. It was also designed to make him look like a dangerous felon. It is a case study in overkill.

This was first reported by the Gateway Pundit which provided a copy of a letter from Grant J. Smith, the lawyer for Roger Stone, to Lindsey Graham.

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2019/02/exclusive-documents-show-cnn-was-tipped-off-on-roger-stone-arrest-by-29-fbi-armed-agents-leaked-by-fbi/

Senator Graham has already requested Christopher Wray testify before the Judiciary Committee to justify this raid. This letter is nothing short of a bombshell. What is most stunning is the strict reporting of facts and the lack of hyperbole. This is the kind of letter one sends when the facts are so damaging that there is zero need to inflate their importance.

CNN arrived at the Stone resident in an SUV with 2 occupants at 4:58 a.m. This is only 1 hour and six minutes before the first FBI agent arrives.

The FBI arrives at 6:04 a.m. and the CNN crew deploys to start filming.

The FBI pounds on Roger Stone’s door at 6:05 a.m.

Mr. Stone responds within one minute to open the door at 6:06 a.m.  He is promptly arrested. At this time CNN, at the instruction of the FBI, moves their vehicle. The CNN crew is incredibly allowed full access to film everything. Hard to justify this if Stone was really considered to be a dangerous felon.

At 6:11 a.m. CNN Correspondent Sara Murry calls Grant Smith, Roger Stone’s lawyer, and tells him his client has been arrested.

Grant Smith then calls Mrs. Stone, who confirms that her husband has been arrested. This happens at 6:14 a.m.

At 6:22 a.m. Grant receives a link from Sara Murry, to the DOJ website where the indictment is posted with a date of 1/25/2019.  He also receives a draft copy of the indictment, which is slightly different than the copy currently on the DOJ website.  It is dated 1/23/2019 and the author is listed as AAW.  This appears to have been created and modified on 1/23/2019 at 11:04 p.m., which is a full day before this was filed with the Court, under seal.

The detail provided by Grant Smith indicates that he can document all of this. Didn’t Sara Murry realize that Grant Smith would retain copies of her texts? It sure looks like CNN was given a copy of the draft indictment and warned of the raid, before the FBI bothered to deliver the indictment to the Court, under seal. AAW appears to be Andrew A. Wiseman, who has been accused, with justification, of prosecutorial misconduct in the past.

Is CNN really this stupid. Did they really text Roger Stone’s attorney with evidence proving they were illegally colluding with the FBI without realizing this was really bad? Was CNN really this desperate? I doubt that Smith is lying, so at a minimum CNN found Smith’s telephone number and called him within 5 minutes after Stone was arrested. This was before Stone himself even had a chance to make a phone call. Then 11 minutes later CNN texted him a copy of the indictment. Wow! What a coincidence!

There is zero chance that this timetable of event is remotely possible without the FBI deliberately leaking information to CNN. The theory that CNN miraculously figured this out before all the other networks because they saw “unusual activity” at the DC Grand Jury is a joke. For one thing, Grand Jury actions are sealed, and CNN should not have any access to them.

This is beyond bad. When I saw the video of the raid on Roger Stone’s home, I thought this was really bad. I thought this was just about the dumbest thing the Mueller investigation could have done. But that pales in comparison to Sara Murry making those phone calls and sending those texts.

I wondered how people like Christopher Wray and Rod Rosenstein could have ever signed off on this.  But that was before I say a copy of this letter. This raises things to a whole new level and Wray, Rosenstein and Acting Attorney General Whitaker have to be aware of that. They are perilously close to the point where if they don’t start throwing some people under the bus, the bus will be aimed at them.

There are really only two options here. Incredible stupidity or pure unrestrained malice. I often say that one should not assume malice where mere incompetence is a satisfactory explanation. That is not because I don’t recognize the potential for malice, I do, but stupidity is actually more common. Incredibly, in this case, the most logical explanation is a lethal combination of stupidity laced with malice.

TDM