Special counsel Robert Mueller’s rigged witch hunt against President Trump was reeling after suffering a number of embarrassments that shredded Mueller’s credibility.
But then something unexpected happened.
A judge stepped up and gave Mueller the one victory that could change everything.
Mueller’s seven-count indictment against Trump associate Roger Stone was the special counsel’s most outrageous attack on the President.
Mueller wrote Stone’s indictment in such a way to try and fool the public into thinking Stone colluded with the Russians in the 2016 election.
But by omitting key facts – such as Stone being tipped off to WikiLeaks having emails by an email to Fox News reporter James Rosen – Mueller presented the illusion that Stone was the Trump campaign’s inside man on a scheme involving WikiLeaks and Russian intelligence.
Stone immediately began defending himself in a series of high profile cable news appearances.
Sean Hannity, Tucker Carlson, Laura Ingraham, and Chris Cuomo all had Stone on their programs so Stone could present his side of the story.
Stone vigorously denied all of Mueller’s charges and noted that the special counsel did not charge him with conspiring with the Russians.
Stone also claimed he was innocent because in order to be guilty of lying to Congress a prosecutor must meet the extremely high threshold of proving the lies both intentional and material to the investigations.
But Mueller’s allies in the judicial system are terrified Stone’s public defense will work.
Washington, D.C. District Court Judge Amy Berman Jackson – who was the judge that jailed Paul Manafort – warned that she may slap a gag order on Stone for the remainder of the case.
“This is a criminal proceeding, and not a public relations campaign,” Judge Berman Jackson declared.
The last thing Mueller wants is Stone on TV every night poking holes in his case.
President Trump himself took note of Stone’s effectiveness on television.
In an interview with CBS Face the Nation host Margaret Brennan the President pointed out that he was not considering pardoning Stone and that his friend of 40 years was doing an excellent job of defending himself against Mueller’s charges.
From the transcript of Trump’s interview with CBS’s Brennan:
MARGARET BRENNAN: Would you pardon him?
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: I have not thought about it. It looks like he’s defending himself very well. But you have to get rid of the Russia witch hunt because it is indeed. And remember–
MARGARET BRENNAN: Because you think–
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Remember this. Remember this. There’s been no president that has been tougher on Russia than Donald Trump.
Judge Berman Jackson’s threat to impose a gag order is manna from heaven for the special counsel.
It sets up a scenario where Stone is unable to defend himself publically while prosecutors are free to leak information about the trial to friendly reporters so they can present the case against Stone in the most damning light possible.
We will keep you up to date on any new developments in this ongoing story.
