Now, to use his own coinage, it’s Roger Stone’s turn in the barrel, or in his case — the jug. The notorious consultant has been engaging in dirty tricks to corrupt the political process since Nixon’s 1972 race. It’s finally caught up with him.
Stone has been indicted by the special counsel for seven counts — obstructing an official proceeding, making false statements, and witness tampering. He appears to have been up to his neck in stealing an election as a liaison between Trump’s campaign, the Russian hackers Guccifer 2.0, and the distributor of stolen goods, Wikileaks.
The question now is: Who’s left on Mueller’s list? Several shadowy oligarchs and their friends in high places keep intersecting with the Trump campaign and Putin’s espionage apparatus including Oleg Deripaska, Sergey Kislyak, Dimitri Rybolovev, Natalia Veselnitskaya, the Agalarovs, et al. In some cases, an American oligarch was a go-between, Eric Prince.
Mueller might be able to get the last named to flip. He is a mercenary by trade, after all, so self-interest may be more powerful than loyalty. But, the odds of ever bringing the Russians to justice or getting them to testify, unfortunately, is nil, not least because people who cross Putin tend to end up with a dose of nerve gas and speak no more. There may be more to be learned about the Trump-Russia entanglements from the records of Deutsch Bank and the VEB bank of Russia if they came be obtained. Are the CIA, FBI and NSA on this case?
Those responsible for the cyber-propaganda operations that specialized in targeting Americans susceptible to disinformation should be on the list. This would include Alexander Nix of Cambridge Analytica, right-wing American oligarchs Robert and Rebekah Mercer who owned it, Steve Bannon who ran it for them, and Brad Parscale, Trump’s digital election mastermind who weaponized the campaign’s internet presence, turning it into a disinformation operation. Jared Kushner interfaced with him, and the campaign embeds from Facebook who helped in the effort could be witting, and, of course, Julian Assange. And how long are the Ecuadorians willing to give him asylum?
As in Watergate, the big question is what did the Candidate/President know and when did he know it? The answer may be “everything,” in which case the question is who can testify to it. Manafort and Stone, perhaps, but they seem to be busy campaigning for pardons. However, that would seem to be a slender reed upon which to depend. Trump’s granting a pardon to any of the big fish would surely be seen as tantamount to an admission of guilt on their parts and obstruction of justice on his. Next stop, the I word.
No, the characters most likely to have been close enough to the center to have been privy to all the dirty tricks of the criminal conspiracy, beside Manafort and Stone, are “la famiglia.” Aren’t Ivanka, Don Jr., Jared, and even Eric likely to have known a good deal about the whole story, especially given Trump’s inability to ever shut up about things that should remain hidden?
If the kids are at risk of finding themselves on the hot seat, how long will they endure the unpleasantness? Sure, they can avail themselves of the rich man’s trump card — lawyers capable of fighting forever.
On the other hand, it’s risky as Mueller’s track record shows. Corrupting a presidential election is not like the crooked real estate deals they are used to. Judges tend to take this wort f thing seriously. And nothing in their pampered lives, insulated from reality, has prepared them for a long stay in the Graybar Hotel. Or even a night away from the servants.
Of course, they are the most likely beneficiaries of pardons. Knowing that, would the wily Mueller consider offering Trump a Nixonesque deal — Trump’s resignation in exchange for a “get out of jail free” card for the heirs to the family fortune?
Since Trump would still be liable for prosecution as a private citizen for all the crimes revealed as the special counsel turned over rocks, this might not be appealing. Maybe Trump would prefer to count on the full Nixon. That is, resign and rely on a pardon from Vice President Pence.There’s a little problem with that, however.
Pence has acted the loyal consigliere for two years, but as Sam Houston said of Jefferson Davis, Pence is “as ambitious as Lucifer, and as cold as a lizard.” He’d be a fool to pardon Trump knowing how long Gerry Ford lasted after letting Nixon off the hook — exactly two years, four months, eleven days. And there’s no guarantee that Pence himself isn’t on Mueller’s list. They might end up cellmates. Unless he decides to flip.
If I was Mueller, I’d have Pence high on my list. As his entire career, especially his turning a blind eye to Trump’s daily atrocities, suggests, he has no scruples when it comes to advancing his own ambitions. Will he take a fall to protect the Donald? No way. He would even find a way to make it his Christian duty to rat.