On October 22, 2019 the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit denied the petition for a writ of mandamus by Stone (and his family) to quash ABJ’s gag order. Nothing about the legal conclusions in the decision was in any way novel or surprising (because absent extraordinary circumstances that require a writ to correct an injustice that truly shocks the conscience, a writ of mandamus cannot be granted for relief that could have been obtained earlier, through appeal.) But, there is one thing noteworthy about the decision issued by the appeals court. The undisputed facts of the case begin:

“Roger Stone is a political consultant who has worked in U.S. politics for decades. During the 2016 presidential
campaign, Stone served as an official for then-candidate Donald J. Trump’s campaign.” Despite Mueller’s obsession with precision of language and well-placed respect for the power bestowed on the presidency, our independent 3rd branch of government is not mincing words: “Stone…served as an official…for… Trump’s campaign.” The distinction is stark when you compare that to how Mueller specifically included Stone as merely a “U.S. Person” when discussing some of Stone’s IRA retweets, as opposed to the other group specifically called out as “individuals affiliated with…the campaign [who] also promoted IRA tweets…REDACTED.”

In truth, for the prosecution, it matters not one bit whether Stone is convicted for anything beyond false statements. All that will eventually matter is that he received a fair jury trial where he was duly convicted of lying (in service of Trump’s campaign).

I humbly opine, the “case in chief” that you speculated Mueller might charge before his appointment concluded still exists. It is just not in the form you anticipated. Justice is not obtained by merely proving Trump gamed our electoral process with the help of the Russians. (BTW, Putin would love to get credit for exposing weakness in our democracy. His beef is and has always been with our legislature as a whole, not any politician in particular.) Justice can only be achieved with regard to 45 in one way: the public must know exactly how many dollars 45 took for himself that he knew the law did not allow him to take. As regrettable as it is to some on the left, the effectiveness of the Russian influence campaign must not be overstated in a way to cast shame on everyone who voted for 45. To forget the fact that 45 did what almost none of the pollsters thought possible is to dismiss the fact that there exists a legion of voters who were disinclined to pronounce their approval for his candidacy, but nonetheless chose him over HRC on their own secret ballot. The whole country in general, but any voter that fits the above description in particular deserves to see ALL of his financials.

The 2 cases filed by CREW are the 2 federal cases that present the most danger to 45. Make no mistake though, they endanger 45 not by challenging the legitimacy of his election, but by challenging the legitimacy of his bank account. Any question of his receipt of any undue emolument will ultimately be resolved by SCOTUS (and probably not any earlier than the 20-21 term.) However, unlike the SOCTUS decision leading to Nixon’s swift exit, any decision adverse to 45 can continue to haunt him (and his offspring) as long as he is alive.

Just the other day, it came up again in the media how 45 has been refusing to accept his constitutionally mandated salary and the media (Politico) fact-checked 45 after he boasted that he was the only POTUS to ever refuse his salary, saying his claim wasn’t true because Hoover and JFK both gave their salaries away to charity. In fact, 45 is 100% correct- no previous POTUS has ever refused their salary. It is, after all, mandatory and every POTUS takes a public oath to faithfully execute their duties, right? Well, 45 is choosing emoluments INSTEAD of salary. Why? It’s not just because he stands to gain a lot more from emoluments. More importantly, he is already fully aware that he entered office owing more to the US Treasury than he could ever earn from it. In anticipation that accepting the salary would reflect very poorly upon him if his day of reckoning were to arrive, he decided to preempt such a scenario and take the extraordinary precaution of returning all of the government’s checks uncashed. Even more revealing, he diverts each check to a different part of the government. Also note that he himself never frames the issue to even suggest that he is doing something that amounts to a personal sacrifice or is somehow beneficial. The only point he is ever trying to make is that it’s one more reason he thinks he is special.

PS- Don’t be surprised to see the American version of kompromat- not info manufactured just to damage someone, but true revelations of unsettling skeletons lurking in a hidden closet- dropped lawfully and precisely (seemingly out of nowhere) on 45 between now and the deadline for the GOP to put up Pence or another candidate. Also, don’t be surprised if the author of “A Warning” is only anonymous until those skeletons get revealed. The fact that Haley is campaigning so publicly for 45 at this exact moment suggests to me that she might be contemplating an attempt to walk along a tight rope that begins at feigned outrage at Tillerson and Kelly for daring to question the complete lack of discipline exhibited in any judgement or decision-making of 45 and ends with accepting the GOP nomination for 2020.

Long-time reader, first-time post: Now that Stone’s been found guilty on all counts, hopefully we’ll learn more about any loose ends that couldn’t be revealed until that ratfucker was convicted. Some of his fellow rodent-rogerers are likely shaking in their boots at the prospect…