Posted on 11/22/2019 4:11:21 AM PST by Kaslin
Roger Stone was recently convicted in federal court on seven felony charges, stemming from the since-closed Russian collusion investigation. Stone's main crime was lying to Congress about who he had, or had not, spoken to about Russia. By the time Stone's trial began in Washington, nobody was talking about WikiLeaks anymore. Nobody cared. Yet prosecutors continued as if it were 2017. For lying about something now irrelevant, they argued that Roger Stone should spend up to 50 years in prison, the rest of his life. At the very moment prosecutors were making that case -- that Stone's misstatements ought to be a death penalty offense -- Congressman Adam Schiff was busy lying to the rest of us about new things, some that actually matter. Schiff didn't seem worried about lying. He knows he'll never be prosecuted for it. In Washington, dishonesty is strictly a one-way offense.
Yet despite the irony of all this, Stone was convicted. Official Washington cheered. "Rot in hell!" they screamed on Twitter. What's interesting about the response to Stone's case -- both from federal prosecutors and the conventional media -- is how much harsher it was than anything that greeted convicted child molester Jeffrey Epstein. When Epstein was released from his first prison term, he hosted a dinner at his home with ABC News host George Stephanopoulos, former NBC host Katie Couric, Chelsea Handler, Woody Allen, CBS's Charlie Rose, British Prince Andrew and many others. Do you think Stephanopoulos would consider having dinner at Stone's house? Of course not. That would be immoral. FBI officials, apparently, agree.
You'll remember what happened when Stone was arrested. Dozens of federal agents with automatic weapons, armored vehicles and a helicopter descended on his home in a middle-class part of Fort Lauderdale and rousted the 66-year-old and his wife from bed at rifle point. Just to make sure the event inflicted maximum humiliation, the feds tipped off CNN, which was there to capture the whole thing live. That's how our government treated a man facing perjury charges.
Epstein, by contrast, was accused of molesting at least 34 separate underage girls. How was he arrested? He wasn't. According to The New York Times account, prosecutors called Epstein's lawyers and asked him to turn himself in, which Epstein politely did. Nobody tipped off CNN. Just the opposite. Authorities tried to keep the whole thing secret, to preserve Epstein's dignity. One prosecutor wrote to Epstein's longtime attorney, former Bush administration senior official Jay Lefkowitz, assuring him that to "avoid the press," she could, "file the charge in district court in Miami, which will hopefully cut the press coverage significantly."
Pretty thoughtful treatment for a child molester. Ultimately, Epstein got a plea deal and all federal charges against him were dropped. The arrangement was kept secret even from Epstein's victims, so they wouldn't be able to complain or contest the agreement in court. Epstein received just 18 months. But instead of being sent to state prison, like most sex offenders in Florida, he served his term in a private wing of the Palm Beach County Stockade. But even that wasn't lenient enough. After just three and a half months in custody, Epstein was freed on "work release," meaning that he was able to leave the grounds for 12 hours a day, six days a week. Sex offenders aren't supposed to be eligible for work release, but authorities gave it to Epstein anyway.
Apparently, Stone did something worse than molesting children. He mocked the people in charge and then helped Donald Trump get elected president. For that, he is likely to die in prison.
We have now heard credible allegations that NBC News covered for politically connected rapist Harvey Weinstein and ABC News covered for politically connected pedophile Jeffrey Epstein. Roger Stone, meanwhile, is headed to prison for something nobody even understands.
Prosecutors have a great deal of discretion in our legal system. The media has, rightfully, near-total freedom under our constitution. But our whole system collapses once the public loses faith in its basic fairness. A huge driver behind Trump's election was the American people's loss of faith in our leaders and our top legal, political, financial, educational and media institutions. When rapists and pedophiles are protected as political disputes are criminalized, it's not hard to see why people are questioning the leadership of our country.
I won’t watch any Woody Allen associated movie.
Eric Clanton/James Fields. Says it all.
There it is - the author described our two-tiered justice system perfectly.
Stone’s punishment is harsher than Epstein’s because Epstein was providing sorely needed and craved services for the political and social Elite. Stone was on the wrong side politically and thus deserving death.
I don’t think I have ever watched any Woody Allen movie.I am just not interested in them.
I don’t get the depravity, sick monsters
Because the creepieness of them screams out from the first second. Woody Allen yech!
Leeches all. Epstein feeds off the pretty kids, the government feeds off us.
anyone entrapped by the illegitimate Mueller investigation should be freed and/or compensated.
This is a travesty of justice. If he has to do any jail time I hope it’s not the same jail where Epstein was held. I pray that somehow he’s going to at least be put on probation.
Karma, please happen soon.
The tree of liberty needs to be watered badly. The government is out of control. Hillary can smash evidence and lie her fat ass off and nothing happens. Justice is suppose to be blind, not 100% political.
Agreed.. Justice needs to make a comeback in our nations capital.. What we're seeing right before our eyes is what a "democracy" really is..! Rule by the mob.. We need to fight for and recommit to our "Constitutional Republic" or we should just burn the whole thing it down and start over.... :(
Here’s my takeaway from the whole thing. When being interviewed by any authority, stand on your 5th amendment rights. Never volunteer information and let your lawyer do the talking. If Stone had kept his mouth shut he’d be much better off.
Comparison sort of falls apart when you consider that Epstein was convicted by the Hillary Star Chamber and received the death penalty.
America’s robed mullahs at work in the Stone case. Sympatico with their ME goons. 666 ways to Sunday, right Chuck?
Trump will likely pardon him.
It’s so bad, it’s as if a cold war has developed within our own country.
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