The arrest and indictment of Donald Trump’s campaign lieutenant Roger Stone is like a gift that keeps on giving — not just to me as a writer, but to America, as a source of more and more revelations, explanations, and proven connections between the campaign and Russia.
It looks like that gift is about to give again.
It’s easy to forget all of the minutiae of the ongoing special counsel investigation, but it helps to remember some of the major events in the timeline so that you can revisit them when the person involved in those events has their “time in the barrel,” as Roger Stone might say.
The first real substantive experience the American public had with Stone as a possible defendant at the end of this long Mueller road was in July of 2018, when the special counsel prosecution team put together a dozen indictments for Russian hackers who authorities said had passed stolen data from the DNC to a Trump campaign staffer and a candidate for Congress. We can safely assume it was polling data; that seems to have been the initial stock-in-trade for the hackers prior to any offers of “damaging information” about Trump’s opponent, Hillary Clinton.
Roger came right out and admitted that he was the one on Team Trump that the hackers had been in contact with, but he didn’t seem overly concerned with the consequences, since what Mueller ostensibly was after was the outcome of the “dirt for sanctions” quid pro quo that appeared to have happened at the now-infamous Trump Tower meeting between Don Jr, a Kremlin lawyer, and a bunch of other idiots who are all going to prison.
But who was that candidate for Congress? Did they win? Did they use that hacked polling data to win?
We’re actually not sure. But we are sure that Mueller’s sure. And we’re willing to speculate a tiny bit, just for you, dear readers, with a pretty plausible possibility.
Literally just hours before the announcement of the indictments on July 13th, at what would have been after 2 AM for Donald Trump, he tweeted:
Congressman Matt Gaetz of Florida is one of the finest and most talented people in Congress. Strong on Crime, the Border, Illegal Immigration, the 2nd Amendment, our great Military & Vets, Matt worked tirelessly on helping to get our Massive Tax Cuts. He has my Full Endorsement!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 13, 2018
Yes, that’s Trump’s boilerplate endorsement tweet. It’s also months early for the midterms. Gaetz would be easy to reach at the same time as Stone — his district is right across the state from Stone’s Florida home. And as it turns out, they’re, uh… pals:
Enjoyed dinner with the brightest political mind in America! @RogerJStoneJr #sayfie #MAGA pic.twitter.com/FjF0s7RAIE
— Matt Gaetz (@mattgaetz) July 9, 2017
Is Congressman Matt Gaetz next on Mueller’s list? You’ll be the first to know when we do.
Featured image via screen capture
