Thread by @baratunde

It's friday and Robert Mueller has dropped indicted Roger Stone which means another PDF which means it's time for me to walk through this document amateur legal style... I'm so excited. My PDF reader has never gotten so much use as when American democracy is being undermined

Like all good stories, this one opens with an introduction to major events and characters in the drama, reminding us that the DNC and DCCC were hacked and made this known in June 2016. Shortly after, Organization 1 aka Wikileaks starts releasing waves of stolen goods

So we got the hacked documents and the release thereof. Mueller is like, "yall remember that right?" And we do. Then we get a character intro to Roger Stone with the key highlight being he WAS CONTACED BY Trump campaign about Wikileaks and claimed to be in touch with them

Then Mueller and his writing team remind us about the various investigations that kicked off to look into these shenanigans: House Intel, Senate Intel and FBI. The heart of the matter: "In response, STONE took steps to obstruct these investigations." YOU CAN'T DO THAT

There's also this short section on supporting characters Person 1 and Person 2 with whom Stone communicated a lot. Stone claimed IN CONGRESSIONAL TESTIMONY that Person 2 was his connect to Wikileaks. That will be important to remember later.

This document / episode is off to a strong start. By page 3 (of 24) we know the players, the history, and the alleged crimes. But like all good stories, the best part is in the details, and Team Mueller aka Team Democracy has so. many. details.

First up is "STONE’s Communications About Organization 1 During the Campaign" and this is basically a WE GOT YO EMAILS AND ARE PUTTING THEM IN THE PUBLIC RECORD part of the story.

The content in these emails is a flashback to some of the most damaging and memorable campaign moments, like this doozy: Person 1 added in the same email, “Would not hurt to start suggesting HRC old, memory bad, has stroke." These folks planned all this.

There's a section reminding us about all of Roger Stone's public bragging about his Wikileaks and Assange connections.

Mueller and them don't just have Stone's emails to Person 2 about his advanced knowledge of Wikileaks drops. They have texts too!

Here is the first twist I can spot. Stone was out in these streets bragging about his Assange connection but then he asks Person 2 to get a message to Assange for him and Person 2 is like, "yeah ok but YOU HAVE YOUR OWN ASSANGE HOOKUP REMEMBER? KEEP MY NAME OUT YO MOUF"

Stone and Person 2 text like eager teenagers. So much chatter. Early October was an important time when Assange had planned to drop bombs but seemed to back off. Again Person 2 to Stone: "Keep my name out your mouth"

As a point of reference, the dump in question was around this moment dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3…

This seems important. I wish there were a word that described the coordinated communication and activities between parties. Oh well. I'll just go with cooperation?

So that wraps the section on Stone's communications about Organization 1 (aka Wikileaks) during the campaign. We're at page 9 of 24, so basically the end of Act One. Now we move on to the next part: The Investigations (awww sookie sookie now!)

In one page, Mueller lays out the House, Senate, FBI and grand jury investigations. In other words: GUBMENT'S COMIN and they got questions. Probably a good idea to be honest, but this is Roger I-Got-Nixon's-Face-Tatooed-On-My-Back Stone so...

Let's talk about LIES. That's what the Mueller indictment carefully lays out but they use the passive voice which I find interesting. "Stone caused a letter to be submitted" to House Intel. Like he maybe leaned on the truth too hard and it fell over resulting in a false statement

Point 21 is a favorite of mine. It's fancy legalese for "Roger Stone is a lying liar who lies in about all the things."

The House (aka we the people) asked Stone if he had ANY documents, emails, texts about the hacked documents. They covered all the cases, and he was like, "Nah." HE LIED.

Mueller got him though. Opening with "In truth and in fact" Team Mueller itemizes the evidence of Stone's false testimony to Congress. BTW "In truth and in fact" is my new favorite substitute for "Well, actually."

Not only is lying to Congress like a bad crime thing, but Mueller explains that these lies made it impossible for Congress to realize that Stone was spewing OTHER lies! He lied to cover up more lies. That's some professional level lying right there.

So that section was all about Stone lying about not having any documents, emails, texts. Which clearly existed BECAUSE WE ARE READING THEM RIGHT NOW. The next section deals with is public statements about his connection to Assange/Wikileaks...

Remember when Person 2 was like "whatever you do KEEP MY NAME OUT YOUR MOUTH?" Well, Stone did the opposite and told Congress Person 2 was his connect to Wikileaks though that was a lie. To Congress. Which is a crime.

At this point, Stone is on a roll. Can't stop won't stop lying. IN TRUTH AND IN FACT hits a nice rhythm over the next few pages

While Stone was lying to the House Intel committee, he was communicating with Person 1 and Person 2, like during the lies he was prepping more lies. I think Roger Stone has a problem. Hopefully time in jail will give him space for some self-reflection

Quick aside: the party that should be most offended here is the House Intelligence committee. This clown was making a fool of them, and under GOP control, they were SO INCURIOUS about the matter. Again wondering if there's a word to describe coordination between parties

Back to the PDF. Person 2 is telling Stone, "listen man. You said you had an Assange connect. I told you not to mention me. I just met the man that one time. Stop lying on me!" And yet, he persisted.

Oh and Stone also like to Congress (a crime) about his communications with the Trump campaign about wikileaks.

Then Mueller outs more criminal activity. Stone trying to get Person 2 not to tell the truth to Congress (a crime). "STONE urged Person 2, if asked by HPSCI, to falsely confirm what STONE had previously testified to" (HPSCI = House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence)

"Person 2 repeatedly told STONE that his testimony was false and told him to correct his testimony to HPSCI. STONE did not do so. STONE then engaged in a prolonged effort to prevent Person 2 from contradicting STONE’s false statements to HPSCI." (this is crime)

"On or about November 19, 2017, in a text message to STONE, Person 2 said that his lawyer wanted to see him (Person 2). STONE responded, “‘Stonewall it. Plead the fifth. Anything to save the plan’ . . . Richard Nixon.” "

That "anything to save the plan" is a reference to Nixon's language around his own crimes during Watergate. HuffPo link huffingtonpost.com/stanley-kutler…

What kind of person quotes Richard Nixon?

That moment when Stone instructs Person 2 to lie to Congress by citing the great legal advice from The Godfather, Part II

And then Person 2 pleads the fifth on Roger Stone's advice!? What a team.

Person 2 and Stone had a very abusive relationship it seems fair to say. Stone is the older bad kid who SEEMS cool but is really just a loser but Person 2 doesn't have the self esteem to see through the act.

That moment when Roger Stone threatened to steal Person 2's dog and misuses the phrase "Let's get it on" which does not mean what he thinks it means.

And that's the end of the section walking us through all the background and details. Now we get to the actual charges. The counts.

Count One: Obstruction of Proceeding. Seems like this is just saying "he messed up the process" and that's crime.

Count Two through Six: False Statements. These are documented lies Stone made to Congress and these are crimes.

Count Seven: Witness Tampering. aka Bullying Person 2 into not being truthful before the House Intel committee, and that's crime.

I would like to add some additional counts against Roger Stone, humbly submitted:

- threatening to steal someone's dog
- having a tattoo of Nixon's face
- thinking "let's get it on" means let's fight instead of let's have sex

That’s the end of my PDF walkthrough for Roger Stone’s indictment. See you tonight on @MSNBC with @AriMelber

Correction: I’m not on @MSNBC tonight sorry. They changed the lineup. But you can read my PDF analysis on your own schedule so enjoy!

If you want to host your own Mueller PDF reading, don’t look for it at the Justice department website. The #TrumpShutdown means no one is posting indictment files? I got mine from @nytimes int.nyt.com/data/documenth…

I started this thread with a typo. While I would like to believe someone could be “dropped indicted” (like a courtroom drop-kick?) that really was me just rushing. See I amended my testimony and avoided perjuring myself on twitter! Easy!

https://twitter.com/baratunde/status/1088874477600030721?s=21