Another witch caught in the hunt
Roger Stone, President Trump's longtime adviser, was indicted Friday on federal charges that link the Trump campaign's and WikiLeaks' efforts to use Democratic Party emails to damage the election campaign of Hillary Clinton.
The indictment, signed by special counsel Robert Mueller, charges the 66-year-old Stone with obstruction, making false statements and witness tampering. Federal investigators served Stone with the indictment and, with search warrants in hand, raided his home before sunrise Friday.
In the indictment, Mueller writes that a top campaign official in 2016 dispatched Stone to get information from WikiLeaks about the thousands of Russian-hacked Democratic emails. That effort began well after it was widely reported that Russian intelligence operatives were behind the theft.
And while the court document makes no mention of any Trump role in the effort, it does state that a senior campaign official "was directed" by an unnamed person to contact Stone about additional WikiLeaks releases that might damage Clinton.
On Friday afternoon, The New York Times reported Quinta Jurecic of Lawfare posited that Stone "appears to have been a conduit between the Trump campaign and WikiLeaks," which published the emails and other material stolen by Russian hackers.
If true, that means Stone may have been at the epicenter of the relationship between the Trump campaign and Russia. On Friday morning, Trump tweeted in Stone's defense: "Greatest Witch Hunt in the History of our Country! NO COLLUSION! Border Coyotes, Drug Dealers and Human Traffickers are treated better. "
Stone, a self-described political dirty-trickster, went out into the crowd after appearing in court and stuck the famous pose of his personal hero, President Richard Nixon. Holding out his arms, he made a two-handed V-for-victory sign with his fingers.
"I will plead not guilty to these charges. I will defeat them in court," he told the crowd as some began booing. "There is no circumstance whatsoever under which I will bear false witness against the president, nor will I make up lies to ease the pressure on myself. I look forward to being fully and completely vindicated."
Some in the crowd began chanting: "Lock him up!"
Not yet. For now, he's out on $250,000 bond.
Stone marks the sixth member of the Trump team to be charged in the Russia probe, along with 13 Russian nationals and 12 Russian military officers. Who's next?
Shutdown gets welcome pause
President Trump, no doubt, was pleased to turn the conversation back to the shutdown - even if it meant eating a little crow.
The plan - seen as a win for Democrats, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and especially for federal workers who've been furloughed or working without pay - is to temporarily reopen government for three weeks.
And no, there is no new money for the border wall.
In the Rose Garden, Trump said he would sign the bills passed by the Senate and the House for the shutdown pause. Then a congressional conference committee is expected to spend the next three weeks working in a bipartisan fashion to come up with a border security package.
If a "fair deal" doesn't emerge by Feb. 15, the president said, there could be another government shutdown or he could declare a national emergency and direct the military to build the wall without congressional consent.
We'll see.
The important thing is getting 800,000 federal workers back to work and paid.
Shutdown fallout continues
As for who looks worse in the shutdown fallout, it's a tossup.
Trump is a clear loser, with his lowest-ever job approval rating. Only 37 percent gave him a thumb's up.
But Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross is giving the president some real competition.
New York Times columnist David Leonhardt summed it up Friday in a post titled, "Let them eat loans."
Ross made news last week by suggesting that federal employees working without pay don't have it so bad. He said he didn't understand why some were showing up at food banks and homeless shelters. They should just take out a loan, the multimillionaire suggested.
"At this point, Wilbur Ross almost seems to be campaigning for the title of Worst Trump Cabinet member," Leonhardt wrote.
Not even Saturday Night Live could make this stuff up.