“ROGER STONE DID NOTHING WRONG”
By Ross Turner
Roger Stone Did Nothing Wrong
January 25th, 2019. Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Pre-dawn. Heavily armed men file out of a caravan of black SUVs. Swarming the Mediterranean-style home, a bearded man pounds on the door: “FBI. Open the door.” Within moments, a grey-haired, shoeless figure emerges. He appears briefly confused, but, given the circumstances, unfazed. He puts his hands in the air as he turns around, submitting to his arrest with perfunctory calm. Twenty minutes later, being led back into his home by federal agents, security footage captures the text of the suspect’s t-shirt, one that perfectly encapsulates the man in question. It reads: “Roger Stone Did Nothing Wrong.”
What’s In A Shirt?
We may never know whether Stone put on that shirt deliberately for the occasion, but anybody familiar with him knows he probably would have. It’s very existence speaks volumes of his sordid career, a winking reference to his infamous reputation. It is, let’s say, not the fashion statement typical of an innocent man. Robert Mueller, Special Counsel to the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, would tend to agree. Stone has been indicted on seven criminal charges, including one count of obstruction of an official proceeding, one count of witness tampering, and five counts of false statements. Stone himself is probably disappointed to be arraigned on such lame charges, given how many juicier bits of wrongdoing there are to choose from.
WikiWoes
The allegations stem from his involvement in Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, where he is believed to have been in contact with Julian Assange of Wikileaks. Days before Wikileaks released troves of stolen e-mails from John Podesta, chairman of the Hillary Clinton campaign, Stone posted mocking tweets aimed at Podesta and Clinton: “It will soon [sic] the Podesta’s time in the barrel,” and, “Wednesday Hillary Clinton is done. #Wikileaks.” Despite this plainly damning evidence and the fact that he formerly acknowledged establishing a back-channel with Assange, Stone claimed to have had no advanced knowledge of the data breach or its publishing. His legal troubles originate from the consequent lies and obstruction committed after this fact. He has, adorably, pleaded not guilty.
Who is Roger Stone?
For Stone, a self-described “dirty trickster” and “agent provocateur,” it must be surprising that this took so long. His long career as a political consultant, lobbyist, strategist, and “fixer” has been built on an ethical flexibility rarely seen so openly in American politics. He combines the political philosophy of Machiavelli, the cartoonish villainy of The Joker, and the fashion sensibility of Tim Gunn. He has a tattoo of Nixon on his back. He doesn’t, as a rule, wear socks. He was friends and business partners with Paul Manafort (before it was cool.) He claims to own over 100 silver neckties. His flamboyancy and verve for style is matched only by his amorality and taste for duplicity. He is the living embodiment of “the ends justify the means.” He is also strangely charming and, again, a fabulous dresser. But where did a character such as Stone come from, and how did he get to be this way?
Lunch Line Lies
Turns out, he was always like this. In fact, style and trickery appear seared into his DNA, preceding his political leanings. As a young boy, Stone favored John F. Kennedy because his Catholic parents had a “certain sympathy” for him, but also because “Kennedy’s hair was so much better than Nixon’s hair.” Consequently, in the run up to a mock election in his elementary school, Stone went through the cafeteria line and told every kid he found that Nixon had proposed having school on Saturdays. Kennedy won “in a landslide.” Stone recalls, “For the first time ever I understood the value of disinformation. Of course I’ve never practiced it since then.” This tendency – to admit to scheming while cheekily denying it – would become Stone’s modus operandi.
Dealing in the Black Arts
Stone made his political conversion to conservatism only two years later after reading Barry Goldwater’s The Consciousness of a Conservative. In 1972, at the age of twenty, he dropped out of George Washington University to help with Nixon’s reelection campaign where he played a minor role as a junior scheduler. But it wasn’t long before he put his unique skill-set to work. One early act of sabotage was contributing money to an opponent of Nixon in the name of the Young Socialist Alliance, and then handing the receipt to the local newspaper in order to portray Nixon’s rival as a dirty commie. He also hired spies to infiltrate the campaigns of George McGovern and Hubert Humphrey. Though officially a scheduler by day, “by night, I’m trafficking in the black arts,” said Stone.
PAC Man
In 1975, Stone helped found the National Conservative Political Action Committee for the explicit purpose of circumventing recently imposed campaign contribution limits. They exploited the loophole of ‘independent expenditures,’ which allowed the PAC to advertise on behalf of (or against) a candidate as long as there was no ‘coordination’ with the campaign. This was the first of many “super PACs” that dominate our elections to this day. Stone remarked, “NCPAC is transformative in the sense that we really pioneered negative advertising in massive doses to win elections. Up to that time it really hadn’t been done.” In fact, one of “Stone’s Rules” – his personal words to live by – is, “Hate is a stronger motivator than love.”
Fixin’ for Nixon
Stone would go on to work for the Ronald Reagan campaign in 1976, but Nixon made an indelible impression on the young operative, who served as his post-presidential adviser and “man in Washington.” Nixon also made a literal impression almost 30 years later, when Stone got a tattoo of the disgraced president’s grinning visage on his upper back – his very own Nixonian tramp stamp. “The reason I’m a Nixonite is because of his indestructibility and resilience. He never quit,” Stone remarked. (Note: Richard Nixon literally quit – it’s kind of what he’s known for. -Ed.) Stone is, by all accounts, a full-fledged Nixon fanboy; his house has a trophy room of sorts filled with all manner of Nixon paraphernalia, including a “first generation Nixon bong.” He infamously flashed the “Nixon victory” sign on the courthouse steps following his indictment, one of many instances of him doing so. Call him what you will, but don’t say he doesn’t know what he likes.
Ascending Stone
The post-Nixon years saw Stone’s dark star continue to rise within the Republican universe. The Young Republicans elected Stone president in 1977, boosted as he was by the notoriety of his (self-exaggerated) involvement in Watergate. His campaign was managed by none other than Paul Manafort, a friend and kindred spirit of Stone who he had met through College Republicans. The elevated profile of both men found them hired as coordinators for Reagan’s 1980 presidential campaign, with Stone working the northeast. In New York, he used a little-known state loophole called “a suitcase stuffed with cash” to influence the nomination of Liberal Party candidate John B. Anderson, thereby splitting opposition to Reagan. In typical Stone fashion, after the statue of limitations for bribery had expired, he said, “I paid his law firm. Legal fees. I don’t know what he did for the money, but whatever it was, the Liberal Party reached its right conclusion out of a matter of principle.”
The Torturers’ Lobby
Following Reagan’s election, Stone, along with Manafort and Charlie Black, founded a political consulting and lobbying firm called Black, Manafort, and Stone (BMS). Their work on Reagan’s campaign gave them great access and influence within his administration which they successfully profited from. Theirs became one of the first “mega-lobbying” firms and has been described as “instrumental” to Reagan’s 1984 reelection. But this didn’t stop them from taking on some truly reprehensible clients, including the African dictators Mohamed Siad Barre of Somalia and Mobutu Sese Seko of Zaire, as well as Ferdinand Marcos of the Philippines. “The Torturers’ Lobby,” as it came to be known, took in $3.3 million from these dictators during this time. They also represented high-profile corporate clients like The Tobacco Institute and Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. Of his former firm, Stone had this to say: “Black, Manafort, and Stone was the shit. It was the biggest, most powerful lobbying operation in Washington. We did things that no one had ever done.”
Stone, Meet Cohn
One of Stone’s clients during this time was a rising real estate developer, a plucky young sprout named Donald J. Trump. The thread linking these two characters is yet another infamous and influential figure in American politics: Roy Cohn, chief counsel of Joe McCarthy’s communist witch-hunts and private attorney to some of New York’s most shady big shots. Cohn served as Trump’s lawyer and mentor beginning in 1973, where he impressed upon him the aggressive and underhanded tactics gleaned from his years of red-baiting. In 1979, over bagels and cream cheese, Cohn arranged for Stone to meet with Trump, who Stone believed could be a useful ally in Reagan’s coalition. According to Cohn’s secretary, Stone was not initially impressed with Trump; “Roger did not like Donald Trump or his new house, told me they were losers, but if Roy used them, he would, too.” Nonetheless, the two maintained a relationship, with Stone lobbying on behalf of Trump’s casino business for many years, imparting him with political savvy, and encouraging numerous presidential runs.
The Scandal of ‘96
Stone spent most of the 90’s doing normal Stone things, like getting fired by Bob Dole (again) from his 1996 presidential run. This was after Stone was caught soliciting sex – with raunchy pictures and ads – in swingers’ magazines and websites. (To be fair, his wife was in on it.) Stone initially denied the allegations, blaming them on a disgruntled ex-employee, but admitted years later to posting the advertisements. This event (of all things) would be described by many spectators as the fatal turning point in Stone’s career that precluded him ever becoming a front-and-center figure in the Republican Party. While it’s a far stretch to say he was on the straight-and-narrow before this point, this scandal all but ensured that he would be forced to operate behind the scenes and without reliable Republican support. This effectively cemented his outsider status and made even more ‘necessary’ his underhanded tactics, tactics he’d eventually turn on the party that cast him out.
Dabbling in the Donald
Stone’s last hit-job for the Bushes came in 2000. After encouraging Pat Buchanan to run for president with the Reform Party, he pushed Donald Trump to do the same, eventually serving as his campaign manager. Stone used Trump as an attack dog to damage Buchanan, accusing him of “having a love affair with Adolf Hitler” among other things. Predictably, commentators were skeptical of the seriousness of Trump’s ambitions, viewing the run as a ploy to build his brand and sell books. (They were right: it never got past the exploratory phase.) But to win was never the point. Stone used Trump to sow chaos in the already fractious Reform Party and destroy Buchanan, the front-runner. In a classic Stone triple-play, his actual, intended beneficiary was George W. Bush.
The Jester Shall be King
The nineteen years since that controlled demolition have found Stone strong on his game. He was present at the Brooks Brothers riot that fatally delayed the 2000 Florida recount, resulting in Bush’s controversial election. He played a key role in bringing former New York Governor Eliot Spitzer’s indiscretions to light in 2008. That same year, he formed an anti-Hillary Clinton political group called Citizens United Not Timid, an acronym you can examine and judge for yourself. And in 2013, when Donald Trump first told Stone he was planning to run for president, Stone began work on his crowning achievement. He saw Trump as a vessel, one he could load with his political cargo and steer with his Machiavellian tactics. Where Stone had used Trump in 2000 to help the Bushes, by 2008 he had soured to them, telling the New Yorker, “Jeb is waiting in the wings? Over my dead body. The Bushes have brought us to ruin twice – first 1992 and now. I’ll see you in New Hampshire to stop it. I’ll wait for him.”
A Short Run
By August of 2015, Stone’s run in the campaign was already over. He claims to have quit while Trump says he was fired, posing the dilemma of what happens when an infinite force of duplicity collides with an immovable object of untruth. We may never know. But given Stone’s history, his “firing” may have been entirely orchestrated to free him from the legal liabilities of being an “official” accessory to the campaign. This is because he remained an informal adviser, most notably acting as a liaison between the Trump campaign and WikiLeaks. Whatever the arrangement, it came to an end in 2017 as Mueller’s investigation turned to Stone, where he testified before the House and Senate Intelligence Committees. It is was here that he likely accrued most of the seven charges now brought against him. And it is why, despite the shocking disloyalty Trump has shown to other long-term members of his circle now facing the music – such as Michael Cohen – Stone has made an effort to stay in Trump’s good graces. He is almost certainly eyeing a pardon.
Trump: A Stone Production
Despite his brief tenure on Trump’s campaign, it is impossible to overstate the impact Stone has had not only on it, but the candidate himself. “They both see the world in a very similar way. If Trump is elected president, I think Roger will see one more very significant impact he’s had on world history,” said Paul Manafort. “I would argue that Roger Stone after thirty years working for Donald Trump, is one of his primary influences, perhaps the primary influence,” according to Republican strategist Michael Caputo. And Mr. Stone himself opined, “Even if Donald Trump loses, I still win, because the Stone brand has been front and center, and my brand of politics have finally come into their own.” That is exactly the transactional expediency one would expect from Trump himself, suggesting he really is Stone’s protégé, (minus the discipline, strategy, or any coherent ideology.)
Embracing the Evil
“Admit nothing, deny everything, launch counterattack.” “One man’s dirty trick is another man’s political civic action.” “It’s better to be infamous than never to be famous at all.” Stone is a man who rose to prominence by thumbing his nose to his opponents, civic norms, truth, and anything else that stood in the way of winning. His is a brand of politics both ancient and modern, both reptilian and disturbingly sophisticated. Like a virus, his efficacy breeds replication – or, as he puts it: “It’s like, ‘Who is Roger Stone?’ ‘Get me Roger Stone.’ ‘Get me a Roger Stone-type.’ ‘Who is Roger Stone?’” Love him or hate him, his impact is impossible deny, and he’s okay with that: “I revel in your hatred, because if I weren’t effective, you wouldn’t hate me.” Indeed, Stone has accepted his nefarious legacy and intends to lean fully into it. When asked why he embraced the role of ‘dirty trickster,’ he replied: “Well, I’m stuck with it now, it’s gonna be in the first paragraph of my New York Times obit, so I might as well go with the flow. The only thing I can think of worse than being talked about… is not being talked about!”
A Charming Devil
For all his misdeeds, Stone is a strangely compelling and charismatic figure. He, like Donald Trump, has been reported by even his enemies as possessing a weaponized charm in person, one that mystifies his audience and obscures his destructive actions. His personal eccentricities only add to the allure. His flashy, three-piece suits conceal a surprisingly cut figure for a man his age, one who obviously prides himself on fitness and appearances. His politics are also not universally loathsome. He is a Libertarian – officially leaving the Republican Party in 2012 – evinced by his longtime support of legal marijuana, abortion rights, and gay rights, having even appeared in Pride parades. And he is brazenly honest about his dishonesty (except when he’s not), a refreshing distinction compared to Trump’s pathological, reflexive lies. Yes, the bar is that low, and Stone is largely to thank.
The Age of Stone
At age 66 and facing Mueller TimeTM, Stone’s days as a career-sinking, bribe-making, truth-twisting schemer may be over, but his influence has never been stronger. From the droves of conservative millennials to the alternative right-wing media they consume, to the President himself who is lobbied directly by those talking heads, Stone’s work is everywhere visible. As the man himself says: “We’re in Age of Stone because the change in our politics – the rough-and-tumble, cutthroat politics, the slash-and-burn of what was just probably the dirtiest, nastiest campaign in American political history – are now in vogue.” While I may disagree with just about all of Roger Stone’s tactics and the majority of his politics, he is telling the truth about one thing: we have undeniably entered the Stone Age.
Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Stone
https://washingtonmonthly.com/2018/02/23/the-story-of-roger-stone-paul-manafort-and-donald-trump/
http://time.com/5513051/roger-stone-richard-nixon-donald-trump/
https://qz.com/1533796/roger-stone-and-donald-trumps-complicated-30-year-history/
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/24/AR2007082402122_3.html
Get Me Roger Stone (2017)
