Roger Stone was arraigned in D.C. federal court today. As expected, Stone entered a plea of not guilty. An arraignment hearing is for the purpose of advising the defendant of the present charges against him, allow him to enter a plea of guilty or not guilty plus state additional terms of the defendant’s pre-trial release. Stone had to give up his passport and cannot contact any witnesses. If he violates the terms, he goes to jail pending his trial date. As for Stone, he is slowly learning what it means to be a defendant. Stone voiced concerns about being arrested in the early morning hours with over 20 FBI agents. His specific concern was that he was arrested with more force than Osama Bin Laden. By the way, Osama Bin Laden was shot to death during the raid on his house. The courtesy of affording a white -collar defendant the ability to turn himself in with his attorney at his convenience is exactly that… a courtesy. It is not mandatory, as Stone discovered. Now the real reason why … [Read more...] about Roger Stone’s Fate at a Trial Will be Decided by Blacks
Archives for January 2019
Roger Stone Gets His Comeuppance in the Mueller Investigation
Trusted Donald Trump aide Roger Stone got his long awaited comeuppance for his behavior in the special prosecutor’s Trump Russia investigation. Stone was arrested at his office in the wee morning hours of Friday, January 25. While Roger Stone may have been expecting an indictment, nothing prepared him for the manner in which he was arrested. Mueller’s team sent a strong and serious message to Trump confidante, Roger Stone, by arresting him at 4 a.m. much like everyday street criminals, mob bosses and narcotic dealers are arrested. Of course, following his arrest, Stone complained about the nature of the arrest with over 29 FBI furloughed agents coming to his house to take him into custody. Stone for his part declared his innocence. The lack of common prosecutorial courtesies usually afforded to white collar clients/defendants to conveniently turn themselves in with their lawyer upon indictment shows the seriousness of the case and the possible indication of a flight risk by … [Read more...] about Roger Stone Gets His Comeuppance in the Mueller Investigation
White House Gangsta in Chief Needs to Leave
The federal government shutdown has now gone into two missing paychecks for workers without any resolution. It started as Trump’s demand that Mexico would pay for the wall. Then it advanced to American taxpayers would need to pay for the wall. Mexico likely laughed at the suggestion of their paying for it. And now it has snowballed into a hostage take over situation of over 800,000 federal government workers plus contract workers being furloughed until presumably American taxpayers pay for the wall. Trump has placed America at risk in food safety, air safety, health safety, economics, intelligence and basic human rights. While the focus at times has been on federal government workers in the DC, Maryland and Virginia area, federal employees work in all 50 states plus the District of Columbia. Large numbers of workers are located in Montana, Wyoming, New Mexico, South Dakota, West Virginian and Iowa –Trump Red states. There are government contractors who are not government employees who … [Read more...] about White House Gangsta in Chief Needs to Leave
Pelosi v. Trump: Politics Over Money
Donald Trump may have likely met his match with Speaker Nancy Pelosi. With the government being shut down, Speaker Pelosi raised concerns about Trump giving his State of the Union address before the government re-opens. In a letter addressed to Trump, she stated that he should delay his speech until after the government reopened. Her concerns were for security and the fact that nothing entitles Trump to give a state of the union address, in the manner he intended. In other words, it is almost like a nothing burger. Pelosi had also made plans to embark on a trip with a Congressional delegation to Afghanistan. Trump in like Trumpeon fashion retaliated. And this is where the story gets interesting. Trump denied the delegation use of government military planes to travel to a war zone. He likely saw Pelosi’s trip as grandstanding. It was a visit to the troops and to engage in government business. Despite denying Congressional use of government planes for government business, Trump … [Read more...] about Pelosi v. Trump: Politics Over Money
The Extreme Hypocrisy of the Republican Party
The Republican party was once known as the party of Abraham Lincoln. Now it is known as the party of Donald Trump, a reality star, creator of the birther movement and race baiter in Chief. Time and time again, the Republican party has shown its hypocrisy in the Trump era by failing to speak out against racism and bigotry. The other day, Congress failed to censure Iowa Representative Steve King for saying “White nationalist, white supremacist, Western civilization—how did that become offensive?” To answer King’s statement, white supremacy was offensive to many persons as far back as Abraham Lincoln’s time. The House passed a resolution condemning white supremacy but failed to rebuke King. Every Republican House member should have requested a vote on censuring King, if not seeking his resignation. It is not enough just to fail to appoint him to committees. Steve King should have been asked to resign for his hideously racist comments. Time and time again, the Republican party fails to … [Read more...] about The Extreme Hypocrisy of the Republican Party
R. Kelly is No Bill Cosby: He’s Worse
The recent docuseries, Surviving R. Kelly, has many folks wondering if R. Kelly will be joining Bill Cosby in prison one day. Multiple state attorneys are looking into investigating possible charges against Kelly. Although a prior 2008 case involving 14 child pornography charges against Kelly was unsuccessful, this time may be different. It’s still too soon to tell if Kelly’s time is up. The docuseries helped to re-ignite the fire but the flame is still low for a prosecution or conviction of R. Kelly. The issues facing any prosecutor who investigates and brings charges against Kelly will be credibility of witnesses and victims, statute of limitations, solicitation of victims by the prosecutors, length of time to bring charges (assuming the statute has not tolled) and the popularity of R. Kelly. Unlike most of Bill Cosby’s victims, R. Kelly’s victims are African American and other women of color. A sexual assault case is always difficult to obtain a conviction. A sexual assault or rape … [Read more...] about R. Kelly is No Bill Cosby: He’s Worse