Is Donald Trump Obstructing Justice By Talking With Roger Stone?
Donald Trump Is Still In Touch With Roger Stone
Donald Trump may be obstructing justice by continuing to communicate with his longtime political adviser Roger Stone.
According to a new report, not only is Donald Trump still in regular contact with Stone but he spoke with him just two days after firing James Comey. The New Yorker is reporting that just a day after claiming he was not in contact with Stone, Trump called him on May 11 to tell him he did a good job on cable television that morning.
But here is the thing, Stone is one of the key witnesses in the Russia investigation, so Donald Trump’s actions could easily be construed as obstructing justice or witness tampering.
“Previous reports have noted that Trump has also been in touch with Paul Manafort and Michael Flynn, two figures targeted by the F.B.I.’s Russia probe. Add Stone to the list of former top Trump aides who, despite being under investigation, are still winning attention from the President,” The New Yorker notes.
According to one of Obama’s White House Ethics lawyers who spoke with The New Yorker, “Trump just added another item to the investigators’ checklist.”
Stone has been implicated as one of the advisers recommending that Trump fire Comey
Let’s remember the timeline here.
May 9 – Donald Trump fired FBI Director James Comey
May 10 – CNN and Politico report that Roger Stone “was among those who recommended to the President that he fire Comey.”
May 11 – Roger Stone goes on TV to defend Donald Trump. Donald Trump then calls Roger Stone to tell him he did a good job.
As The New Yorker notes, “Firing the F.B.I. director, according to several legal scholars, could be obstruction of justice. This made it worse. The President of the United States was not just talking to one of the subjects of the F.B.I. probe but also, if the CNN and Politico reports were accurate, colluding with Stone to terminate the head of the investigation. Trump quickly tried to contain the damage.”
Here is how Norman Eisen, ethics counsel in the Obama White House, described the situation, “The conventional wisdom is that when someone has exposure to obstruction-of-justice liability, as Trump certainly does, he should avoid unnecessary reaching out to others involved in the investigation, lest he make things worse for himself.”
“But Trump is famously unorthodox. Indeed, that is how he got into this mess in the first place,” Eisen continued.
