Roger Stone faces a gag order. He has a plan to resist it.

[DonViejo]

The political rabble-rouser has a well-known First Amendment attorney on his legal team and has designated a pair of close friends as spokesmen.

By DARREN SAMUELSOHN and JOSH GERSTEIN 01/30/2019 05:00 AM EST

Roger Stone has long feared he would be slapped with a gag order if he got indicted — and he’s readied a plan to make sure he won’t have to stay silent.

The federal judge in Stone’s case, Amy Berman Jackson, has already hushed a coterie of others caught in special counsel Robert Mueller’s dragnet, including Paul Manafort, Rick Gates and their attorneys. They were quieted after one of the lawyers told reporters that Mueller’s case was “ridiculous.”

Jackson will have a much longer record of public commentary from Stone to work with when the longtime Donald Trump associate appears Friday afternoon for his first status hearing tied to the special counsel’s charges that he lied to Congress and obstructed the House’s investigation into Russian election meddling.

If Stone is gagged, his contingency plan is already in place. He’s got a well-known First Amendment attorney on his legal team who represented the rap group 2 Live Crew against obscenity charges in the early 1990s. And Stone has designated a pair of close friends as spokesmen in the event he and his lawyers are told to stop talking.

Until then, Stone won’t stop chattering.

Since his arrest last Friday, Stone has been on a media blitz. He gave his first interview to the conspiracy theory website InfoWars and then addressed reporters outside the Fort Lauderdale courthouse. He’s discussed his legal defense plans during a series of interviews with the major television and cable networks, as well as in impromptu press conferences outside his South Florida home. Anyone on Stone’s email list got a message Monday with the subject line “Let’s talk about my arrest” and a plea for “emergency” contributions to help pay his mounting legal bills.

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https://www.politico.com/story/2019/01/30/roger-stone-mueller-case-1136430

[tanyev]

1. Lock him up!

[MrsCoffee]

2. Roger will soon be facing lots of prison time. Hope he is planning for that.

[former9thward]

5. No he is not.

All of the charges are process crimes. Under federal sentencing guidelines he is facing months not years in sentencing if found guilty.

[EffieBlack]

6. Yes he is.- MrsCoffee's right

Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, he's facing up to 20 years in prison.

Years, not months.

And you can dismiss them as "process crimes," but witness tampering, obstruction of justice and lying to Congress, but they ARE crimes - serious ones.

[former9thward]

7. You don't know what federal sentencing guidelines are, do you?

The maximum sentence for some of the charges are 20 years. That is never applied to first time offenders and non-violent crimes. Judges have to follow specific guidelines when sentencing people for federal violations. I remember when George Papadopoulos was going to be sentenced. People said he would get five years. I said a couple months or probation. He got 2 weeks.

[EffieBlack]

10. Yes, I am very familiar with the guidelines.

It sounds like you aren't, as evidenced by, among other things, your belief that long sentences are never given to first-time offenders and non-violent offenders and that Papadopoulos' sentence for one count predicts what Stone could get or means that Stone is only looking at a few months in jail if convicted.

[former9thward]

12. So how much is he going to get?

Since you know about this. Let's see who is closer. Up to it?

[EffieBlack]

13. I have no idea what he'll get and neither do you

And since I actually have experience with and know very well the sentencing guidelines and also fully understand that a tremendous number of factors go into the prosecutor's recommendations and the judge's ultimate decision - most of which haven't even played out yet - I don't sit around on the sidelines predicting and making even friendly bets on what I think someone's going to get if they're convicted.

But feel free to predict away, if that's what you enjoy doing ...

[former9thward]

14. In my practice I deal with the guidelines frequently.

I am well aware of the many factors and of other things which may arise later. But any lawyer who could not predict to a client what the probable sentence might should not be practicing. In fact they are guilty of malpractice. How in the world could a lawyer give an opinion to a client on a potential plea deal if they have "no idea" of what they face if found guilty. I predict 6-9 months if found guilty on all charges.

[onenote]

16. Unless there is something specific to point to, telling Stone he likely faces only 6-9 months could

be malpractice.

The federal courts often treat obstruction of justice charges, even involving a first-time, non-violent offender, as serious crimes warranting serious punishment:

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-baca-sentenced-jail-sheriff-corruption-20170512-story.html

https://www.justice.gov/usao-wdmo/pr/liberty-attorney-sentenced-stealing-victim-restitution-funds

[former9thward]

18. Stone is not my client.

So speculating on a discussion board, educated or not, is not malpractice. I gave my prediction based on my experience. Other people, and I have no idea what experience they have, if any, have said "life" or "20 years". Fine, we will see...

[onenote]

20. I wasn't suggesting it was malpractice on your part

Just as I didn't think you were suggesting EffieBlack was committing malpractice when she wrote that she didn't know what sentence Stone might receive.

[EffieBlack]

17. Are you Roger Stone's attorney?

If not, failure to accurately predict a possible sentence will hardly leave you open to malpractice liability. And if you're not representing Stone and not personally and intimately familiar with him, the evidence against him, his interactions with the prosecutor, his intentions moving forward or what he charged he'll eventually be convicted of, your opinion is no more informed than that of any other lawyer whose knowledge of the case, like yours, is limited to what they learned about in the media..

[former9thward]

19. Interesting.

You attack me for giving an opinion (even though you said "But feel free to predict away&quot but you ignore all the rest who are giving their opinions. Is it because their opinion is what you want to see and mine is not? We will see what happens in court.

[MrsCoffee]

8. Sentencing guidelines could mean years.

Witness tampering and lying to Congress have max sentences of multiple years.

Guess we will have to wait and see.

[former9thward]

15. Yes we will wait and see.

Even though posters are predicting 20 years or "life" in some threads. Why do people always quote what the maximum sentence is? Since almost no one ever gets it or even close?

[mucifer]

3. he's going to continue to encourage violence in unstable people. he doesn't care

[Mr. Ected]

4. All the King's horses and all the King's men

Couldn't keep Roger from the federal pen.

[EleanorR]

9. "Rabble-Rouser", "Trickster", "Meddling"

Why do I feel like this is a recap of a Scooby-doo episode and not an investigation into a criminal enterprise, that has resulted in 34 indictments and guilt pleas thus far, that is threatening our Democracy?

[blogslut]

11. How come Roger didn't make a grand speech on the steps of the courthouse yesterday?

With that crazy crowd and cameras waiting, he made a beeline to his car.