Stone likely responsible for dirty tricks that brought Al Franken down

[kskiska]

(excerpt)
The question of course is whether Roger Stone’s role in the Al Franken matter constituted a crime. This is a separate legal question from the wrongness of Franken’s own behavior. If Stone and his allies conspired against Franken in illegal fashion, they’ll be criminally charged for it, and the truth will all come out. Around the time of the Franken debacle, Tom Arnold posted this tweet. Take it for what it’s worth: “I’m disappointed with my friend Leeann Tweedon. Her partner at KABC John Phillips is a Roger Stone pal & they coached her for weeks to bring Al Franken down.” Stone’s own words during the scandal seemed to give away that, at the least, he knew what was about to come out about Franken.

https://www.palmerreport.com/analysis/al-franken-finally-answers/15660/

[Rorey]

1. Now I despise Stone even more.

I'm truly looking forward to seeing him get sent to prison for the rest of his sorry ass life.

[olegramps]

49. Stone has been a Republican "Dirty Trickster" since he was 19. A darling of Trump for his evilness.

He and Lee Atwater were notorious for the planting fake stories and smearing Democrats with out right lies. Karma caught up with Atwater when he was diagnosed with a fatal brain tumor and he died when 40 years old. He converted to Catholicism and made numerous apologies for the destroying Democrats reputations with filthy lies.

His friend and accomplice, Stone, is one nasty vicious bastard. That is why the Republicans love him and have hired him numerous times to work on their campaigns. His expertise is destroying people and relishing it. He is the scum of the lowest scum of the Republican sewer they call a party. It is too bad that I will probably not be around to see the Republican Party totally discredited and destroyed. It is a evil, criminal cancerous blight that will either destroy the nation and institute a dictatorship of the oligarchs or be vanquished. What ever it takes, short of criminal actions, to destroy them is warranted. They must be discredited before they bring the nation down.

[Marcuse]

83. Birds of a feather.

[fascisthunter]

89. Lol... Stone, you fortunate head-case...

...unfortunately for you, and people like you, it’s over.

[at140]

94. who is the dude on right?

[Marcuse]

97. That is Lee Atwater, mentor to Manafort and Stone. See attached.

[link:http://

|

[at140]

98. Ahhh...the Godfather of dirty tricks!

Thanks, that was my guess, but did not recognize the face.

[Marcuse]

100. You are welcome. Two down...

[Baltimike]

2. and this is why the Senator from NYwill not be the nominee...

she fell for a sucker bet.

[More_Cowbell]

12. If she's the Democratic nominee, I'll vote for her. But I'm supporting anyone else til then

I think she purposely advanced her own career at his expense.

[Baltimike]

13. This. I will vote for the DEMOCRATIC nominee, and fight everyone else. nt

[certainot]

50. another eg of why ignoring talk radio is the biggest political mistake in history

without unanswered ubiquitous repeated talk radio attacks on franken, making this swiftboating based on lies and exaggeration a 'real' national story that enables national-scale hypocritical manufactured 'outrage', no dem would have felt justified. like mccaskill believing the fear of immigrant caravans was a legitimate issue as opposed of largely coming out of limbaugh's ass.

just like shultz would not be able to run based on bothsiderism, dems are corrupt too, have no spine, etc

and franken would still be a senator

[Tumbulu]

93. yes, but nobody ever seems to listen!!!!!!!! nt

[samnsara]

53. same here she would get my vote but not my $

..nor a coveted spot on my bumper

[Baitball Blogger]

68. +1

[PatrickforO]

69. Yep. I'm in agreement. Now that Harris and Booker are both in the race,

there's little reason to support Gillibrand.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

3. Take this with a grain of salt. While it's likely that Tweeden acted with bad intent

and was definitely connected with Sean Hannity and possibly Stone, I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for any criminal charges to come out of the matter. The Palmer Report is not considered a very reliable source. https://api.newsguardtech.com/3DFCB6EB46021A7E6275E1E339977C1171B834FC59D6670C18BA7455D5195BC300F779D75D289728375D461E4063FC476718B4ACE5AD2C30?cid=28ab72a9-3d62-427e-ad1f-bd3d42c05984

[Hortensis]

19. This.

[EffieBlack]

4. "Likely"?

I've had no doubt from the beginning that this was the case.

[DFW]

6. This is not news to many of us

And it's old news to most of the rest.

[Baltimike]

54. This. nt

[Tarc]

5. Roger Stone didn't force Al Franken to pose in that photo aboard the plane

It is to the continuing shame of the DU that people here are still pushing the narrative that a man is not responsible for thing he actually did.

[Shrike47]

7. The photo was clearly meant to be funny. He was mugging for the camera. Stupid but forgivable.

[TimeToGo]

8. Of course

But perhaps read about the photo first.

[Tarc]

24. We know all about it

Just the characterization/suggestion of inappropriate touching was bad.

Remember, he apologized and admitted that it was wrong.

[hurple]

62. Apparently you don't know all about it

Every. Single. Person. On that flight has since made public statements that the photo was staged and SHE was in on it and lying about it now.

In fact, the military escort went further and said the pose was HER idea!

He was railroaded. Completely.

[PatrickforO]

71. He was. And, unfortunately, Franken was one of our strongest

voices against Trump and the corrupt bunch of mobsters he calls an administration.

Plus, if you read bios of Franken, and in any way followed his Senate career, you'd readily see that he is a) a really decent human being, and b) really, really cared about, and went out of the way consistently for, his constituents. There are multiple stories of people he helped just because he cares.

[Trumpocalypse]

92. Yet he didn't have the most anti-Trump voting record

Guess who does?

And what speeches did he give against Trump that made him one of the strongest voices? Please provide links.

[wasupaloopa]

73. They took advantage of the "me too" movement. The shame of it, it worked and still does here at DU.

[Meowmee]

90. Yes

And me too is going along with fascist tactics which is one reason why I don’t support it.

[pangaia]

9. Maybe do a little research on that photo.

[Tarc]

23. Take your own advice, kiddo

It was inappropriate, and Franken, appropriately, apologized.

[Blues Heron]

31. Not forced to resign bad though

[Tarc]

33. I'm sorry, what?

Not forced to resign bad though

Is not a sentence that can be parsed.

[HuskyOffset]

57. I parsed it.

could be reworded thusly:

While the photograph was bad, it wasn't so bad that Franken should have been forced to resign.

or:

Not forced-to-resign bad though.

[pangaia]

77. I got your meaning from the get go. :)))

[Kurt V.]

61. +1

[wasupaloopa]

74. Describe what happened. And do it from personal knowledge of having been there.

Just maybe you are wrong and should have given Franken the presumption of innocence. Maybe we should of had an investigation.

[pangaia]

76. I did my research long before I posted.

It was NOT inappropriate, at least not in the way you seem to think it was.. It wasn't even HIS idea.

And his apology.. be very careful about making judgments about what people say or do if you ever go to Japan.

[Tarc]

102. "It was NOT inappropriate"

If the victim felt it was inappropriate, then yes, it was. Re-read Franken's resignation letter, as you are very pathetically not grokking the meaning.

[infinite_wisdom]

15. He was posing for that picture...

and he never actually grabbed her.

There are also photos of her grabbing Franken's butt on that tour, all in jest.

These things were not smart of Al Franken, but do not come within 1,000,000 light years of rising to the level of resignation.

What happened here is clear as day. Stone & Co exploited the beginning of the Me Too movement and managed to force out America's most aggressive Anti-Trump Senator. They did this by using a rabid Trump supporter with a few nothing-burger photos as a false accuser.

Huge mistake by the D's to not stop and examine what has happening here, choosing to go with the knee jerk reaction.

You can bet your life that if Franken was a Republican, he would have never resigned and every single Republican congressman along with Fox News, et al would have risen up in support of him.

[pangaia]

43. THANK YOU for taking the time-- I never have the patience..

[Jakes Progress]

70. Patience won't be rewarded here.

There are a one or two posters who haunt DU just to attack any post that decries what happened to Al. It's almost as if it was in their job description. It doesn't help their cause that they are so obvious. Most everybody on DU knows what happened and knows that KG and the others fouled up. But in true political posture, they can never acknowledge how they were gulled or that they ever screwed over a fellow Democrat. If any of those brave politicians had come on DU (really come on and not just sent a troll) to say what they said about another Democrat, they would have been deleted.

I personally would have a lot of respect for one who admitted being used by the republican machine and apologized to Al. I'm not holding my breath though.

[pangaia]

75. Thanks for the 'support.'

Sometimes I am not sure of what I think.

Or how much I know about a situation.
This time I was pretty damn sure..

[Charlotte Little]

91. These things were not smart of Al Franken

Forgive me if I seem insensitive to the #Metoo movement (I'm a me too, by the way, so...), but this had ZERO to do with being smart.

At the time the photo was taken, Franken was a comedian hired for a very raunchy tour. ALL of them participated in these high jinks. Tweeden herself was grabbing military men's butts and humping them, kissing them without asking, etc. on stage.

Franken should not have resigned and I am very angry about what his colleagues did to him, most of all Gillibrand. She will NEVER get my support and I truly hope she is not the front-runner. While I'd vote for a raccoon's ass for POTUS over Trump and that means voting for Gillibrand while holding my nose if I have to, I will never support her by way of dollars or phone-banking, etc.

The entire incident and the other women who came forward (one stating that Franken squeezed her waist twice - gasp!) stunk to high heaven. Total hit job. And realizing that does not make us DU members who defend Franken creeps. We're just not purists and we don't eat our own.

[Power 2 the People]

95. Very true. Just look at the examples of Donald Trump,Duncan Hunter and David Vitter

When you are a Republican you'll be supported by the machine and your fellow colleagues no matter what you do. When Al needed our leaders to stick with him they stuck a knife in his back. I love Bernie,Elizabeth Warren,Maize Hirono and Sherrod Brown but none of them should feel anything but shame for not giving Al the courtesy of due process.

I hope some details on the Franken set-up come to light. If the general public sees that it was a planned hit-job maybe Al can use it as a springboard to make a comeback.

[BlancheSplanchnik]

96. This!

Succinct!

[magicarpet]

27. Get real,.. those USO shows are wrapped in,...

..... tom foolery laced with sexual inuendo to excite and entertain the young horny military men lonely and often their first time away from home.

Good Lord look at her on stage personna,.. rubbing,.. squeezing,.. pinching,.. grabbing on stage male butt to spice up the show.

One minute I'm a slut the next minute I'm a prude.

What really occurred with Albert Franken was high drama,.. contrived media dump exposure,... RAT FUCKING conspiracy by Fascist Rethug political operatives.

Franken trashed Jefferson Beauregard Sessions when he tripped himself up telling lies upon lies during Senate oversight hearings.

The Nazi Republican Party operative were going come hell or high water make Franken pay for having been so bold as to question the integrity of a Fascist Racist Southern gentleman.

Some people can not get it through their thick heads,.. smear artists like Hannity,.. Stone,.. O'Keefe of Project Veritas fame,... and Burkman/Whol of Surefire Intelllgence Agency fame all in the gutter and down into the raw sewage ilk.

Nazi political operatives are out there scheming and dreaming up their next kill.

RAT FUCKING...
DemocRAT FUCKING

GET IT !

They are out to fuck up and trip up DemocRATs each and every,.. anyway they can conjure up.

Don't fall for this Nazi bullshit. Don't be a receptive audience for this high stakes political opponent back stabbing again and again.

[Tarc]

32. Stop frothing, please, it comes across as pretty absurd

I do not disagree that the woman n question is a Hannity-funded stooge. But the event still happened.

Franken still admitted guilt, and apologized.

If you're to have a shred of credibility on sexual misconduct allegations, you can't pooh-pooh them when it happens to [people you like.

[Lucinda]

40. Nonsense.

https://www.cnn.com/2017/11/16/politics/al-franken-apology/index.html

"Coming from the world of comedy, I've told and written a lot of jokes that I once thought were funny but later came to realize were just plain offensive. But the intentions behind my actions aren't the point at all. It's the impact these jokes had on others that matters. And I'm sorry it's taken me so long to come to terms with that.

"While I don't remember the rehearsal for the skit as Leeann does, I understand why we need to listen to and believe women's experiences.

"I am asking that an ethics investigation be undertaken, and I will gladly cooperate.

"And the truth is, what people think of me in light of this is far less important than what people think of women who continue to come forward to tell their stories. They deserve to be heard, and believed. And they deserve to know that I am their ally and supporter. I have let them down and am committed to making it up to them."

He never said he was guilty of sexually inappropriate behavior. He said he was guilty of mugging for the camera and understood that his actions were unacceptable. Two entirely different things.

[renate]

42. What a humble, honest, and decent response

I miss him so much. He really is such a good guy.

[Tarc]

47. Distinction without a difference

He took responsibility, and resigned so as to not give the right-wingnuts ammo in the 2018 elections.

Franken has more character than the scores of apologists around here covering for him, that's for damn sure.

[Trumpocalypse]

45. Why does everyone forget that there were 7 other women

who accused Franken. It wasn't just Tweeden. If it was just Tweeden Franken would still be in the Senate. It was the allegations of the other women, including an Army veteran, that did him in.

http://time.com/5042931/al-franken-accusers/

[kcr]

66. They don't forget. They just don't clutch their pearls over waist touching n/t

[Leith]

34. I was about to post the same thing

but you said it better and more complete.

rethugs have been smearing and ratfucking for decades. Luckily for us, they have proven that they crumble like saltines when faced with bluster in their faces. That's what Democrats will have to do - go on TV (NOT just in Congressional speeches) and give their shit right back to them. The only difference is that our side has the truth, not rumors and innuendo.

[pangaia]

44. THANK YOU for having the patience and taking the time...

I rarely do..

[Autumn]

29. She grabbed Al's and other soldiers butts and was grinding against them on that USO tour.

Last edited Fri Feb 1, 2019, 11:33 AM - Edit history (1)

Hand to skin, not from a few feet away. Too bad none of them complained so she could have the privilege of taking responsibility. Or maybe if Roger Stone and the Pukes wanted her out of the picture we would still have one of the best Senators we have had.

[lark]

37. it's more shameful to promote rw lies.

The photo was touched up, there were people there and they all came out and said he didn't touch her like the photo seems to show. The photographer was a woman and one of those standing up for Franken. Tweeden got a $100,000 check from Stone just prior to releasing her story and coordinated the whole thing with him. This was staged by Stone and Hannity to take away the most fierce and by far the most effective Dem questioner nad I am not in a forgiving mood.

[olegramps]

51. It appears to have been a rather mild and stupid at best. Stuff I and many all guilty of.

The person involved never made a complaint that I know of for years. The Republicans drummed this up and the Democrats caved in. It was something that he did that was stupid but not of the same category as sexual assault the Republicans totally ignored in the case their glorious leader.

[Tarc]

103. "Stuff I and many all guilty of", eh?

So, just like "that's just locker room stuff", and "boys will be boys".

I wonder which politician we've heard raise that defense of his actions lately...

[olegramps]

105. I think that they were horseing around and it was uncalled for and not excuseable.

Does it warrant his removal from office? This was a group of entertainers who have done worse on stage. No, I am not making excuses for his actions, but I still contend that it did not constitute sexual abuse of which the Republicans totally ignored in Trumps case.

[oasis]

10. Lock his dizzy ass up.

[James48]

11. Al Franken for President

He could even run as a Republican. He would win against Trump in the primaries, since no one else will run against Trump.

Wouldn’t that be a hoot?

Al is a great guy!

[donkeypoofed]

14. If Al hadn't been joking about a boob-grab this would never have happened

Never mind Gillibrand and Stone - as much as I luv Al, he blew it, pure & simple. I wish he'd never done it but he did and there's no use still cryin' about it. I wish him well and wish for him that no one ever tries to grab his breasts, jokingly or otherwise.

[quickesst]

17. If Al Franken...

.....was "trying" to grab tweeden's breast, there must have been a mysterious, otherworldly force that prevented him from reaching his goal. Or the other obvious explanation is that he was making a gesture, not as a politician, but as a comedian, and in jest, exactly like Tweeden grabbing Al franken's butt. (That mysterious, otherworldly force is obviously not effective all the time.) If tweeden had gone into politics and eventually became a senator, would that picture ever come back to haunt her, and force her to resign? Of course not. Why not? Because she was an entertainer at the time, and a woman. Anti Franken logic is not very........ logical.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

22. Had the otherworldly force been overcome, Franken might have come in contact with ...

... a flak jacket, bulletproof vest, whatever. So, he mugged for a photo of his hand near a bit of military gear. Shocking.

[quickesst]

25. I know

The anti Franken rhetoric is just becoming sillier and sillier as time goes by.

[Tarc]

35. I agree with this, it is a shame most here do not take the same matter-of-fact approach

[yaesu]

16. he used the same "rat fucking" dirty tricks on NY Attorney General also

stone is a snake.

[philly_bob]

41. I didn't know Stone was behind Eliot Spitzer scandal.

Do you have any more info or link?

Was that the National Enquirer operation?

Spitzer was a brilliant and eloquent opponent of corporate misuse of power.

[wishstar]

56. This Atlantic article probably has the most accurate reporting on Stone/Spitzer

https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2010/10/meet-the-leader-of-eliot-spitzers-smear-campaign/64361/

"Mysteriously, before anyone could even imagine Spitzer's spectacular fall, Stone was predicting it in cryptic emails and telegrams. "Eliot's going down," he told Rich Baum, the secretary to then Gov. Spitzer, in an email. While there is no doubt that Spitzer provided the weapon and the ammunition for his own political demise, did Stone play the role of the hit man? "

Apparently, some of the details of Stone's involvement in Spitzer's fall are still murky, just like the current Stone/Wikileaks matter.

[yaesu]

78. Thanks for posting nt

[Tarc]

48. You mean the attorney general who slapped and beat several women?

Yea, you're not exactly drawing up a winning argument by making a comparison of this case to that slimeball, chief.

[kcr]

67. Nope. Don't think they meant that, but

How interesting that you just jumped to that conclusion.

[Tarc]

104. The user meant exactly that

But you keep his company if you like, if that's your thing, bro.

[Kablooie]

18. Just what I thought at the time.

It was a right wing hit job.
I didn't expect Stone to be the hitman but I remember wondering why they didn't investigate the charges before demanding he step down.
We know they do that kind of thing so why do our representatives fall into their traps so easily?

[Raine]

20. If so then Gillibrand and some of the other Democrats

fell for it and allowed themselves to be used and for me they aren't presidential material.

[Doremus]

55. Yep

It appears as though her ambition overcame her good sense.

Nope.

[Jakes Progress]

65. Ambition or just gullibility.

Neither is a good thing when it comes to wanting a leader with good judgement.

[Scruffy1]

21. It had Stone written all over it.

The one that really showed his hand was the woman who claimed he grabbed her butt during a photo op at the State Fair. She had moved to Texas (IIRC) and came up with the story months later. When she said she didn't remember who she voted for I knew she was a ringer. Nobody but maybe those with brain damage (like me) forgets who they voted for. I would also assume that the whole media circus was orchestrated by Stone and possibly the DU hack on election night. This is what Stone does. This is why he got rich representing third world dictators. He is very good at manipulating the media and changing the dialogue. Even a specious story like the Franken one makes the headlines and fuels the fire.

[hurple]

64. My favorite

Was the lady who was incensed that he put his arm AROUND HER WAIST during a photo-op, she wouldn't even let her husband do that... she said.

[watoos]

26. Gee, maybe if Franken had the chance to defend himself,

we could have heard the story from the camera man who shot the pic.

No one is saying that what Franken did was appropriate but for crimminey sakes it doesn't require that he resign.

Corsi was probably in on it too.

The Republicans have quite the line up, Stone, Rove, Corsi, O'Keefe, Luntz, Jones, whose job is to bring down influential Democrats. They are very good at their job.

[Polly Hennessey]

28. Gillibrand will never get my vote.

I doubt (with certainty) she will be the Democratic nominee for president. I was not impressed with her before Franken.

[USALiberal]

36. I agree! Nt

[sarcasmo]

82. +1

[Separation]

38. The Palmer Report. .

Ill admit reading his articles is like catching up on the last episode of Batboy

[progressoid]

87. Indeed. n/t

[hughee99]

39. I hate to say this, but Franken RESIGNED because of

Pressure coming from his own party. The idea that anyone would be criminally charged with this is idiotic.

[apnu]

46. Everybody here is essentially correct on Franken

Was he Ratfucked by the Republicans? Yes.

Did Franken have a number of accusers? Yes.

Did the Republicans make hay out of this because they knew the Dems could be trusted to do the right thing and remove Franken? Yes.

Did the Democrats do the right thing and clean house with Franken? Yes.

Will the Republicans do the same for anybody in their own party? No.

Will they toss Trump because of his accusers? No.

[erronis]

85. "Did the Democrats do the right thing and clean house with Franken?" You say Yes,

I say NO.

Based on your points, anytime someone is ratfucked by repuglicons, have some number of accusers, and repugs made hay, then whoever falls into this description should be ousted. Oh, and only if they are Democrats.

No more due process, no more innocent until proven guilty, no more being able to defend ones self and asking for clear evidence.

If we accept these premises we may as well just roll over and let them ratfuck us again and again.

[samnsara]

52. al should un again as something...

[underpants]

58. I thought we already knew that

[still_one]

59. Everything was fine until you mentioned Tom Arnold and the Palmer report. Get better sources then

these nut cases please

[delisen]

60. Whatever happened to LeeAnn Tweeden? Seriously

[NewJeffCT]

72. Tweeden was the first

Franken apologized and she accepted his apology. That would have ended it all - however, there were seven more women that came forward to allege that Franken had groped them, including at least two that were Democrats.

[oberliner]

79. The Palmer Report is literally a guy in his basement

[Blue Owl]

80. The Rosy Palmer Report

n/t

[no_hypocrisy]

81. Roger Stone makes Lee Atwater look like a baby in a stroller.

Not only did he set up Franken to resign by pressure from his own party, but Stone effectively neutralized one of the strongest democratic voices in Congress.

I wouldn't be surprised if it was discovered that Stone also was behind Anthony Wiener's outing.

[erronis]

86. Cute phrase: "Anthony Wiener's outing" I think his thing outed him all by itself.

And I'm glad to see him and his thing exited stage left.

But the repug operatives have been very good at capitalizing on pecadillos, some real, some manufactured, and some virtual. This distinction doesn't matter much to the RW riff-raff.

[Honeycombe8]

84. It was obvious it was a manipulated ouster by the Repubs. Many of us warned of that.

But some naive people jumped on the bandwagon, either legitimately believing things in a most negative light to Franken, or using it to get rid of a possible competitor. I can't read people's minds to know which. But I DO know that either position makes someone not likely to be a good President. That is a different issue from whether I would vote for one of them, if I had to. I'm not worried about Gillibrand; she won't make it, IMO. Or some of the others, whose names I can't even remember.

Who fell for the manipulative trick? There's a list with about 33 Democratic names on it. Gillibrand became the face of the movement to support the oust-Franken movement, started by Republican Stone friend Tweedon.

[Vinca]

88. I'll bet you anything that woman has an autographed copy of the photo in her home.

That was beyond stupid. He's a comedian. That was clearly comedy. Crocodile tears.

[Initech]

99. Can't wait to see that fucking asshole take the perp walk to Supermax.