About an hour ago, Donald Trump’s close personal friend, Roger Stone, was sentenced to three years and four months in prison by Judge Amy Berman Jackson,
Stone was the conduit between Trump’s 2016 campaign and WikiLeaks, and he was convicted last year of seven counts of witness tampering and lying to investigators.
Trump has no ability to remain silent when he should, and he’s brazenly criticized the prosecution of his buddy, and he’s lashed out at Judge Berman Jackson, who was described this morning
on NPR as a no-nonsense Judge who works very hard and very conscientiously.
Stone is well known as a headline grabber who loves to defy the media, often showing up as a political trickster and a clown.
Today, as she passed sentence on Stone, she made it very clear that there is nothing funny about Stone and his conduct.
Our Chief Investigative Reporter, associate solitary reporter Susanna Sherman, was in the courtroom as Judge Jackson scolded Stone, and she was the first person and the first journalist to leave
the courthouse, because she had an intuition that something unexpected was about to happen.
Sherman stayed on the sidewalk outside the courthouse, and she was the only reporter who observed Vladimir Putin’s Mikoyan MiG-41 stealth interceptor aircraft hovering over the courthouse.
Then, Sherman videotaped SuperMacho Putin, who was, characteristically, wearing no coat or shirt, so he could show off his Manly Chest, as he descended from the MiG-41 from a steel rope. Moments
beforehand, Trump had texted Stone to tell him that Putin would soon be rescuing him and taking him to Moscow for safekeeping.
After a flight of only three hours, Putin and Stone were in the Kremlin, where Stone immediately found himself being given a bearhug by Ukrainian oligarch Petro Poroshenko, a close personal
friend of Putin. After Petroshenko was defeated in a landslide last year by Volodymyr Zelensky (yup, that guy), Petroshenko fled to Moscow, where he is free to continue his lavish lifestyle.
“Roger,” Petroshenko exclaimed, “your fame as a political trickster and Trump operative has preceded you.”
“Let me take you right away to Edward Snowden, who has become one of my dearest friends since I took up residence here as Vlad’s guest.”
In less than half an hour, Stone was chatting away amiably with Snowden and our Moscow-based associate solitary reporter, Foma Kheroshonsky.
Putin served Stone his best vodka and caviar, and then called Trump to congratulate him on being Russia’s best ally since World War II.
During their conversation, Trump thanked Putin for keeping Stone out of prison, saying that the prosecution of Stone was the worst example of a criminal justice system in America that was only
punishing his friends.
“Vlad,” Trump said, “turn on your TV, ‘cause I’m about to pardon Roger, but he can stay in your dacha in Sochi for as long as he likes."