WEBVTT - Stone Faces Judge After Posting Her Image With Crosshairs

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to the Bloomberg Law Podcast. I'm June Grosso. Every

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<v Speaker 1>day we bring you insight and analysis into the most

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<v Speaker 1>important legal news of the day. You can find more

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<v Speaker 1>episodes of the Bloomberg Law Podcast on Apple Podcasts, SoundCloud,

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<v Speaker 1>and on Bloomberg dot com slash podcasts. Roger Stone will

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<v Speaker 1>tell a judge he's sorry this afternoon, but she may

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<v Speaker 1>revoke his bond and send him to jail anyway. Stone,

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<v Speaker 1>sometime adviser to President Trump, posted a photo of federal

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<v Speaker 1>Judge any Berman Jackson on his Instagram account with an

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<v Speaker 1>image of what appeared to be the crosshairs of a

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<v Speaker 1>rifle site behind her head. This from a man who's

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<v Speaker 1>been warned by that very judge about media antics joining

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<v Speaker 1>me as Brad Moss, a partner, Mark said, Brat, this

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<v Speaker 1>post strikes me not only as utter folly on Stone's part,

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<v Speaker 1>but could be interpreted as threatening the judge. Correct yet,

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<v Speaker 1>and I can almost guarantee you that the moment his

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<v Speaker 1>lawyers learned of what had been posted, they were probably

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<v Speaker 1>on the phone screaming at him for it. This is

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<v Speaker 1>something you just don't do. I mean, look, Roger Stone

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<v Speaker 1>has been playing dirty political tricks and using the full

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<v Speaker 1>extent of the First Amendment since the sixties. This is

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<v Speaker 1>who he is. It's who has always been. He's the

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<v Speaker 1>ultimate dirty tricks there. He propagates conspiracy theories and he

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<v Speaker 1>makes a vile commentary. The difference here is now he

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<v Speaker 1>did it to a federal judge. The game is different.

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<v Speaker 1>He didn't recognize that he possibly crossed the line into

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<v Speaker 1>threatening the federal judge, which, as you noted, is a

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<v Speaker 1>federal crime. And he's the least going to get taken

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<v Speaker 1>out to the woodshed today. It's not quite clear how

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<v Speaker 1>much of a sanction or punishment he'll get. I don't

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<v Speaker 1>think he's going to jail today, but I think it's

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<v Speaker 1>more than likely he's going to get a full and

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<v Speaker 1>complete gag order as opposed to what was previously opposed. Well,

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<v Speaker 1>Judge Jackson is the same judge who revoked Paul Manafort's

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<v Speaker 1>bail and sent him to jail pending trial. Why wouldn't

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<v Speaker 1>you do it here? The one difference there with mana

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<v Speaker 1>Fort was that was kind of the last straw there,

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<v Speaker 1>and in that case it involved actually trying to tamper

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<v Speaker 1>with witnesses. It was a little in my opinion, was

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<v Speaker 1>a little bit further along in the process and a

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<v Speaker 1>little bit more severe than just a really stupid and

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<v Speaker 1>childish post on Instagram. Could Judge Jackson try to make

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<v Speaker 1>a point here and throw Rocher Stone in jail today, Yes,

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<v Speaker 1>But I think she's also going to try to run

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<v Speaker 1>this one completely by the books, to try to avoid

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<v Speaker 1>any appearance of impropriety, any appearance of bias, anything that

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<v Speaker 1>could get reversed on technical grounds on appeal. You also

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<v Speaker 1>have to wonder, it seems you don't have to be

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<v Speaker 1>a lawyer to know that you want the judge that

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<v Speaker 1>is going to try you to like you, or at

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<v Speaker 1>least not to dislikely like you. And he in the post,

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<v Speaker 1>he also called her an Obama appointed judge and the

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<v Speaker 1>hashtag was fixes in I just look at this. This

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<v Speaker 1>is right the promise. Roger Stone is a man in

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<v Speaker 1>his late sixties. He's been doing this for decades. This

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<v Speaker 1>is what has come second nature to him. This is

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<v Speaker 1>what you do. You smear and discredit the person investigating you.

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<v Speaker 1>You call them names, you try to arise issues of

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<v Speaker 1>political bias. The problem is he's never done it in

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<v Speaker 1>the context of a criminal investigation, where he's been indicted

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<v Speaker 1>he had. He didn't recognize that the circumstances have changed,

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<v Speaker 1>the game was different, and he caught himself in a

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<v Speaker 1>vice here, and he is going to get in some

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<v Speaker 1>manner of trouble. How much depends on whether or not

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<v Speaker 1>the judge truly finds him credible and authentic in whatever

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<v Speaker 1>kind of apology I'm sure he's going to try to

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<v Speaker 1>make today. Roger Stone is a great actor. I don't

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<v Speaker 1>know if he can pull this one off. We shall see.

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<v Speaker 1>Let's turn now to the Muller Report, because there are

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<v Speaker 1>reports that Mueller is going to submit his report to A. G.

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<v Speaker 1>William Barr as early as next week. We've often said

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<v Speaker 1>that Mueller speaks through his indictments. So is it possible

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<v Speaker 1>that there won't be any blockbuster information in the report

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<v Speaker 1>that the public doesn't already know. It's certainly plausible, though

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<v Speaker 1>I have a feeling I'm certainly expecting that there's going

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<v Speaker 1>to be some politically damaging, though not necessarily criminally damaging

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<v Speaker 1>information that shows up in this final report. I think

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<v Speaker 1>a lot of what Robert Muller viewed his task as

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<v Speaker 1>being was not so much to be the all encompassing

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<v Speaker 1>special prosecutor who runs the entire thing forever and investigates

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<v Speaker 1>and prosecutes everybody till the end of time. I think

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<v Speaker 1>he went in there to find out the truth, outline

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<v Speaker 1>it in the report, prosecute cases were needed in the interim,

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<v Speaker 1>and then let the Attorney General and the rest of

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<v Speaker 1>the Justice Department decide where to go from there. If

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<v Speaker 1>he's got something on the president, I think it's going

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<v Speaker 1>to be outlined there in the final report. I'm pretty

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<v Speaker 1>sure it's not going to be a good day for

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<v Speaker 1>the Trump boy House when this report, or at least

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<v Speaker 1>some details of it, come out. I don't know if

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<v Speaker 1>it's going to be the bombshell, impeachment worthy report some

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<v Speaker 1>people were expecting all along. So ken Trump's family and

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<v Speaker 1>former aids now breathe a sigh of relief that they

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<v Speaker 1>won't be indicted. It depends on what's in this report

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<v Speaker 1>and whether or not there were steps that could still

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<v Speaker 1>be taken that Robert Mueller just decided it wasn't necessary

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<v Speaker 1>for him to take because it wasn't going to further

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<v Speaker 1>his investigative inquiry. So it could be that he outlines

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<v Speaker 1>where there could be possible indictments of people like Donald

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<v Speaker 1>Trump Jr. Or Jared Kushner for false statements to Congress,

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<v Speaker 1>things along those lines, But that Robert Mueller decided it's

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<v Speaker 1>not necessary for me to do that at this point

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<v Speaker 1>in the further end of my investigative equity. I'll hand

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<v Speaker 1>that off the to the rest of the Department of

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<v Speaker 1>Justice if they want to do so. That's at their

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<v Speaker 1>discretion at this point to be that. So I'm not

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<v Speaker 1>breathing any size of relief. So it's up to the

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<v Speaker 1>discretion you mentioned of the Department of Justice, more likely

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<v Speaker 1>the discretion of the A. G. William Barr. How likely

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<v Speaker 1>would he be to pursue that and how likely to

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<v Speaker 1>even let the public know something about the other individuals

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<v Speaker 1>who might be involved here or would he protect their privacy. Well,

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<v Speaker 1>I think there's gonna be a lot of pressure for

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<v Speaker 1>as much of this report, or at least the detailed

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<v Speaker 1>summary of it, to be made public, and it's gonna

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<v Speaker 1>be someone and this is just my view, a bipartisan

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<v Speaker 1>push to get it because both sides have an interest

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<v Speaker 1>in disclosure here just as much as you know, Democrats

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<v Speaker 1>and liberals will want as much of it out because

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<v Speaker 1>they think it will be damaging to the Trump White House.

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<v Speaker 1>There's a lot of Republicans who want these details out

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<v Speaker 1>because they think it will exonerate him, that'll lift some

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<v Speaker 1>of the cloud off the president. And if it's kind

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<v Speaker 1>of hushed up and covered up and just a small detail,

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<v Speaker 1>you know, report given to Congress that doesn't explain a

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<v Speaker 1>lot of things, they worry that the conspiracies will never

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<v Speaker 1>truly dissipate. So I have a feeling we're gonna learn

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<v Speaker 1>a lot. I don't think we'll ever learned everything, but

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<v Speaker 1>I think we're gonna learn a lot of details about

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<v Speaker 1>people in the Trump circle, including the President himself. Which

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<v Speaker 1>do you think is the more likely route, Congressional subpoena

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<v Speaker 1>or a subpoena actual subpoena of the report or a

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<v Speaker 1>subpoena of Robert Muller. I think there's going to be

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<v Speaker 1>a fight over the report first. I don't think they

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<v Speaker 1>want to go the route of trying to drag Robert

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<v Speaker 1>Muller before Congress, if only because that will start a

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<v Speaker 1>legal war between the Justice Department and Congress over having

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<v Speaker 1>him testify as a post too simply disclosing the report itself. UM,

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<v Speaker 1>I don't know if the kind of kind of a

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<v Speaker 1>last option for members of Congress to take. I think

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<v Speaker 1>the report itself will speak to whatever Robert Mueller needs,

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<v Speaker 1>unless there was some controversy, unless there's an aspect where

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<v Speaker 1>Robert Mueller was stopped or you know, prevented from pursuing

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<v Speaker 1>an investigative line of inquiry. I think the report will

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<v Speaker 1>do just what the indictments day, which they'll speak and

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<v Speaker 1>explain everything Robert Muller could say. Thanks so much, Brad.

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<v Speaker 1>That's Brad Mask. Thanks for listening to the Bloomberg Law podcast.

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<v Speaker 1>You can subscribe and listen to the show on Apple podcast, SoundCloud,

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<v Speaker 1>and on Bloomberg dot com slash podcast. I'm June Brasso.

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<v Speaker 1>This is Bloomberg m