RUSH: I want you to hear… We’ll start with No. 2. These are the Drive-Bys breathless today — a montage from ABC, CBS, and NBC — as they open their shows when they discovered that the storm troopers had invaded the home of Roger Stone in Ft. Lauderdale with, like, 19 SUVs and 29 agents.
GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: (dramatic music) Good morning, America! Breaking news as we come on the air! President Trump’s longtime adviser Roger Stone charged in the Russia investigation.
JOHN DICKERSON: (bouncy music) Welcome to CBS This Morning! Breaking news! The FBI arrests former Trump campaign adviser Roger Stone at the break of dawn!
SAVANNAH GUTHRIE: (bouncy music) Good morning! Breaking news! President Trump’s former adviser Roger Stone arrested in Florida, indicted by Special Counsel Robert Mueller, accused of witness tampering, obstruction of justice, and making false statements! So what does it mean for the investigation and the president?
RUSH: See, that’s what it’s about. “Are we gonna get Trump? Do we get Trump? Oh, wow! We’re gonna get Trump today! We’re gonna get Trump today! Oh, wow!” They can’t contain themselves — and, of course, the indictment accused him of witness tampering, obstruction of justice, making false statements. All after the investigation began, with no evidence in the indictment of any collusion whatsoever. In fact, there’s exonerating evidence even in the indictment about collusion because it accuses Stone… Some of the illegal, quote-unquote, “stuff” Stone did was trying to find out what WikiLeaks had.
Oh-ho-ho, yeah. That’s really criminal! Well, if there were any Trump-Russia collusion there wouldn’t be any curiosity about what WikiLeaks had because Trump and Russia would have been responsible for what WikiLeaks had so they wouldn’t have any reason to ask. They would know! Is that clear? Does that…? (sigh) So much of this stuff is so abundantly clear that there is not a national outrage over this, I don’t understand. The American people… Why there is not a national outrage over this entire investigation, I will not understand.
It has to be that most people don’t know it. It’s the only reason, that most people have no idea what has really happened here. (sigh) So it’s beyond my ability here to categorize how audacious, how bad, how outrageous, how damaging, how harmful, how destructive this is to our country, to our system of justice. I mean, it is clearly the criminalization of political opponents. It is basically turning what people in politics do, criminal. It’s reducing it to crime if they are your opponents.
It’s no more complicated than that, really. So Stone’s accused of lying and misleading people as he was trying to find out what WikiLeaks had. But again, if Trump had been colluding with Russia and Russia had been colluding with Trump, they would have given WikiLeaks whatever WikiLeaks had. Therefore, they would know what WikiLeaks had. So there would be no reason for anybody in the Trump campaign to find out what WikiLeaks had, and all of that’s in the indictment. Here is John Berman.
CNN had (somehow) exclusive video of the raid at Stone’s house, and CNN’s saying, “Hey, we’re just good journalists here. You know, we were minding our own business over at the grand jury, and we noticed a whole lot of ‘unusual activity,’ and so that told us we gotta stake out Stone’s house.” How stupid do they think we are? Obviously, the special counsel’s office tipped ’em off because the special counsel’s office wanted the video!
They didn’t get video storming Manafort. They learned their lesson. Now they want video as they storm in to Stone’s house because, as a previous caller said, the video of all these agents — under cover of darkness! Why do you go in there at 6 o’clock? To make sure this disgustingly vile criminal can’t sneak out and escape. You go in there when he’s asleep! So the pictures, the video is designed to prove the legitimacy of the investigation.
Because people will conclude, “My God, this guy must be bad! They really must have the goods on this guy to go this length. They must be really afraid this guy’s gonna hop a plane to Venezuela if we don’t capture him while he’s asleep,” and that’s what the media is out then helping people to understand. Here’s CNN talking about the breaking news or the arrest of Roger Stone…
BERMAN: We do have breaking news — perhaps MAJOR breaking news — in the Russia investigation. The FBI has arrested political activist, Trump associate and friend Roger Stone. CNN’s camera was there as it happened. Watch this…
AGENT: (pounding on door) FBI! Open the door! (pounding on door) FBI! Warrant!
RUSH: Did you hear that? Banging on the door: “Open the door! FBI! Open the door! FBI! Warrant!” Stone’s in there sawing Z’s. His dog and his wife are in there. He’s sound asleep just like Manafort was when they raided his house at 6 a.m. This is just… Stone said, “Hey, I would have surrendered.” He’s already out on bond, $250,000. He’s already out of jail! He’s already out on jail, hour and a half ago. (By the way, the Trump announcement has been moved to 1:30, 15 or so minutes from now.)
But did you notice the way CNN reported it? “Perhaps major breaking news in the Russia investigation!” There is no Russia investigation! I mean, in truth! In truth, the investigators know! This is also readily identifiable in the indictment of Stone today. They knew there is no collusion with Russia! They’ve known it for over a year! You know, you want to talk about lying? How about the lies they told to the FISA court about the Steele dossier?
They want to get all these Trump guys for lying in process crimes, lying to investigators. How about the FBI, Rosenstein, Comey and all the rest of them lying to the FISA court as each of these FISA warrants to spy on the Trump campaign were renewed? Those are lies too. But of course, none of that is being investigated. Here’s the breathless CNN Alisyn Camerota asking the “crime and justice producer,” who just happened to note all of the activity at the grand jury, why he was even on the scene although Stone’s house.
ALISYN CAMEROTA: What’s so fascinating is that we’ve talked to his attorney. The attorney didn’t know this was coming! Clearly, Roger Stone didn’t know this was coming. You were staked out at his house! You didn’t know that this was coming! Why were you there in position?
DAVID SHORTELL: (outdoor noise) Alisyn, it’s… it’s a reporter’s instinct. The whole Russia team thought maybe something was happening. There was some unusual grand jury activity in Washington, D.C., yesterday. Robert Mueller’s grand jury typically meets on Fridays. Yesterday, a Thursday, there was grand jury activity. We also had some other signs that maybe something was going on this angle, the Roger Stone angle. (FBI pounding on Stone’s door) So we showed up at his house this morning. We were the only ones there and, lo and behold, the FBI agents did come and arrest him.
RUSH: Imagine that! Lo and behold. Yeah. Something was happening Thursday that normally happens Friday, so we’re the only ones that showed up. And then when the FBI shows up they didn’t kick the media out. They welcomed ’em. I wonder if they had a box of doughnuts and coffee for ’em? Do you think the FBI had doughnuts and coffee for CNN — or was it the other way around? Did CNN bring coffee and doughnuts for the FBI?
(impression) “Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. We showed up and we were the only ones there! The FBI agents say they came and arrested him — and, yeah, it was really cool, Alisyn.” The Russia investigation. “Big news in the Russia investigation!” This isn’t a Russia investigation and hasn’t been for over a year. Now, later on CNN they calmed down just a little bit. John Berman (this is later) was talking to the author Garrett Graff about the arrest of Roger Stone. Berman says, “So what are your thoughts now on all of this?”
GRAFF: What’s hard to know at this exact moment is whether this is all that Mueller has on Roger Stone or is this the beginning. Because it is notably an indictment that’s focused only on really the false statements and that obstruction, and it doesn’t get into some of those charges that we would expect to see like conspiracy against the United States or campaign finance violations that could point to sort of those larger questions of collusion. So the question is, “Is that still to come?”
RUSH: Let me translate. So this guy, Garrett Graff, looked at the indictment, “Well, where’s the Russia stuff in this? Where’s the collusion stuff in this? Where is all the working with Russia to steal the election? Where’s that stuff in this?” Well, it’s not in there, and if this guy had his wits about him when he read the indictment, he would find out it isn’t gonna be in there because the indictment pretty much acknowledges that there wasn’t any collusion. Now CNN legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin, who is very much aware what I just told you. This is his spin on that…
TOOBIN: Yes, actually. I think people will say this is yet another — this is a term I just heard — “process crime.” That it is lying to Mueller, but it is not the underlying offense of colluding with Russia. Now, you’re not in great shape if you are parsing the kinds of crimes with which people in your campaign are charged with. But, you know, I do think it is true that this is all under the rubric of obstruction rather than the underlying substantive crime. But what he’s lying about may be underlying crime.
RUSH: Hey, Jeffrey, you’ve never heard of process crime? You’re the legal analyst at CNN, and you have never heard the term “process crime”? I don’t believe that. I think you’re saying that simply as a means of deflecting its relevance and importance, ’cause I can’t believe… That term has been used on your own network. That term’s been used since Martha Stewart. Everybody knows what a process crime is, and you are the chief legal analyst for CNN! “[T]his is a term I just heard — process crime. That it is lying to Mueller but it’s not the underlying offense of colluding with Russia.”
And then after some gobbledygook he says, “I do think it is true that this is all under the rubric of obstruction rather than the underlying substantive crime,” meaning collusion. There isn’t any! Mueller knows there isn’t any. Rosenstein knows! Comey. All these people in charge of this investigation know that there was no collusion with Russia, but now the media? Folks, I can’t begin to tell you, because I think these people are so poisoned with hatred that they are capable of believing what they want to believe, just like they get triggered by a “Make America Great Again” hat.
They look at a 17-year-old white teenager, they see him wearing a red Trump hat and they will conclude racist, bigot, hatemonger, and they will acknowledge this kid needs to be destroyed just because of the cap that he’s wearing. So is it hard to believe that…? They’ve got all these sources they trust that have been leaking all this BS for two years that Trump colluded with Russia. So I don’t know. The idea that they are willing dupes in this is entirely possible to me. But it’s not… They wouldn’t just be willing dupes.
That would be participating — knowingly participating — willful dupes. Because I’m gonna tell you this. If they know — if Toobin, these, any of them. If they know that this is all bogus, if they know what you and I know, that there was no Russian collusion — if they know that — then they are every bit as guilty of participating in this hoax and perpetrating it as the investigators are. And about that, you know, I don’t care what the truth is. I would not have any trouble believing it. Either they’re idiots and dunces or they are very much aware what’s going on and engaging in it anyway.
BREAK TRANSCRIPT
RUSH: There’s one more thing sound bite. Grab sound bite seven here. I want you to hear Dan Abrams on Good Morning America today and his take on indictment of Roger Stone.
ABRAMS: Let’s also be clear — take one step back here — and say, “Still no evidence that President Trump was involved in this,” right, because talk about Trump campaign officials, et cetera. And No. 2, no indication yesterday that there was any direct contact with the Russians. This is about WikiLeaks. This is about what did WikiLeaks have, how did they get it, when are they gonna distribute it.
WOMAN: Right. Right.
RUSH: Right. Again, if there had been collusion, nobody on the Trump side would have needed to know what WikiLeaks had ’cause they would have known what WikiLeaks had since they would have had it because of Russians and Trump’s collusion, don’t you see? So we have some people with some semblance of common sense commenting on this. Nothing in there about Trump. Nothing in the document. Stone, by the way, the indictment actually is for lying to congressional committees.