Republicans want answers on 'excessive show of force' in Roger Stone arrest

[jodymarie aimee]

Republicans want answers on ‘excessive show of force’ in Roger Stone arrest
GOP lawmakers also ask in letter to FBI Director Christopher Wray whether bureau tipped off media

Posted Jan 30, 2019 6:31 PM
Griffin Connolly

Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham sent a letter to FBI Director Christopher Wray asking why the bureau executed an armed, pre-dawn raid to arrest Roger Stone. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call/POOL file photo)

Republican lawmakers demanded answers on Wednesday from FBI Director Christopher Wray on the arrest of former Donald Trump campaign adviser Roger Stone last week.

In separate letters to FBI Director Christopher Wray, House Judiciary ranking member Doug Collins and Senate Judiciary Chairman Lindsey Graham expressed concern that the FBI agents who made the arrest, armed with M4 rifles, used an “excessive show of force” to arrest an “elderly man” with no history of violent crimes and who had made known that he would voluntarily surrender.

“Although I am sure these tactics would be standard procedure for the arrest of a violent offender, I have questions regarding their necessity in this case,” Graham wrote in his letter to Wray. “The American public has had enough of the media circus that surrounds the Special Counsel’s investigation. Yet, the manner of this arrest appears to have only added to the spectacle.”

Current and former federal law enforcement officials have speculated that the FBI arrested Stone in an armed pre-dawn raid because special counsel investigators led by Robert S. Mueller III might have believed that Stone would try to destroy evidence in his home.

Stone, in accord with his trademark political theatrics, compared the raid of his Florida home to the arrest of Mexican druglord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman and the Navy SEALS raid that killed Osama Bin Laden in Pakistan.

Graham and Collins also demanded that Wray produce documents detailing any communication between the FBI and CNN, or any other media outlet, alerting them beforehand of the arrest plans.

Conservative pundits and media organizations have suggested that someone at the FBI or on Mueller’s team tipped off the network, which caught the arrest on camera.

CNN has explained that it anticipated the raid through “good instincts, some key clues, more than a year of observing comings at the DC federal courthouse and the special counsel’s office — and a little luck on the timing.”

https://www.rollcall.com/news/congress/republicans-question-wray-over-excessive-show-of-force-in-roger-stone-arrest

[TheBlackAdder]

1. It's a shiny object to distract the base.

[GoCubsGo]

2. They want to know how to prepare for when their time comes.

Comrade Graham wants to be sure his azaleas aren't trampled when they come for him, apparently. Don't worry, Lindsay. Your magnolia tree will be safe.

[Soxfan58]

3. Lindsey is thinking

They will be nicer when they arrest him.

[Funtatlaguy]

6. Lindsey knows he would want advance warning to hide or flush items.

Use your own imagination to fill in any blanks as to what items.

[DeminPennswoods]

4. CNN noticed the GJ met on Thursday

not its usual Friday. They also knew that Thursday sessions usually resulted in Friday indictments. Stone had been saying that he expected to be indicted and it was known that Corsi and Credico had made recent appearances before the GJ. In fact, Corsi showed a draft indictment and plea agreement the special counsel had prepared against him. I'm sure CNN figured odds were better than 50-50 something might happen with Stone. Their journalistic instincts got them a scoop!

[dewsgirl]

18. This, and several outlets/twitter accounts were anticipating an arrest Thursday evening.

[C_U_L8R]

5. GOP crooks want special treatment.

Their phony protests are pathetic.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

7. Freddie Gray says hello.

No wait, he doesn’t.

[mucifer]

8. stone has lots of guns. FBI didn't want to get shot.

[Vinca]

9. They knocked on the door. It was on CNN.

Roger must have been expecting them because he immediately opened the door . . . and he had already shaved.

[Mc Mike]

10. Whiny repuglinazis, blubbering away.

[tanyev]

11. Corey Lewandowski has an answer for them.

[ProfessorPlum]

12. oh my god, boo fucking hoo. You've got to be shitting me

After all of this time, I'm still capable of being shocked by their hypocrisy, lack of a sense of fairness and balance, and out and out wussiness.

[ProfessorPlum]

13. Stone is always acting like he's a tough guy and a thug

they just treated him like they believed him. God, this makes me vomit.

[avebury]

14. In other words, the FBI was being mean to the old white guy and we can't have that. nt

[Aussie105]

15. Standard procedure.

FBI, armed, 6 am, kick the door in, stun grenades, warning shots, rough up the perps, look for drugs, etc.

Oh wait, they knocked on the door, and no one got roughed up? No warning shots, no stun grenades?
Damn polite of them, I'd say.

Nothing to complain about, really.

[dewsgirl]

19. They made his wife stand outside with no shoes on in S.Florida. The horror.

[Autumn]

21. His dog didn't even get shot, I don't see the problem either.

[themaguffin]

16. but not anything about what Stone did.

[unblock]

17. "Republicans want answers on 'excessive show of force' in white man's arrest"

Fixed it for you!

[tulipsandroses]

42. That's pretty much it

I am completely disgusted. They have not been concerned with black lives snuffed out by law enforcement.

[no_hypocrisy]

20. There was appropriate protocol according to the particular target.

Roger Stone was surprised and not given notice of being taken into custody.

Why:
1. Stone could have left the country and escaped prosecution with no trace.
2. Would authorities have wanted to arrest him if it meant having to go through The Proud Boys who Stone would have called to encircle his property? There would have been a riot and spin used to discredit Mueller.

[Bengus81]

22. Oh my...the poor wittle snowflakes

GASP.....Stone said it was like the Bin Laden raid!!

[kacekwl]

23. Apparently the "republicans" are now representing

Roger Stone. Can't he afford lawyers ?

[PeeJ52]

24. I think he's in on the legal defense team with tRump and Manafort and the other syndicate members...

[IronLionZion]

25. Plenty of black Americans would like their kids to still be alive too

but they won't get any real answers. Just some nonsense about how black skin looks like a dangerous weapon because most guns are black.

[DBoon]

38. Exactly

Roger Stone should be glad he is white.

The fact he is alive is proof he was treated with unusual respect by law enforcment

[mickswalkabout41]

26. Wait what?

Looked like a typical warrant raid on any given day for the rest of America. Why is stone different? Oh yeah. Rich, white, Republican. Maybe they should have called him and asked him to turn himself in, or sent a limo.

[HopeAgain]

27. Really?

This is what they are relegated to worrying about? How the Hell did we not win the Senate?

Edit: Or, I just thought of this - was there something in that house that Graham doesn't want the world to see?

[samnsara]

28. who's the snowflake now?

[malaise]

29. They're more interested in this than in the slaughter of innocent black men

by cops. I wonder why! Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!

[edbermac]

30. Yeah? Well Mueller wants answers from Trump.

Fuck off Lindsey.

[spanone]

31. i've seen stone on tv saying they used more men to raid him than Bin Laden.

yea, whatever rog.....you fucking criminal

[stopbush]

53. Typical R distraction tactic. Twist a truth to make it look like they're

being treated unfairly.

Different situations entirely. One does not equate to the other. It’s like complaing that it was unfair that you lost the two-man bobsled race because you weren’t allowed to have four men like the other race.

[Cryptoad]

32. The Bigot and Hate Monger should still,,,,

be in jail without bail.

[kentuck]

33. If they had raided 8-10 hours earlier...?

They may have caught all his "guests" that were gathered at his home?

[UpInArms]

34. What was he slammed to ground and shot and shot in the back in his own home?

What utter nonsense

[LakeSuperiorView]

35. The pinhead had become the mascot of the "Proud Boys", a hate group that advotcated violence.

The armed wake up call probably took that into account. If there is a group that publicly says they want to fight that adopts a bozo, and you have to arrest the bozo, you go prepared to fight. He gave up without a whimper, but better to have body armor that you don't need than to have need for body armor that you don't have.

Why are Republics complaining about FBI agents doing their job without pay?

[rainin]

36. They are so transparent. They are only worried about their time in the barrel.

[The Wizard]

37. They are all complicit

in covering for Russian efforts to destroy this nation. How many of them are up to their elbows in Russian bribe money hidden in off shore money laundries?

[democratisphere]

39. Lindsey Graham apparently has nothing better to do with his time.

Roger Stone doesn't look like he was injured but I'm sure Lindsey Graham will want to interview Roger's dogs.

[spanone]

40. always the victims.....

poor babies

[Chickensoup]

41. This is getting really ridicules. If the republicans really concerned

it should be about Trump meeting Putin many times without records, minutes of what was discussed or other U.S. officials attending while Putin always had records of meetings. It should be about insulting our intelligence directors knowledge while floating Putin,s views as Americas best course of action.
How could we tolerate this and for how long?

[ScratchCat]

43. What's missing here is

the fact that "Congress" doesn't have "oversight" over the daily operations of the FBI or DOJ. What I mean is, the FBI doesn't "answer to" or "owe an explanation to" Congress on any specific case. For instance, Congress can't make the FBI answer questions about an ongoing case regarding a serial killer or a bank robbery. This just isn't how Congress' oversight power works. the FBI makes the decision as to how they will arrest a person and isn't obligated by the Constitution to have "Congress" approve of it.

I wont even point out the hilarity of Graham pretending to speak for the American public regarding the Mueller investigation(which is all of a sudden a 'media circus' again).

[ck4829]

44. Let's see here...

[ck4829]

45. Ties with the extremist Proud Boys

http://www.rightwingwatch.org/post/trumps-last-man-standing-snarled-by-mueller-investigation-suspects-jerome-corsi-to-blame/

[ck4829]

46. Organized a riot that stopped government work

http://www.rightwingwatch.org/post/roger-stone-is-scheming-another-brooks-brothers-riot-in-florida/

[ck4829]

47. Maybe they're concerned for HIS safety? LOL

http://www.rightwingwatch.org/post/trump-ally-roger-stone-hillary-clinton-might-kill-me/

[ck4829]

48. Fantasies of executing people

http://www.rightwingwatch.org/post/roger-stone-floats-possibility-of-executing-bill-clinton-for-treason/

[GeorgeGist]

49. Lil Lindsey's time in the barrel ...

will be a wonder of schadenfreude.

[Downtown Hound]

50. It's simple, Republicans

They were afraid for their lives.

[Jarqui]

51. I've posted on this before

https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=11751646

Stone threatening violent civil war while going to the gun range with a nut like Alex Jones to practice for it ... is plenty of justification

[stopbush]

52. No interest at all exploring tRump's many crimes, lies, conspiracy with Putin, etc.

But arrest a lowlife dirty trickster using SOP and Lindsey clutches his pearls.

[SWBTATTReg]

54. This is from the party and/or rump who said it was 'okay' to be rough w/ suspects in putting ...

into the back of a police car, e.g., whack their head accidently while putting them into the back seat?

Hypocrites.