BUFFALO, N.Y. — Roger Stone is one of the nation's most galvanizing political figures.
He was also arrested in January and charged with lying to congressional investigators during the Mueller probe, for which faces trail in November.
Ordinarily, if Stone was to be in Buffalo as he is for an event hosted by Carl Paladino on Friday at the Forbes Theater, you wouldn’t have to look far to find Michael Caputo, a longtime ally of Stone based in Western New York who refers to him as his “big brother” and “best friend in the world”.
But Caputo won’t be going.
“If I attend it puts Roger in jeopardy,” Caputo said of the event, which is intended to raise money for Stone to offset his legal bills which Stone estimates to be in the neighborhood of $3 million.
“Stone”-walled
According to Caputo, his name appears on a list of individuals whom a judge ordered Stone to avoid contact with while the case is pending.
"I'm allowed to talk to him, he's just not allowed to talk to me,” explained Caputo, who said he was perplexed by the order.
“I’m not a defendant, I’m not an unindicted co-conspirator, and I’m not even a witness in this trial. There’s only one explanation I can think of with my non-legal brain, and that is that they are trying to isolate Roger… and that should raise questions as to just what type of prosecution this really is, “ Caputo said.
While such an order on its surface would not preclude Caputo from attending the event, he says his lawyers- and Stone’s as well – have advised him to keep his distance from it to avoid even the slightest appearance of any impropriety.
“It’s out of an abundance of caution that his attorneys and my attorneys have decided that I should not attend,” Caputo said.
Two Ships Passing
Interestingly, Stone’s and Caputo’s paths nearly crossed on Thursday when separate planes they were taking to Buffalo arrived within half an hour of each other at the Buffalo Niagara International Airport.
Caputo, who stopped and spoke with reporters at length, departed a few minutes before Stone entered the terminal where he also spoke with members of the press.
As Stone stopped to talk to the media, he was approached by travelers and airport staff, many of whom asked him to pose with them for selfies.
When asked about the court order involving Caputo, Stone would only say, “I can't discuss that right now other than to say that he's a good man, although we are not allowed to speak at this moment.”
Pressed further as to whether this condition of the court bothered him as much as it appeared to bother Caputo, Stone only replied, “he's a very good man but beyond that, I can’t comment."
The World According To Roger
However, Stone did not hesitate to comment on a host of questions regarding the 2020 Presidential election, which he also plans to address at Friday’s event called “Roger Stone Uncensored”.
“I expect this to be a very hard-fought down to the wire close race,” said Stone, who also pledges to do whatever he can to support the re-election of President Trump….something he says, contrary to many Trump supporters, is not ‘in the bag’.
“I do think he’ll win and I want to help him win, but I expect this to be a very hard-fought, down to the wire close race,” said Stone, adding, “I think the greatest obstacle to the President’s re-election is overconfidence of his supporters.”
“I have a lot of confidence in Donald Trump’s abilities as a campaigner and a communicator, but I am worried about enormous overconfidence among his supporters. Too many of his supporters keep telling me this is a cakewalk or a landslide. I just don’t believe that” Stone said.
Among a wide field of Democrats hoping to earn their party’s nomination, Stone said, “If you asked me who I’d like to run against it is Joe Biden. First, there’s his role of the turbocharger in the war on drugs. There are hundreds of thousands of poor people and black people in prisons today for nonviolent possession of small amounts of drugs. Those are the people who Donald Trump, through his Sentencing Reform Act, has given a second chance,” said Stone.
Stone also believes Biden would be vulnerable due to “the epic corruption of Joe Biden and his son in Ukraine and in China, so I would welcome such a race.”
However, while he still views Biden as the front runner among the democrat establishment, he wouldn’t be surprised if Biden fails to eventually get the nomination.
Watch Out For Warren
“I see Senator (Elizabeth) Warren coming up very fast and those who don’t believe that she’s a formidable general election candidate are incorrect,” said Stone. “I think she’s very clever, she’s very articulate, and she hides her radical socialistic agenda and can sound very populist. She should not be underestimated.”
Stone indicated that he believes over time, Warren, whom he also views as the most formidable potential challenger to the President, will eventually overtake Biden as the front runner.
“I think Senator (Bernie) Sanders is still well-positioned because he ran four years ago, which gives him an organization and access to money with a deep donor base,” said Stone. “On the other hand, I don’t think he’s doing well in the debates because he comes across like a cranky old man.”
As to the remaining democratic hopefuls, Stone said, “There’s nobody else in this field that I really see having the potential to make it, but if anyone is having trouble sleeping tomorrow night, skip the pills and just watch the democrat debate.”