The Twitter account of Trump ally and sometime strategist Roger Stone has been suspended after a Friday tweetstorm in which Stone made personal and vitriolic attacks against CNN anchors and contributors. His targets included Don Lemon, Jake Tapper, Ana Navarro, and Bill Kristol.
Stone on Sunday morning suggested that he could sue Twitter over the suspension, which is reportedly a permanent ban.
Stone’s disjointed, expletive-filled tweets followed CNN’s breaking report that the first charges had been filed in Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s probe into possible Russian collusion with the Trump campaign. Stone was briefly an adviser to the Trump campaign, and has been personally tied to activities that come under Mueller’s purview, including the hack of the Democratic National Committee. Stone is also a longtime ally of Paul Manafort, the former Trump campaign chairman who may be among the ripest targets of Mueller’s investigation.
Stone also reportedly encouraged Trump to fire James Comey, a move that led directly to Mueller’s appointment.
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Stone’s tweets, which have been archived by Deadline, referred to Lemon an “ignorant lying covksucker” and saying Lemon “must be confronted, humiliated, mocked and punished.” The latter tweet, which could be interpreted as an incitement to harassment or violence, was the direct cause of the suspension, according to sources speaking to Recode. Recode also reported that Stone’s suspension could be permanent.
Stone also mocked Kristol’s weight and said that legendary reporter Carl Bernstein “lied about Watergate.” Stone has a tattoo of Richard Nixon’s face on his back, and Stone has frequently embraced his own reputation as a political dirty trickster.
Sunday morning, Stone told Politico that his suspension was “part and parcel of the systematic effort by the tech left to censor and silence conservative voices,” and that he had decided to pursue legal action against Twitter after consulting legal counsel.