The Atlantic

Roger Stone’s Greatest Liability

The longtime Trump adviser’s attention-seeking ways made him an easy target for Robert Mueller.
Source: Kevin Lamarque / Reuters

Roger Stone opened the door early Friday morning to a group of gun-toting FBI agents and a seven-count federal indictment—the latest arrest in the Special Counsel investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.

Robert Mueller’s chatty, informative indictment underscores Stone’s fierce loyalty to Donald Trump, and proves a larger point, too: Character is destiny. Roger Stone’s downfall is the logical conclusion of continuing to act like Roger Stone.

Stone is perfectly suited for the age of clickbait. He’s got a flamboyant wardrobe, a Nixon tattoo, and a flair for getting people to laugh at him. He has

You’re reading a preview, subscribe to read more.

More from The Atlantic

The Atlantic5 min read
The Strangest Job in the World
This is an edition of the Books Briefing, our editors’ weekly guide to the best in books. Sign up for it here. The role of first lady couldn’t be stranger. You attain the position almost by accident, simply by virtue of being married to the president
The Atlantic6 min read
The Happy Way to Drop Your Grievances
Want to stay current with Arthur’s writing? Sign up to get an email every time a new column comes out. In 15th-century Germany, there was an expression for a chronic complainer: Greiner, Zanner, which can be translated as “whiner-grumbler.” It was no
The Atlantic6 min read
There’s Only One Way to Fix Air Pollution Now
It feels like a sin against the sanctitude of being alive to put a dollar value on one year of a human life. A year spent living instead of dead is obviously priceless, beyond the measure of something so unprofound as money. But it gets a price tag i

Related Books & Audiobooks