Trump Ally Roger Stone Suspended From Twitter After Vicious Attacks On CNN Journalists

Twitter has suspended the account of Roger Stone   a notorious Republican political operative  and longtime friend and former adviser to Donald Trump   after Stone went on a vicious, profane tirade against several CNN journalists.

Stone exploded shortly after the network was the first to report Friday night that a federal grand jury in Washington, D.C., had filed initial charges in the investigation by special counsel Robert Mueller  into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. No details were available about the sealed indictments, but an arrest could be made as early as Monday, CNN reported.

Stone attacked several CNN anchors and contributors by name, including Jake Tapper, Bill Kristol, Carl Bernstein, Don Lemon and Ana Navarro, as well as New York Times columnist Charles Blow.

He called Lemon an “ignorant lying covksucker” (sic), and a “dull witted arrogant partyboi,” adding: “You fake news you dumb piece of shit.” He said Lemon should be “humiliated, mocked and punished.” Stone also said that Tapper should be “severely punished.” 

He called Navarro a “dumbfuck,” and attacked Kristol for his appearance, saying he was “packing on the pounds.”

Twitter has not commented publicly about Stone’s account, which was suspended Saturday. By any measure, though, several of Stone’s tweets violated Twitter’s standards of conduct , which bar “hateful conduct,” “harassment” and messages that promote violence.

BuzzFeed, citing unnamed sources, reported that Stone’s suspension is permanent . The Hollywood Reporter , citing “a source with direct knowledge of the situation,” also reported that Stone is permanently banned.

“In order to ensure that people feel safe expressing diverse opinions and beliefs, we do not tolerate behavior that crosses the line into abuse, including behavior that harasses, intimidates, or uses fear to silence another user’s voice,” a Twitter spokesperson told the Reporter.

Stone’s account was suspended in March, and again in April after he wrote threatening tweets to a spokeswoman for the progressive media watchdog group Media Matters.

Stone has a reputation as a vicious attack dog for Trump, and has been investigated by the FBI for possible links to Russia during the presidential election, The New York Times reported in January.

He has admitted that he communicated with “Guccifer 2.0,”  the hacker whom the FBI has linked to Russian interference in the 2016 election. But, Stone insisted, that doesn’t mean he colluded with the Kremlin.

Stone texted BuzzFeed, saying he’d been informed “that I have been suspended for 3 hours and 12 minutes.”

“While I am uncertain why, sometimes the stark truth offends some people,” he added. “I’ll be baaaaak [sic].”

Without mentioning Stone by name, Tapper quipped on Saturday that he was enjoying some “prominent meltdowns on Twitter.”

Blow simply tweeted: “Stoned.”