US: Roger Stone says he will bring an ‘antitrust case’ against Twitter

Roger Stone is in full-on cartoon-villain mode since being banned by Twitter on Saturday night, vowing to sue the company and characterizing their dispute as a battle for free speech itself.

“I’ll be baaaaaack,” the sometimes adviser to President Donald Trump wrote in a text message to New York. “They will soon learn they have bitten off more than they can chew.”

He wouldn’t disclose when he plans to sue, saying only that it’ll be “when I am ready to.” But he added, “I am advised I have a very strong legal case. Twitter wants to avoid being regulated like a utility. No one has been willing to file the antitrust case. I am.”

While most antitrust cases are brought by the government, private parties can bring them too, under certain circumstances. Whether Stone would have the standing to do so is a separate question, of course.

Stone at first believed the ban would be temporary, but subsequent reports indicate it’s permanent.

Stone told New York he was “uncertain why” he’d been banned, but the prevailing view on Twitter is that it was the graphic insults he spent much of Friday, October 27, evening lobbing at reporters and commentators following the news that special counsel Robert Mueller had filed the first charges in the Russia probe. When asked who he believes will be indicted, Stone mockingly suggested: “Manafort’s driver for double parking.” Stone, who’s already testified before Congress regarding potential collusion with Russia, is a longtime friend and former business partner of Manafort’s.) A spokesperson for Twitter directed BuzzFeed to its terms of service by way of explanation for the decision.

During his Twitter rant, Stone called CNN anchor Don Lemon “dumber than dog shit,” “a dull witted arrogant partyboi,” and an “ignorant lying covksucker.” He said Lemon “must be confronted, humiliated, mocked and punished.” He also labeled New York Times columnist Charles M. Blow a “fast talking arrogant fake news piece of shit.”

Full Content: New York Times

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