WAS THE COMEY FIRING ALL ROGER STONE'S IDEA?

Politico tells us that many in the West Wing had no idea that James Comey was going to be fired:

The news ... startled all but the uppermost ring of White House advisers, who said grumbling about Comey hadn't dominated their own morning senior staff meetings. Other top officials learned just before it happened and were unaware [Trump] was considering firing Comey. "Nobody really knew," one senior White House official said. "Our phones all buzzed and people said, What?"

So even some "top officials" in the White House weren't discussing this with the president. But this guy apparently was:

While shock dominated much of the FBI and the White House, the mood was more elated at Roger Stone's house in Florida. Several Stone allies and friends said Stone, who has been frequently mentioned in the investigation, encouraged the president to fire Comey in conversations in recent weeks.

On Twitter, Stone signaled praise for the move by posting an image of Trump from The Apprentice saying "You're fired."

Stone declined to comment Tuesday night but said he was enjoying a fine cigar.

(Emphasis added.)

Okay, it's just friends of Stone saying that he's been urging the president to fire Comey for weeks. These friends may be trying to make Stone seem more important than he is. Or they may be telling the truth.

It's safe to say that no one seems happier about this than Stone:

Another lying liar bites the dust. One big fish down, many more to go.#Winning #DrainTheSwamp #MAGA #BuhByeComey pic.twitter.com/xTnfYDUrG3

— Stone Cold Truth (@StoneColdTruth) May 9, 2017

Message for today pic.twitter.com/Ym7yuJUk6t

— Roger Stone (@RogerJStoneJr) May 10, 2017

Comey gave Clinton's a pass in the Sandy Berger affair, the Marc Rich scandal and Hillary's illegal email . Good Riddance

— Roger Stone (@RogerJStoneJr) May 10, 2017

I can imagine Stone listing Comey's many alleged crimes on the Clintons' behalf in a chat with the president, and I can imagine the president garbling what Stone said and tweeting something like this:

FBI Director Comey was the best thing that ever happened to Hillary Clinton in that he gave her a free pass for many bad deeds! The phony...

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 3, 2017

I'd say Stone played a significant role in this.

*****

UPDATE: CNN also points to Stone:



And Trump responds:

The Roger Stone report on @CNN is false - Fake News. Have not spoken to Roger in a long time - had nothing to do with my decision.

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 10, 2017

I wonder if Stone encourages him to say they don't speak.