Roger Stone: Rothstein Was Spending Too Much To Be Legit

BY BUDDY NEVINS

Political hitman Roger Stone says he became suspicious of Scott Rothstein’s spending  a year ago and hired a private detective to look into the lawyer’s background.

The report came back:  Rothstein is throwing around money that isn’t his. He’s a crook.

stone shaded face

Roger Stone

A former Watergate figure who had an office at Rothstein’s law firm, Stone said, “The more he spent, the more suspicious I became. The level of his spending and largess starting reaching obscene levels.  

 “Seventy five thousand for a humidor!” according to Stone.  “He had a Rolls Royce Phantom, a wonderful car.  But why would you need the convertible and a hardtop? He had Lamborghinis in different colors.

That’s not all. He started acting irrationally.

Rothstein bought a multi-million dollar yacht, didn’t like it and gave it away, Stone said.

When the former Drug Enforcement Administration agent Stone hired presented his report, the political consultant immediately started dissolving his relationship with Rothstein.

“(The detective ) couldn’t tell whose money he was spending, just that it wasn’t his, Stone remembers.  “That’s when I asked Scott Rothstein to dissolve our LLC.

The two had a limited liability company that was suppose to offer law clients lobbying and political consulting services.

“I started working out of South Beach.  I had an office there (at Rothstein’s Las Olas Boulevard headquarters), but I wasn’t there very much.

Stone’s association with the firm was through Stuart Rosenfeldt, Rothstein’s partner.

Rosenfeldt was a volunteer for Ronald Reagan’s 1976 campaign and met Stone. They touched base again three decades later and Rosenfeldt arranged a meeting with Rothstein.

“I went to dinner and they brought along a guy named Charlie Crist.  Crist said he had a problem.  He wanted Donald Trump to throw a fund raiser, but couldn’t get him on the phone, Stone recalled. “I pulled the ultimate Big Dick move. I phoned Trump on my cell phone and handed the phone to Charlie.

The relationship blossomed into a plan where Stone would lobby and do political consulting out of the Rothstein firm’s offices.

“Nothing ever came of it, Stone said. “There was never any clients.

Stone grew disenchanted with Rothstein. He felt Rothstein was an empty suit.

“The great political insider had no political wisdom, he said.

Stone recounted when one Rothstein client had a problem with regulations of a casino in Louisiana. Instead of negotiating with regulators and doing legal work, Rothstein’s answer was to throw a fund raiser for the governor of Louisiana.

“The great political mind was empty, said Stone from Ohio where he is working on a gambling referendum.

Stone is still puzzled by how Rothstein pulled off the scam because he was a horrible businessman.

“He couldn’t read a balance sheet.  He couldn’t understand a business plan…,” Stone said. “Scott Rothstein couldn’t sell pussy on a troop ship. How he got sophisticated investors to give him money is beyond me.



13 Responses to “Roger Stone: Rothstein Was Spending Too Much To Be Legit”

  1. intelligentsia101 says:

    kind of makes you wonder about the investors themselves

  2. fatbeard says:

    Stone sounds like a real class act. That aside, are we to believe that Stone did not tell Rosenfeldt about his concerns last year? I know everyone says Rosenfeldt is a good guy, a victim here, but it does seem unlikely that he knew nothing.

  3. Robert says:

    Of course, Rosenfeldt (the other equity partner)and likely Adler Stracher,Grant and others knew that something didn’t add up. How cana 70 lawyer law firm spend $5 Million on advertising, $2 Million on political contribution and $3 million on other self-promotion. Stone has it right, the entire RRA firm were third-class lawyers with no legal acumen who were riding a phony wave of bullshit. They all deserve to forefeit their distributions for the last five years and soem jail time.

  4. Sam Field's Groupie says:

    Of course, Stone’s “ethics” did not motivate him to blow the whistle on Rothstein, thus saving who-knows-how-many people from the scam. Nice guy, but we knew that, didn’t we.

  5. I. P. Auphen says:

    I agree with Stone that Rothstein probably couldn’t sell P…. on a troop ship.
    I got a feel’n though that he may learn to give away his backside on cell block C fairly soon.

  6. Who COULDN'T Tell? says:

    I’m friends with Stone, was not an RRA attorney, and can attest that his account is accurate. As far back as two years ago we had regular discussions that Rothstein’s wealth and free-flowing donations didn’t add up, Rothstein had total unchecked control of firm books, and anyone with half a brain could tell from Day One that Rothstein was dirty. We just didn’t know how he was getting the money. But anyone could see that the SR story was too good to be true.

  7. andy boy says:

    Stone role in bringing Rothstein down hasn’t been fully explored.

    Stone brought Rothstein and his scam to the attention of Federal prosecutors after one of Rothstein’s “investors” figured out he was being defrauded and went to Stone.

    Stone did the full “Eliot Spitzer” on Rothstein.

  8. Classic Roger Stone says:

    Notice how Roger Stone didn’t disclose all this while there was time to help so many from losing money at the hands of Rothstein. Notice how his ties with Rothstein were not fully severed until long after he knew what was going on.

    Roger waited until well after the shit hit the fan obviously to help protect himself. Only now does he come forward with this “story” about how he was the angel that uncovered the true facts. Perhaps he will fool many, he’s very good at doing that. Not me.

    What I see is Roger Stone at his classic best putting the bayonette the wounded so that he can get his own agenda across. And don’t get me wrong here, it’s pretty clear to me that Rothstein is a criminal. I’m not trying to excuse that.

    But the question has to be asked. What did Roger Stone know and when did he know it?

    My bet is that Stone was helping Rothstein down this path in some way, things got out of control, and now is trying to cover his own rat butt from prosecution.

    Stone’s “information” is a day late and a dollar short for everyone it could have helped. Except for one person. Roger Stone.

    This stinks of a scumbag move, and it comes to us free of charge from the king of all polical scumbags. Roger Stone. We need to rid our town of this kind of low life.

  9. Not Stoned says:

    I can attest that Roger Stone was hardly ever at the Fort Lauderdale office of RRA and that he believed Scott questionable.

    I have no idea whether Roger hired a detective.

    I do know from working at RRA that Scott LOUDLY threatened to sue anybody who questioned his honesty or the sources of his alleged wealth. Most like this prevented Stone from blowing the whistle on him.

  10. Florida Bar Needed says:

    I find it hard to believe that 70 lawyers did no suspect anything was wrong at RRA. I think the Bar needs to look into exactly what each lawyer knew, what each lawyer suspected and, if suspected, why they didn’t come to the Bar.

  11. Broward Attorney says:

    What the Bar needs to examine is the culpability of the other RRA partners who through willful blindness allowed Rothstein to have exclusive control of the firm books, never demanded to see them, never asked questions even when basic common sense would have said the firm wasn’t earning close to what Rothstein was claiming, etc etc. These other lawyers were likely entirely uninvolved in the ponzi scam, but they were willfully blind to the operations of RRA so long as it made them rich.

  12. I. P. Auphen says:

    A female lawyer who had been with Rothstein from almost the beginning in the RRA firm was murdered allegedly by the office manager’s husband, then it turn’s out that Rothstein may have run a scam for over 100 million.
    The lawyer was murdered about one year ago. One can assume that since that lawyer was there from the beginning, the lawyer probably knew the inner workings of the firm. The lawyer ends up dead. The main partner gets nailed for a scam that was probably going on for at least the last three years. Go figure…

  13. Andy Boy says:

    What was Stone gonna tell the FEDS a year ago? The money is not his but I dont know who’s it is?

    ROGER STONE=SURVIVOR.

    Stone worked for four US Presidents. It was Stone who introduced Rothstein to John McCain.

    Stone was the only guy in the RRA “family” to start asking questions.