WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump's longtime adviser Roger Stone was convicted on all charges on Friday by a federal court jury that found the veteran Republican operative and self-proclaimed "dirty trickster" guilty on seven counts of lying to the US Congress, obstruction, and witness tampering.
During the trial, prosecutors pressed their case that Stone lied to lawmakers about his outreach to WikiLeaks - the website that disclosed many hacked Democratic emails ahead of the 2016 US election that proved embarrassing to Trump's Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton - to protect Trump from looking bad.
The verdict, in a trial arising from former Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation that detailed extensive Russian interference in that election, is not only a blow to Stone but renews scrutiny on Trump's actions as a candidate even as he endures an impeachment inquiry that threatens his presidency.
Before the verdict was announced, Stone, 67, arrived at the courthouse clad in a pinstripe suit, blue tie with white dots, white handkerchief in his pocket, arm in arm with his wife, sunglasses in one hand, a small red copy of the Bible in the other and a smile on his face.
When the verdict was read, Stone faced the jury of nine women and three men, and showed no outward signs of emotion as he was pronounced guilty.
Trump fumed after the conviction of Stone, a friend of his for decades.
"So they now convict Roger Stone of lying and want to jail him for many years to come," Trump wrote on Twitter, asking why it was not his adversaries including Clinton and "even Mueller himself? Didn't they lie?"
"A double standard like never seen before in the history of our Country?" Trump added.
US District Judge Amy Berman Jackson set a sentencing date of Feb. 6. She rejected a prosecution bid to have Stone jailed until then. Six of the criminal counts each carry a maximum sentence of five years in prison and the seventh carries a maximum term of 20 years. Stone is likely to get far less time as a first-time non-violent offender.
Stone was one of several former Trump aides to have been charged in Mueller's investigation and one of only two not to plead guilty but rather go to trial.
The other was former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort, Stone's one-time business partner in a lobbying firm who was convicted by a jury last year in Virginia of tax and bank fraud and is serving a prison sentence of 7-1/2 years.
Stone, who has labeled himself a "dirty trickster" and "agent provocateur" and famously has the face of former President Richard Nixon tattooed on his back, was charged with obstructing justice, witness tampering and lying to the U.S. House of Representatives Intelligence Committee during its investigation into Russian election interference.
That panel is now leading the impeachment inquiry.
'TIMELY MESSAGE'
Chuck Schumer, the top Senate Democrat, said Stone's conviction "sends a powerful and timely message to President Trump and all House and Senate witnesses - past, present, and future - that lying to Congress, witness tampering, and obstruction of Congress are crimes and those who commit crimes do so at their own peril."
Former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski mocked Stone after the verdict, writing on Twitter: "Reunited and it feels so go (sic). Stone and Manafort to re-open new 'consulting' firm behind bars."
Stone and his lawyers, who remain under a court-imposed gag order, had no immediate comment. Prosecutors also did not comment.
Opening statements in the colorful trial came on Nov. 6. The trial featured references to the film "The Godfather Part II," an impression of Senator Bernie Sanders by a prosecution witness, and testimony by political heavyweights including former Trump campaign CEO Steve Bannon and former Trump deputy campaign chairman Rick Gates. Those witnesses said they believed Stone had inside information about when WikiLeaks might release more damaging emails about Clinton.
Prosecutors accused Stone of telling lawmakers five different lies related to WikiLeaks and its founder Julian Assange.
Some of those lies related to the existence of texts or emails. Others pertained to Stone's conversations with Trump campaign officials and a supposed "intermediary" with WikiLeaks in August 2016 whom Stone identified to lawmakers as being comedian Randy Credico.
At that time, prosecutors said, Stone was actually dispatching a conservative author named Jerome Corsi to, as one email stated, "get to Assange!"
Stone was also accused of tampering with a witness, Credico, when Credico was summoned to testify before Congress and speak with the FBI. In emails and texts, Stone told Credico among other things: "Prepare to die," "You're a rat. A stoolie," and "Stonewall it."
Prosecutor Jonathan Kravis asked the judge to detain Stone pending sentencing, saying that the night before, Alex Jones from the conspiracy theory website Infowars claimed Stone had sent him a message. On the show, Jones said he was passing along a pardon request to Trump from Stone.
Stone's verdict coincided with the second public hearing in the House impeachment inquiry focusing on Trump's dealings with Ukraine.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
WASHINGTON - An angry US judge issued a gag order on Thursday on Roger Stone after the former advisor to Donald Trump posted a picture of her on Instagram with crosshairs in the background.
Stone, 66, is charged with lying to Congress, witness tampering and obstruction stemming from his contacts with WikiLeaks, which published Russian-hacked communications from Democrat Hillary Clinton's camp during the 2016 election campaign.
Stone has pleaded not guilty to the charges, which resulted from Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into whether the president's campaign colluded with Russia.
Stone was ordered to appear in court by US District Court Judge Amy Berman Jackson after he posted the inflammatory picture of her on his Instagram account several days ago.
A caption accompanying the image said Jackson was an "Obama appointed Judge who dismissed the Benghazi charges again(st) Hillary Clinton and incarcerated Paul Manafort prior to his conviction for any crime."
During Thursday's hearing, Stone apologized to the judge for what he called a "stupid lack of judgment" and appeared to blame an unnamed assistant for the offensive Instagram post.
"I am kicking myself for my own stupidity, but not more than my wife is kicking me," he said.
Jackson was having none of it and after saying his apology rings "quite hollow" she ordered him not to communicate publicly about the case anymore.
Jackson told him she was giving him a "second chance" but warned that he would not get another and could face prison time if he violates the gag order.
Stone left court without speaking to reporters.
Jackson had imposed a partial gag order on Stone last week, telling him not to speak to the media or make public statements around the courthouse or in its immediate vicinity.
Stone's court appearances have been rowdy affairs featuring supporters and opponents and a large media contingent.
Stone pleaded not guilty in federal court in Washington last month to the seven charges against him. He is the sixth campaign associate of Trump indicted by Mueller's team.
Trump has repeatedly denied any collusion with Moscow and denounced the probe by Mueller, a former FBI director, as a "political witch hunt."
Stone, who launched his career as a campaign aide to Richard Nixon and has a tattoo on his back of the first US president to resign from office, has spent decades advising Republican political campaigns.
His association with Trump dates back to 1979, and he was one of the first to enlist when the billionaire real estate magnate launched his run for the presidency in 2015.
Stone left the campaign months later but the indictment shows he remained in active communication with Trump's team, providing support and information.
Mueller's office has indicted a total of 34 people -- including Manafort, Trump's former campaign manager -- but so far, no charges of outright collusion between the Trump campaign and Moscow have been filed.
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source: news.abs-cbn.com
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. - A longtime ally of U.S. President Donald Trump was arrested on Friday for lying to Congress about the 2016 campaign's efforts to use stolen emails to undercut his Democratic rival in one of the highest-level arrests of the Special Counsel probe into possible election manipulation.
Roger Stone, a 66-year-old self-proclaimed Republican "dirty trickster," declared himself innocent hours after a large team of FBI agents raided his Fort Lauderdale, Florida home.
He is one of the closest Trump associates to be charged in Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into whether Trump's campaign colluded with Russia to help win the election.
Mueller said in court papers that Stone shared with multiple members of the Trump campaign team advance knowledge he had of a plan by WikiLeaks to release senior Democrats' emails.
Some political analysts say the emails, which highlighted disputes among Democrats, contributed to Trump's stunning defeat of election rival Hillary Clinton.
The charges mark the first time the Trump campaign has been publicly tied to WikiLeaks by Mueller's team and add to pressure on the president as the newly installed Democratic majority in the House of Representatives plans to step up investigations of him.
"Greatest Witch Hunt in the History of our Country! NO COLLUSION!," Trump wrote on Twitter following Stone's arrest, using his most common slur for the Mueller probe.
The charging documents included new details about Trump aides' alleged activities, including an incident in which a senior campaign official "was directed to contact Stone about any additional releases and what other damaging information" WikiLeaks had about the Clinton campaign.
The papers do not make clear who gave that order to a senior campaign official.
Stone was charged with seven criminal counts, including obstruction of an official proceeding, witness tampering and making false statements.
STONE BLASTS 'INQUISITION'
In a rowdy scene outside a courthouse in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Stone denounced his arrest as politically motivated and said he had done no wrong.
"After a two-year inquisition, the charges today related in no way to Russian collusion, WikiLeaks coordination or any other illegal act in connection with the 2016 campaign," he told reporters, flashing the twin "V for Victory" signs that the disgraced President Richard Nixon was famous for.
"I will not testify against the president because I would have to bear false witness against him."
A crowd chanted "Lock Him Up," an inversion of the "Lock Her Up" chant that Trump and his surrogates led against Clinton at rallies during the 2016 campaign. Someone played the Beatles song "Back in the U.S.S.R." Others cheered in support of Stone.
A magistrate judge released Stone on a $250,000 bond and ordered him to limit his travel to South Florida, New York City and Washington.
The indictment showed Stone using language evoking mob bosses -- and even citing a "Godfather" movie -- as he called an unnamed associate facing FBI inquiries "a rat. A stoolie."
NIXON TATTOO
Stone's reputation as an aggressive political operative dates back to the Watergate scandal of the 1970s when he was working for Nixon. He has a back tattoo bearing the late president's face.
WikiLeaks, referred to in the indictment as "Organization 1," did not respond to a request for comment.
Over 30 people have pleaded guilty, been indicted or otherwise swept up in the Russia inquiry, which has clouded Trump's two-year-old presidency.
They include former close associates of Trump such as his one-time lawyer Michael Cohen and former campaign chairman Paul Manafort as well as 12 Russian intelligence officers.
The indictment referred to an October 2016 email from a "high-ranking Trump Campaign official" asking Stone to inquire about future releases of emails by "Organization 1." Stone responded that "Organization 1" would release "a load every week going forward."
The high-ranking official is believed to be former Trump campaign chief Steve Bannon, according to a person familiar with the matter. Bannon did not respond to a request for comment.
STUMP CALL TO RUSSIA
The interactions with WikiLeaks covered in the indictment occurred days before Trump called out to Russia in a campaign stump speech for help finding "missing" emails from Clinton's time as secretary of state, according to Democratic U.S. Representative Adam Schiff.
"Russia, if you're listening, I hope you're able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing," Trump said, vexing intelligence experts and prompting Democrats to accuse him of urging a foreign country to spy on Americans.
"At the very time that then-candidate Trump was publicly encouraging Russia's help in acquiring Clinton-related emails, his campaign was privately receiving information about the planned release of stolen Clinton emails," Schiff said in a statement.
The Kremlin has denied interfering with the 2016 election. .
The DNC emails WikiLeaks released in the summer of 2016 sowed division among Democratic voters by appearing to show party officials favored Clinton over the insurgent candidacy of Senator Bernie Sanders. Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz resigned as DNC chair in response.
Stone's ties to Trump go back four decades. Stone has urged Trump to run for president since 1988, was chairman of his 2000 presidential exploratory committee and was a consultant when Trump considered running in 2012.
Stone briefly worked for the 2016 Trump campaign but left in August 2015. The campaign said it fired him after he tried to grab too much of the spotlight while Stone insisted that he quit.
Even after Stone resigning, he still played a key promotional role for Trump and communicated with people in his camp.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
