Tag: Roger Stone

Mueller reveals how Roger Stone’s indictment is linked to the Russian hacking case

When Special Counsel Robert Mueller issued the indictment against Roger Stone, a long-time ally of President Donald Trump, he filed it while noting that it was connected to another case: the indictment of Russians who hacked Democratic emails during the 2016 campaign.

Stone has been charged with lying to Congress, tampering with a witness, and obstructing justice.

Stone’s lawyers objected to the assertion that the cases were connected, a motion that could have triggered the case to be assigned to a different judge. But on Friday, Mueller responded to the lawyers’ objections and revealed why the cases are connected:

View the complete February 15 article by Cody Fenwick on the AlterNet website here.

Judge issues partial gag order in Roger Stone case

Credit: Seth Wenig, AP Photo

A federal judge on Friday issued a gag order in the Mueller investigation’s case against longtime Trump adviser Roger Stone, restricting the attorneys for both parties from making statements to the media or the public that could influence the outcome of the trial.

Why it matters: The gag order also restricts Stone from making comments within the vicinity of the courthouse. Stone, who filed a response opposing the gag order last week, is a notoriously brash and theatrical political operative who frequently posts on social media about his view that the Mueller investigation is a partisan “witch hunt.” The judge did not say she would impose additional restrictions on Stone at this time, but may reconsider in the future.

View the complete February 15 article by Zachary Basu, which includes the court filing, on the Axios website here.

Roger Stone wanted WikiLeaks dump to distract from ‘Access Hollywood’ tape, Mueller witness says

© picture-alliance/Zuma/D. Christian

The revelation in The Washington Post of a tape of Donald Trump bragging about sexually assaulting women landed just after 4 p.m. on Oct. 7, 2016.

Less than an hour later, WikiLeaks, an anti-secrecy organization founded by Julian Assange, began releasing hacked emails from the account of John Podesta, the chairman of Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign.

The striking simultaneity fulfilled the hope of Trump confidant Roger Stone, according to Jerome Corsi, a conservative author and former Stone associate who was subpoenaed over the summer for questioning by special counsel Robert S. Mueller III.

View the complete January 29 article by Isaac Stanley-Becker on The Washington Post website here.

After Roger Stone was released from custody, his first stop was The Alex Jones Show

Stone: “There is no circumstance under which I would plead guilty to these charges. There’s no circumstance in which I would bear false witness against the president.”

President Donald Trump confidant Roger Stone’s first media appearance following his departure from a courtroom — where he was charged with several crimes related to special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation — was on Alex Jones’ Infowars outlet, which employs Stone as a show host.

During his appearance, Stone denied committing crimes, repeatedly promoted his legal defense fund, and promised that he would never testify against Trump.

Stone was arrested the morning of January 25 and charged with five counts of making false statements, one count of obstructing a proceeding, and one count of witness tampering. He had been under investigation by the special counsel’s office over whether he had inside information about emails hacked by Russia and then released by WikiLeaks in the 2016 election cycle.

View the complete January 25 article by Timothy Johnson on the Media Matters website here.

Ex-White House ethics lawyer: Stone indictment ‘direct evidence of collusion’

© picture-alliance/Zuma/D. Christian

The indictment of Trump adviser Roger Stone provides evidence of collusion between high-ranking Trump campaign officials and WikiLeaks and is dangerous for the US, President George W. Bush’s chief ethics lawyer told DW.

DW: Why is the indictment and arrest of longtime Donald Trump adviser Roger Stone so significant?

Richard Painter: This is direct evidence of collusion between high-ranking officials in the Trump campaign and WikiLeaks to obtain documents stolen by the Russians in the 2016 election. There is other evidence, of course, of collusion between the Trump campaign and the Russians. So this clearly closes the loop and makes clear that the Trump campaign was colluding with the Russians, with WikiLeaks to obtain damaging emails that have been stolen from Hillary Clinton and the DNC.

While President Trump is not directly implicated in this new indictment, do you think he could be in the future?

Absolutely yes, the president and high-ranking officials in the campaign, including perhaps even, or probably, Jared Kushner and Donald Trump Jr, who were in the Trump Tower meeting with the Russians to talk about incriminating dirt on Hillary that they wanted to get. So this is all starting to come together. This is a very bad situation for President Trump.

View the complete January 26 article on the Deutche Welle website here.

4 takeaways from the Roger Stone indictment

The Fix’s Aaron Blake analyzes Roger Stone’s indictment and what it means for special counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s Russia probe. (JM Rieger/The Washington Post)

The big one: Repeated references to Trump campaign contacts about WikiLeaks — and a possible reference to Trump?

The indictment we — including the indicted party — have been expecting for months has finally come. Roger Stone, President Trump’s longest-serving political adviser, has been charged with lying to investigators.

The alleged lies pertain to his efforts to secure information from WikiLeaks about its release of Democrats’ emails during the 2016 campaign. Here are four key sections and takeaways.

[Document: Read the indictment against Roger Stone]

1. An abundance of contradiction

There’s really not a lot of ambiguity when it comes to Stone’s alleged lies. At one point, the indictment includes two exchanges in which Stone denies ever communicating with his WikiLeaks intermediary via text or email.

View the complete January 25 article by Aaron Blake on The Washington Post website here.

Democrats say Roger Stone indictment shows tightening noose around Trump

Roger Stone Credit: Andrew Harnik, AP

Trump campaign associate accused of seeking stolen DNC emails at direction of a ‘senior Trump Campaign official’

House Democrats cranked up the heat on President Donald Trump on Friday after the indictment of Trump campaign associate Roger Stone, alluding in tweets to possible future impeachment proceedings against Trump and referencing the Watergate scandal that led to the downfall of President Richard Nixon.

“Roger Stone, Paul Manafort, Michael Cohen, Rick Gates, Michael Flynn… What did the President know and when did he know it?” House Judiciary Chairman Jerrold Nadler tweeted, quoting then-Sen. Howard Baker, the Republican ranking member of the Senate Watergate Committee who had previously promised Nixon he would be his “friend” but later turned on the president.

Stone was indicted Thursday and arrested early Friday on charges that he sought stolen emails at the direction of a “senior Trump Campaign official” to damage opponent Hillary Clinton’s campaign.

View the complete January 25 article by Griffin Connolly on The Roll Call website here.

Roger Stone indicted in Mueller probe

Roger Stone, the politically connected maverick who worked as an informal adviser to Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, has been indicted as part of special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe.

Stone has been indicted on seven counts in connection with Mueller’s investigation: one count of obstruction of an official proceeding, five counts of false statements, and one count of witness tampering.

Stone was arrested in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., the special counsel’s office said in a statement early Friday. The indictment was filed in federal court in Washington, D.C., on Thursday and unsealed upon arrest on Friday.

View the complete January 25 article by Morgan Chalfant, Jacqueline Thomsen and Olivia Beavers on The Hill website here.

DNC on Roger Stone Arrest and Indictment

DNC Chair Tom Perez released the following statement after longtime Trump adviser Roger Stone was arrested and charged with obstruction, witness tampering, and giving false statements:

“The Trump campaign was a willing and active participant in a conspiracy with Russia and WikiLeaks to influence the 2016 election. There are more conspirators yet to be held accountable – and at least one of them is named Donald Trump.”

Trump’s night-owl calls to Roger Stone in 2016 draw scrutiny in Mueller probe

Roger Stone speaks to members of the media after testifying before the House Intelligence Committee on Sept. 26, 2017. Credit: Andrew Harnik, AP

The calls almost always came deep into the night.

Caller ID labeled them “unknown,” but Roger Stone said he knew to pick up quickly during those harried months of the 2016 presidential campaign. There would be a good chance that the voice on the other end of the line would belong to his decades-long friend — the restless, insomniac candidate Donald Trump — dialing from a blocked phone number.

Those nocturnal chats and other contacts between the man who now occupies the Oval Office and an infamous political trickster have come under intensifying scrutiny as special counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s investigation bores into whether Stone served as a bridge between Trump and WikiLeaks as the group was publishing hacked Democratic emails.

View the complete November 28 article by Manuel Roig-Franzi, Carol D. Leonnig, Rosalind S. Helderman and Josh Dawsey on The Washington Post website here.