Roger Stone Found Guilty On 7 Felony Counts Of Lying & Obstruction In Mueller Investigation, Faces 20 Years In Prison

Roger Stone, a former aide and longtime friend of President Donald Trump, was found guilty on all seven counts Friday of obstructing a congressional investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election.

Stone was convicted of one count of obstructing an official proceeding, five counts of making false statements to Congress, and one count of witness tampering.

Prosecutors claimed he tried to block the committee’s investigation because the truth would have “looked terrible” for Trump. The prosecutors showed evidence that in the months leading up to the 2016 election, Stone worked to obtain emails that Russia had stolen from Democratic computers and leaked to WikiLeaks in order to damage the Clinton campaign.

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The prosecutors said that Stone lied to Congress about his conversations related to WikiLeaks with New York radio host Randy Credico and conservative writer Jerome Corsi. Stone was also accused of trying to intimidate Credico and threatening to take his dog. Credico was seemingly the intermediary to WikiLeaks, and Stone pressured him not to testify in Congress in order to not expose his lies.

Stone told Credico to “Do a Frank Pentangeli,” referring to a character in the movie The Godfather: Part II who lied during a Senate hearing on organized crime. Stone also texted Credico in late 2017: “Stonewall it. Plead the fifth. Anything to save the plan,” using a quote from Nixon during the Watergate cover-up.

Stone’s sentencing is scheduled for Feb. 6, where he could face a maximum sentence of 20 years.

Judge Amy Berman Jackson decided Stone can remain free until then, but must maintain the gag order that was put in place following his arrest, which prevents him from talking to the media.

Trump tweeted his disproval of Stone’s verdict saying, “So they now convict Roger Stone of lying and want to jail him for many years to come.”

He went on to list his people who have worked against his interests, “Well, what about Crooked Hillary, Comey, Strzok, Page, McCabe, Brennan, Clapper, Shifty Schiff, Ohr & Nellie, Steele & all of the others, including even Mueller himself? Didn’t they lie?”

Trump added that Stone’s verdict is an apparent “double standard.”

The verdict makes Stone the sixth former Trump adviser to be convicted of or plead guilty to charges related to special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation.

The five other Trump advisors who have been found guilty in charges related to Mueller’s investigation include:

• Michael Flynn, Trump’s former national security adviser, on one count of lying to the FBI
• Rick Gates, Trump’s former deputy campaign manager, on one count of conspiracy against the United States and one count of making false statements
• George Papadopoulos, a Trump foreign policy adviser currently running for Congress, one on count for making false statements to the FBI about his contacts with Russians
• Michael Cohen, Trump’s former lawyer, who pleaded guilty to eight counts of including campaign finance violations, tax fraud, and bank fraud. He lied to Congress about a possible Trump Organization real estate project in Moscow.
• Paul Manafort, Trump’s former campaign chair, on eight counts including five counts of filing false tax returns, two counts of bank fraud, and one count of failing to disclose a foreign bank account

Article by Katherine Huggins