Longtime Trump adviser Roger Stone indicted

President Donald Trump has commuted Roger Stone’s prison sentence in a stunning exercise of presidential power that is not altogether unexpected.

Stone, a longtime Republican operative, was convicted in November 2019 for obstructing a congressional investigation, lying to Congress, and witness tampering in a trial that stemmed from special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election. On February 20, Stone was sentenced to 40 months in prison.

Roger Stone shows up everywhere in American politics — as journalist Jeffrey Toobin puts it early on in the 2017 Netflix documentary Get Me Roger Stone, he’s the “sinister Forrest Gump of American politics,” popping up everywhere from Watergate to Donald Trump’s presidential campaign.

If you think this is overblown lefty rhetoric, think again. Stone — who is currently on trial on charges of obstruction, making false statements, and witness tampering following FBI Special Prosecutor Robert Mueller’s investigation into possible collusion between Trump and Russia — has always worn such monikers like a badge of honor. Get Me Roger Stone traces the history of American conservatism from Nixon’s downfall to Donald Trump’s victory in 2016. And while it brings in talking heads to add background — New Yorker writers Toobin and Jane Mayer, who have intimate knowledge of the history, along with Fox News personality Tucker Carlson — its main narrator is Stone himself, who shows no qualms about what he’ll say on camera.

Less than two weeks after Judge Amy Berman Jackson gagged Roger Stone from commenting on his case, the garrulous Trump ally already has some explaining to do.

Two new issues have been brought to the court’s attention. One is a book by Stone called The Myth of Russian Collusion, in which Stone claims he is on “Crooked Special Prosecutor Robert Mueller’s hit list.” The second is an Instagram Story from Stone’s account, which contains the text, “Who framed Roger Stone.”

Roger Stone has been gagged.

Judge Amy Berman Jackson issued an order Thursday barring the longtime Trump adviser and political trickster from publicly speaking about his case.

It looks like Roger Stone is at it again.

On Monday, Stone, the political trickster and longtime associate of Donald Trump, posted an inflammatory photo of the judge presiding over his criminal case on Instagram. He later deleted the post and apologized to the court after a firestorm of criticism.

Since his indictment by special counsel Robert Mueller last week, Roger Stone has been omnipresent in the media, proclaiming his innocence and decrying the circumstances of his arrest.

But he may not have much longer to do so. Judge Amy Berman Jackson, who will oversee Stone’s case in US District Court, suggested she was considering imposing a gag order — which would limit Stone’s ability to speak publicly about the case outside of court.

Roger Stone wants you to know that you should wear boxers — never briefs — to court.

This is just one piece of advice from Stone’s tutorial on how to dress for your day in court, in case you’re ever charged with witness tampering, obstruction of an official proceeding, and making false statements like Stone was, or are just trying to get points taken off your license.

Roger Stone’s arrest Friday has caused outrage on the right — at the FBI.

Stone was arrested by dozens of FBI agents (Stone says at least 29) in a pre-dawn raid on his Fort Lauderdale, Florida home and charged with obstruction, making false statements, and witness tampering. He was released from custody a few hours later on a $250,000 bond.

The answer to where Robert Mueller is going with his prosecution of Roger Stone could have a lot to do with conspiracy theorist Jerome Corsi.

Stone, who was arrested last week at his home in Florida, has long had one big question swirling around him: Was he was somehow involved in the “hack and leak”? That is, the hacking of leading Democrats’ emails by Russian intelligence officers, the provision of those emails to WikiLeaks, and the eventual public release of those stolen emails.

Early Friday morning, 29 heavily armed federal agents swarmed the home of Roger Stone, arresting him abruptly following his indictment on seven federal counts ranging from witness tampering to obstruction of justice. Despite the dramatic circumstances around his arrest and the severity of his charges — particularly the charge of witness tampering — Stone walked out of jail the same day as his arrest on a $250,000 promissory bond, which means he promises to pay that amount only if he fails to comply with his terms of release.

Stone, a former political adviser to Donald Trump, attacked special counsel Robert Mueller’s decision to have him arrested by an FBI SWAT team rather than allowing him to self-surrender. Mueller argued that doing so was necessary because of the high risk that Stone would destroy evidence or tamper with witnesses were he tipped off. Indeed, just last year, following his release on bail pending charges also brought by Mueller, Paul Manafort, another former Trump adviser and lobbying partner of Stone, was sent back to jail after he tried to tamper with witnesses while released on bail.

Thirty-four people in President Donald Trump’s orbit, including members of his inner circle, have either been indicted or pleaded guilty over the past 15 months. But even after special counsel Robert Mueller slapped the president’s longtime adviser Roger Stone with federal charges — including lying to Congress — Trump continues to be fixated on past political opponents and long-debunked conspiracies: What about Hillary Clinton’s emails?

After an initial stock reaction (“NO COLLUSION!”) to Stone’s pre-dawn arrest Friday, Trump on Saturday tweeted a slightly more specific response, pointing the finger at other individuals who he thinks have peddled worse falsehoods.

Roger Stone, President Donald Trump’s former adviser who was arrested early Friday morning in connection with special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation, says he won’t plead guilty to the charges.

That statement was probably the most normal part of the otherwise completely bonkers press conference Stone held Friday afternoon outside a Florida courthouse after being released on a $250,000 bond.

Roger Stone, President Donald Trump’s longtime ally and adviser, has always had a reputation for using dirty political tricks.

Glimpses of those antics appear in special counsel Robert Mueller’s indictment of Stone, who was arrested by the FBI early Friday morning in Florida. Stone has been charged with obstruction of official proceedings, making false statements, and witness tampering. The majority of the charges refer to Stone’s alleged lies to the House Intelligence Committee during its investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 campaign. (Stone said Friday at a press conference that he’s been falsely accused.)

“Greatest Witch Hunt in the History of our Country! NO COLLUSION”

That was President Donald Trump’s first public statement — made on Twitter, of course — after his longtime ally Roger Stone was arrested on federal charges brought by special counsel Robert Mueller’s office Friday.

Hours after CNN broadcast footage of longtime Donald Trump confidant Roger Stone being arrested by FBI agents, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders went on the cable network — a frequent target of Trump’s abuse — to try to distance the president from Stone. Her efforts didn’t go well.

Sanders began by making a case that Stone’s arrest on charges of obstruction of justice, making false statements, and witness tampering related to his campaign contacts with WikiLeaks — an organization Trump’s administration has accused of serving as a cutout for the Kremlin — actually has nothing to do with Trump.

The words former Trump campaign adviser Roger Stone heard just before his arrest early Friday morning: “FBI. Open the door.”

We know this because CNN obtained exclusive footage of FBI agents surrounding Stone’s home, knocking on his door, and eventually arresting him.

Longtime Trump adviser Roger Stone was arrested in connection with special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation early Friday morning at his home in Florida. He was indicted for obstruction, making false statements, and witness tampering. You can read the full indictment at this link.

The charges focus on Stone’s alleged lies to the House Intelligence Committee during 2017 about his statements about and efforts to get in touch with WikiLeaks during the 2016 campaign. The indictment also conspicuously mentions that “a senior Trump campaign official was directed to contact Stone” about what WikiLeaks might have on Hillary Clinton.

Roger Stone, the longtime Trump adviser and political trickster, has been indicted by special counsel Robert Mueller following months of scrutiny in the ongoing Russia investigation.

Stone has been charged with seven counts of obstruction of an official proceeding, witness tampering, and making false statements, including in testimony to the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI).

New reports indicate special counsel Robert Mueller remains intensely focused on longtime political consultant and lobbyist Roger Stone, as he has for many months now. But why?

Since at least February, the special counsel’s team has subjected at least 10 people to detailed questioning about the political operative and longtime Trump ally. They’ve asked about Stone’s finances, his political groups, and anything Stone might know about WikiLeaks, Julian Assange, hacked material, and Russian interference generally.

Special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into matters related to longtime Trump adviser Roger Stone is heating up.

On Thursday, radio host Randy Credico — who Stone has said helped him communicate with Julian Assange of WikiLeaks during the 2016 campaign — was subpoenaed by Mueller’s team for grand jury testimony.

Maybe it’s no surprise that special counsel Robert Mueller would zero in on the guy who has Richard Nixon’s face tattooed on his back — Roger Stone.

Mueller has interviewed or subpoenaed at least eight people close to the longtime Trump adviser, dirty trickster, and former Paul Manafort business partner. His team has quizzed them, extensively, on what Stone was up to in 2016. “They want me to testify against Roger,” one witness, Sam Nunberg, said. Stone told NBC recently that he was “prepared” for an indictment “should that be the case” — though he denies any wrongdoing.

Roger Stone can’t say for sure that he won’t be indicted by special counsel Robert Mueller, but if he is, it will be for some trivial reason related to his business, or maybe tied to the 2016 election, but it won’t be justified. It will be an effort to silence him because of his work on Infowars and support for the president — and it’s definitely not because of his conspicuously-timed comments and tweets indicating he knew WikiLeaks had John Podesta’s hacked emails before they were made public, or claims by his associates that Stone told them he knew about them ahead of time. It has nothing to do with any of that, he says.

In an interview with Chuck Todd on NBC’s Meet the Press on Sunday, Stone, a longtime Republican operative and informal adviser to President Donald Trump, said he is “prepared” for a potential indictment from Mueller as part of the ongoing investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election and potential collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia.