Roger Stone convicted of lying to Congress about WikiLeaks contacts, witness tampering
Enlarge / WASHINGTON, DC - NOVEMBER 15: Former adviser to US President Donald Trump, Roger Stone departs the E. Barrett Prettyman United States Courthouse after being found guilty of obstructing a congressional investigation into Russia’s interference in the 2016 election on November 15, 2019 in Washington, DC. Stone faced seven felony charges and was found guilty on all counts. (credit: Win McNamee / Getty Images)
Ten months after his arrest by a swarm of FBI agents, former Trump adviser and self-proclaimed "dirty trickster" Roger Stone was found guilty of all seven felony counts against him, including obstruction of Congress, five counts of false testimony to Congress, and witness tampering. The conviction is the eighth guilty sentence or plea resulting from grand jury indictments spawned by the investigations into Russian election interference by Special Counsel Robert Mueller.
At the center of the case was Stone's quest in the months leading up to the 2016 presidential election to obtain the emails from WikiLeaks stolen by Russian Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU) operatives from the Democratic National Committee and people within Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign organization. Stone frequently bragged about his connections with WikiLeaks' Julian Assange, and Stone communicated with the Trump campaign about WikiLeaks' plans to release those emails “every chance he got,” said lead federal prosecutor Jonathan Kravis.
Stone was found to have concealed the nature of his communications with WikiLeaks and to have lied to Congress about who acted on his behalf in those contacts. And he attempted to dissuade one of those intermediaries, radio personality Randy Credico, from contradicting his false testimony to Congress, making Godfather II references in his messages to Credico—threatening to take away his therapy dog and to order his lawyers to "rip you to shreds." At one point, Stone allegedly even texted Credico, "Prepare to die [expletive]."
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