Roger Stone, the self-proclaimed “dirty trickster” of the Republican party, and long-time associate of President Trump has been arrested and charged with seven counts of obstruction of an official proceeding and witness tampering.
Special Counsel Robert Mueller uncovered direct links between the Trump campaign’s and Wikileaks’s efforts to damage the Clinton campaign during the presidential elections using stolen Democratic party materials from Russia. However, Stone has not been charged with any criminal activity occurring during the Trump campaign.
The indictment by Mueller suggested that President Trump’s campaign had known about the additional stolen emails before they were released and had asked Stone to scour for more information on them.
Stone was arrested by the FBI early Friday morning at his home in Fort Lauderdale. He was indicted on Thursday, January 24th by a federal grand jury in the District of Columbia. FBI agents were also seen carting hard drives and other evidence taken from Stone’s apartment in Harlem, New York.
Stone appeared briefly in the Federal District Court of Fort Lauderdale on Friday, ankles and wrists shackled.
According to the indictment, Stone told senior Trump campaign officials about the stolen emails that had been in Wikileaks’s possession between June and July of 2016. However, the indictment does not specifically say who on the campaign knew about Stone’s plans, but makes it clear that there were multiple people involved.
“After the July 22, 2016, release of stolen (Democratic National Committee) emails by Organization 1, a senior Trump Campaign official was directed to contact STONE about any additional releases and what other damaging information Organization 1 had regarding the Clinton Campaign. STONE thereafter told the Trump Campaign about potential future releases of damaging material by Organization 1,” prosecutors wrote.
Various statements made by Stone on the matter raised suspicions about whether or not he had any previous knowledge on Wikileaks or its plans. He denied accusations and claimed that anything he knew about WikiLeaks came through radio host Randy Credico.
Stone’s arrest has caused many to sigh in relief as the Mueller investigation claims another.
Fox business network correspondent, Charles Gasparino (@CGasparino), also showed his support of the raid through twitter, “Have always liked Roger Stone and initially thought the raid of his house was FBI overkill…BUT then I read all his emails in the indictment. Lots of threats and mob references, which completely justifies the raid.”
Other users, however, condemn the arrest altogether.
“The staged theatrics of the ridiculous, over the top raid, on Roger Stone and inviting CNN along, indicates that the mueller investigation is stuck in the mud and needs a push. They found nothing on Stone which is why they are the only charging him with process crimes,” remarked radio host @MarkSimoneNY.
President Trump himself commented on the matter on his twitter account, though never using Stone’s name outright. “Greatest Witch Hunt in the History of our Country! NO COLLUSION! Border Coyotes, Drug Dealers and Human Traffickers are treated better. Who alerted CNN to be there?”
During his trial, Stone made it explicitly clear that he will in no way testify against the President as doing so would be “bearing false witness.” Outside of the federal courthouse, Stone proclaimed his innocence, claiming that he was falsely accused of all 7 counts and finds the tactics at his house disturbing. He has pleaded not guilty to all of the charges and believes the entire ordeal had been politically motivated, according to CNN live coverage of the trial.
