President Trump’s former confidant, Roger Stone, is guilty of lying to Congress during the Russia election interference probe — a federal jury convicted him on all 7 counts he was facing.
Stone looked very optimistic on his way into a federal court in Washington, D.C. — clutching his wife and a Bible closely — but after one full day of deliberations, the jury returned guilty verdicts across the board.
He was facing 7 counts of making false statements to Congress, obstruction of justice and witness tampering.
Stone becomes the 6th Trump aide or associate to be convicted in trials stemming from Robert Mueller’s probe — and, of course, the guilty verdict comes with the backdrop of the Trump impeachment hearings.
FBI agents busted Stone — who also worked on Richard Nixon’s 1972 campaign — during a January raid at his Florida home.
He was indicted for lying to the House Intelligence Committee during his 2017 testimony.
Stone’s sentencing is set for February when he could get as much as 20 years in federal prison.
Meanwhile, Trump complained in a tweet shortly after the verdict was announced that Stone was convicted of lying when several of his political rivals were not. Among those Trump suggested should be considered were Hillary Clinton, former CIA Director John Brennan, former FBI agent Peter Strzok, Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) and former special counsel Robert Mueller.
“Didn’t they lie?” Trump tweeted. “A double standard like never seen before in the history of our Country?”
Stone’s conviction makes him the latest Trump associate to be criminally implicated in Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election. He joins former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort, former national security adviser Michael Flynn, former Trump attorney Michael Cohen, and former campaign advisers Richard Gates and George Papadopoulos.
Trump has in the past sought to distance himself from Stone’s involvement with his campaign. He said in February that he had not thought about a possible pardon for Stone as he was awaiting trial.
“First of all, Roger Stone didn’t work on the campaign, except way, way at the beginning long before we’re talking about,” Trump said at the time. “Roger is somebody that I’ve always liked, but a lot of people like Roger, some people probably don’t like Roger, but Roger Stone’s somebody I’ve always liked.”
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