A jury has found Roger Stone guilty of lying to Congress and witness tampering:
The jury found Stone repeatedly misrepresented and concealed his 2016 attempt at collaborating with WikiLeaks and founder Julian Assange to obtain dirt on then-candidate Hillary Clinton and stolen emails when speaking with Trump-Russia investigators from the House Intelligence Committee in a spin-off case from special counsel Robert Mueller’s two-year investigation.The charges against Stone included one count he “corruptly influenced, obstructed, and impeded” the congressional investigation and another that he attempted to “corruptly persuade” [radio host Randy] Credico’s congressional testimony. Stone also faced five counts of making “materially false, fictions, and fraudulent statements” to Congress.
Officials accused Stone of witness tampering “based on communications between Stone and [author Jerome] Credico, where Stone allegedly told him to ‘do a Frank Pentangeli,’ a reference to ‘The Godfather Part II,’ where a mob adviser testifying before Congress was expected to reveal crimes committed by the Corleone family, only to then claim ignorance once he was under oath.”
More from The Washington Examiner:
The jury heard testimony from Rick Gates, former deputy Trump campaign manager and business partner of campaign chairman Paul Manafort on Tuesday, where Gates strongly suggested Stone told Trump about upcoming WikiLeaks releases. Trump campaign manager Steve Bannon testified that they saw Stone as the “access point” to WikiLeaks. Credico testified he was not Stone’s “intermediary” to WikiLeaks, one-time WikiLeaks lawyer Margaret Kunstler explained her role putting Credico in touch with Assange once to help set up a radio interview, and former FBI agent Michelle Taylor laid out a timeline of Stone’s communications.
Stone’s lawyer Bruce Rogow described his client “as a serial exaggerator” who just wanted “to inflate his standing in Mr. Trump’s inner circle.”
The defense claimed Stone could not have “lied about intermediaries between himself and WikiLeaks because there were no intermediaries” since Credico and Corsi “never actually communicated with WikiLeaks.”
Stone’s defense did not put any witnesses on the stand. They showed the jury an hour-long clip of Stone testifying before Congress.
Judge Amy Berman Jackson will announce Stone’s sentence on February 6. He faces up to 20 years in prison.
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