Roger Stone is a longtime Republican strategist who has served as campaign adviser for Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, and Donald Trump. He pushed several conspiracy theories during the campaign, including birtherism and the murder of Seth Rich by Democratic operatives. He was arrested during the Mueller investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election, which Trump referred to as an “attempted coup.”
Stone was investigated for his connections to Wikileaks, which disseminated emails from Hillary Clinton that had been hacked by Russian intelligence. Trump famously called on Russia to hack Clinton’s emails.
On November 15, 2019, Stone was convicted of one count of obstruction, one count of witness tampering, and five counts of false statements regarding his testimony to Congress. On February 20, 2020, he was sentenced to 40 months in prison.
During the trial, Stone’s threats to Wikileaks intermediary Randy Credico were unearthed: “you are a rat. A stoolie. You backstab your friends…I am so ready. Let’s get it on. Prepare to die.” Stone’s rocky trial also included a a gag order from the court, which he violated by posting a photo of the judge with a crosshairs in the corner on his Instagram. He later claimed he thought that the crosshairs were a Celtic symbol.
Stone is known for his unorthodox style of dress and back tattoo of Richard Nixon’s face, as well as his self-avowedly dirty political strategies. He paid an operative to infiltrate Democrat George McGovern’s presidential campaign, which was revealed during the Watergate hearings. No stranger to the dissemination of conspiracy theories, he penned a 2013 book in which he suggested that LBJ was responsible for John F. Kennedy’s assassination. He is also the subject of the 2017 Netflix documentary, Get me Roger Stone.
Over the course of Stone’s trial, Trump took to Twitter in Stone’s defense multiple times, including upon his conviction and his sentencing.
Even though prosecutors recommended nine years of prison time, the Justice Department intervened with their own recommendation of a drastically shorter sentencing. Four federal prosecutors withdrew from the case in protest. Stone was ultimately sentenced to 40 months in prison.
On the day of the sentencing, Trump spoke at length in Stone’s defense, attacking his detractors as liars and leakers.
Trump ultimately commuted Stone’s sentence altogether.
The Atlantic – Roger Stone’s Secret Messages with WikiLeaks
The New York Times – Prosecutors Quit Roger Stone Case After Justice Dept. Intervenes on Sentencing
NPR – Prosecutors Quit Roger Stone Case After DOJ Seeks Less Prison Time For Trump Ally
Politico – Roger Stone sentenced to over 3 years in prison
The Week – 5 awkward excuses Roger Stone gave for his threatening Instagram photo
San Francisco Gate – Why Roger Stone loved Nixon enough to get a back tattoo of the president’s face
Wikipedia – Roger Stone
Wikipedia – 2016 Democratic National Committee email leak
