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Roger Stone
American political consultant and lobbyist (born 1952) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Roger Jason Stone[b] (born Roger Joseph Stone Jr.; August 27, 1952) is an American political consultant and lobbyist.[3] He is Donald Trump's longest-serving political adviser, best known for the Mueller special counsel investigation and his alleged involvement with[4] and connections to Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election as a consultant for the Trump campaign.[5]
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Since the 1970s, Stone has worked on Republican campaigns, including those of Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, Jack Kemp, Bob Dole,[6] George W. Bush,[7] and Trump. He co-founded a lobbying firm with Paul Manafort and Charles R. Black Jr.[8][9] The firm became Black, Manafort, Stone and Kelly (BMSK) in 1984.[10]: 124 BMSK became a top lobbying firm, leveraging White House connections for high-paying clients, including U.S. corporations, trade associations, and foreign governments.[10]: 125 Stone's style has been described as "a renowned infighter", "a seasoned practitioner of hard-edged politics",[11] "a Republican strategist",[12] and "a political fixer".[13] Stone has called himself "an agent provocateur".[14] He has described his political modus operandi as "attack, attack, attack—never defend" and "admit nothing, deny everything, and launch a counterattack", all evocative of associate Roy Cohn.[15]
Stone first suggested Trump run for president in 1998 while lobbying for his casino business.[16] He left the Trump campaign on August 8, 2015. In 2018, two associates alleged Stone claimed contact with Julian Assange during the 2016 campaign. Assange denied meeting Stone, and Stone said any mention was a joke.[17][18] Court documents in 2020 showed Stone and Assange exchanged messages in June 2017.[19] Unsealed warrants in April 2020 revealed Stone's 2017 contacts with Assange and that Stone orchestrated hundreds of fake Facebook accounts and bloggers for a political influence scheme.[20][21][22]
On January 25, 2019, Stone was arrested at his Fort Lauderdale, Florida, home in connection with Robert Mueller's investigation and charged with witness tampering, obstructing an official proceeding, and making false statements.[23][24] In November 2019, a jury convicted him on all seven felony counts.[25][26][27] He was sentenced to 40 months in prison.[28][29] On July 10, 2020, days before Stone was to report to prison, Trump commuted his sentence.[25] On August 17, 2020, Stone dropped his appeal.[30] Trump pardoned Stone on December 23, 2020.[25][31]
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Early life and political work
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Stone was born on August 27, 1952,[15] in Norwalk, Connecticut,[34] to Gloria Rose (Corbo) and Roger J. Stone.[35] He grew up in the community of Vista, part of the town of Lewisboro, New York, on the Connecticut border. His mother was the president of Meadow Pond Elementary School PTA, a Cub Scout den mother, and occasionally a small-town reporter;[36] his father "Chubby" (also Roger J. Stone) was a well driller[37] and sometime chief of the Vista volunteer Fire Department. He has described his family as middle-class, blue-collar Catholics.[34] His ancestry includes Hungarian and Italian.[38][39]
Stone said that as an elementary school student during the 1960 presidential election, he broke into politics to further John F. Kennedy's presidential campaign: "I remember going through the cafeteria line and telling every kid that Nixon was in favor of school on Saturdays ... It was my first political trick."[37]
When he was a junior and vice president of student government at John Jay High School in northern Westchester County, New York,[40] he manipulated the ouster of the student government president and succeeded him. Stone recalled how he ran for election as president for his senior year: "I built alliances and put all my serious challengers on my ticket. Then I recruited the most unpopular guy in the school to run against me. You think that's mean? No, it's smart."[41]
Given a copy of Barry Goldwater's The Conscience of a Conservative, Stone became drawn to conservatism as a child and a volunteer in Goldwater's 1964 campaign. In 2007, Stone indicated he was a staunch conservative but with libertarian leanings.[37]
As a student at George Washington University in 1972, Stone invited Jeb Stuart Magruder to speak at a Young Republicans Club meeting, then asked Magruder for a job with Richard Nixon's Committee to Re-elect the President.[42] Magruder agreed and Stone then left college to work for the committee.[15] Stone left the university after 1 year.
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Career
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1970s: Nixon campaign, Watergate and Reagan 1976
Stone's political career began in earnest on the 1972 Nixon campaign, with activities such as contributing money to a possible rival of Nixon in the name of the Young Socialist Alliance and then slipping the receipt to the Manchester Union-Leader. Eventually Magruder and Herbert Porter hired Stone to spy on rival presidential campaigns during the 1972 Democratic Party presidential primaries. Stone subsequently hired Michael McMinoway to infiltrate campaigns of candidates such as Edmund Muskie and Hubert Humphrey.[43] He also hired a spy in the Humphrey campaign who became Humphrey's driver. According to Stone, during the day he was officially a scheduler in the Nixon campaign, but "By night, I'm trafficking in the black arts. Nixon's people were obsessed with intelligence."[6] Stone maintains he never did anything illegal during the Watergate scandal.[15] The Richard Nixon Foundation later clarified that Stone had been a 20-year-old junior scheduler on the campaign, and that to characterize Stone as one of Nixon's aides or advisers was a "gross misstatement".[44]
After Nixon won the 1972 presidential election, Stone worked for the administration in the Office of Economic Opportunity.[45] After Nixon resigned, Stone went to work for Bob Dole, but was later fired after columnist Jack Anderson publicly identified Stone as a Nixon "dirty trickster".[46]
In 1975, Stone helped found the National Conservative Political Action Committee, a New Right organization that helped to pioneer independent expenditure political advertising.[47]
In the 1976 Republican Party presidential primaries, he worked in Ronald Reagan's campaign for U.S. President.[15] In 1977, at age 24, Stone won the presidency of the Young Republicans in a campaign managed by his friend Paul Manafort; they had compiled a dossier on each of the 800 delegates that gathered, which they called "whip books".[48]
Stone met Donald Trump in 1979, introduced by Trump attorney and mentor Roy Cohn. Stone was the New York regional political director seeking to raise money for the 1980 Reagan campaign, of which Trump joined the finance committee. Stone said Trump directed him to visit his father, Fred Trump, who gave him $200,000 for the Reagan campaign. Stone recalled in 2017 that he and Donald Trump "hit it off immediately."[49][50]
1980s: Reagan 1980, lobbying, Bush 1988
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Stone went on to serve as chief strategist for Thomas Kean's campaign for Governor of New Jersey in 1981 and for his reelection campaign in 1985.[15]
Stone, the "keeper of the Nixon flame",[51] was an adviser to the former President in his post-presidential years, serving as "Nixon's man in Washington".[52] Stone was a protégé of former Connecticut Governor John Davis Lodge, who introduced the young Stone to former Vice President Nixon in 1967.[53] After Stone was indicted in 2019, the Nixon Foundation released a statement diminishing Stone's ties to Nixon.[54][55][56] John Sears recruited Stone to work in Ronald Reagan's 1980 presidential campaign, coordinating the Northeast. Stone said that Roy Cohn helped him arrange for independent candidate John B. Anderson to get the nomination of the Liberal Party of New York, a move that would help split the opposition to Reagan in the state. Stone said Cohn gave him a suitcase that Stone avoided opening and that, as instructed by Cohn, he dropped off at the office of a lawyer influential in Liberal Party circles. Reagan carried the state with 46% of the vote. Speaking after the statute of limitations for bribery had expired, Stone later said, "I paid his law firm. Legal fees. I don't know what he did for the money, but whatever it was, the Liberal party reached its right conclusion out of a matter of principle."[6]
In 1980, after their key roles in the Reagan campaign, Stone and Manafort decided to go into business together, with partner Charlie Black, creating a political consulting and lobbying firm to cash in on their relationships within the new administration. Black, Manafort & Stone (BMS) became one of Washington D.C.'s first mega-lobbying firms[57][58] and was described as instrumental to the success of Ronald Reagan's 1984 campaign. Republican political strategist Lee Atwater joined the firm in 1985, after serving in the #2 position on Reagan-Bush 1984.
Because of BMS's willingness to represent brutal third-world dictators like Mobutu Sese Seko in Zaire and Ferdinand Marcos in the Philippines, the firm was branded "The Torturers' Lobby". BMS also represented a host of high-powered corporate clients, including Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation, the Tobacco Institute and, starting in the early 1980s, Donald Trump.[59][60][61]
In 1987 and 1988, Stone served as senior adviser to Jack Kemp's presidential campaign, which was managed by consulting partner Charlie Black.[62] In that same election, his other partners worked for George H. W. Bush (Lee Atwater as campaign manager, and Paul Manafort as director of operations in the fall campaign).[63]
In April 1992, Time alleged that Stone was involved with the controversial Willie Horton advertisements to aid George H. W. Bush's 1988 presidential campaign, which were targeted against Democratic opponent Michael Dukakis.[64] Stone has said that he urged Lee Atwater not to include Horton in the ad.[15] Stone denied making or distributing the advertisement, and said it was Atwater's doing.[15]
In the 1990s, Stone and Manafort sold their business. Although their careers went in different directions, their relationship remained close.[citation needed]
1990s: Early work with Donald Trump, Dole 1996
In 1995, Stone was the president of Republican Senator Arlen Specter's campaign for the 1996 Republican Party presidential primaries.[65] Specter withdrew early in the campaign season with less than 2% support.
Stone was for many years a lobbyist for Donald Trump on behalf of his casino business[16] and also was involved in opposing expanded casino gambling in the state of New York, a position that brought him into conflict with Governor George Pataki.[66]
Stone resigned from a post as a consultant to the 1996 presidential campaign for Senator Bob Dole after the National Enquirer reported that Stone had placed ads and pictures on websites and swingers' publications seeking sexual partners for himself and Nydia Bertran Stone, his second wife. Stone initially denied the report.[37][41] On the Good Morning America program he falsely stated, "An exhaustive investigation now indicates that a domestic employee, who I discharged for substance abuse on the second time that we learned that he had a drug problem, is the perpetrator who had access to my home, access to my computer, access to my password, access to my postage meter, access to my post-office box key."[37] In a 2008 interview with The New Yorker, Stone admitted that the ads were authentic.[15]
2000s: Florida recount, Killian memos, conflict with Eliot Spitzer
In the 2000 presidential election, Stone served as the campaign manager for Donald Trump's aborted campaign for President in the 2000 Reform Party presidential primaries.[15] Investigative journalist Wayne Barrett accused Stone of persuading Trump to publicly consider a run for the Reform nomination to sideline Pat Buchanan and sabotage the Reform Party in an attempt to lower their vote total to benefit George W. Bush's campaign.[67]
Later that year, according to Stone and the film Recount, Stone was recruited by James Baker to assist with public relations during the Florida recount.
The Brooks Brothers riot was a demonstration led by Republican staffers at a meeting of election canvassers in Miami-Dade County, Florida, on November 22, 2000, during a recount of votes made during the 2000 United States presidential election, with the goal of shutting down the recount. After demonstrations and acts of violence, local officials shut down the recount early.
The name referenced the protesters' corporate attire; described by Paul Gigot in an editorial for The Wall Street Journal as "50-year-old white lawyers with cell phones and Hermès ties", differentiating them from local citizens concerned about vote counting. Many of the demonstrators were Republican staffers. Both Roger Stone and Brad Blakeman take credit for managing the riot from a command post, although their accounts contradict each other. Republican New York Representative John E. Sweeney gave the signal that started the riot, telling an aide to "shut it down".
In the 2002 New York gubernatorial election, Stone was associated with the campaign of businessman Thomas Golisano for governor of New York State.[66]
During the 2004 presidential campaign, Stone was an advisor (apparently unpaid) to Al Sharpton, a candidate in the Democratic primaries.[68] Defending Stone's involvement, Sharpton said, "I've been talking to Roger Stone for a long time. That doesn't mean that he's calling the shots for me. Don't forget that Bill Clinton was doing more than talking to Dick Morris."[69] Critics suggested that Stone was only working with Sharpton as a way to undermine the Democratic Party's chances of winning the election. Sharpton denies that Stone had any influence over his campaign.[70]
In that election a blogger accused Stone of responsibility for the Kerry–Specter campaign materials which were circulated in Pennsylvania.[71] Such signs were considered controversial because they were seen as an effort to get Democrats who supported Kerry to vote for then Republican Senator Arlen Specter in heavily Democratic Philadelphia.[citation needed]
During the 2004 general election, Stone was accused by then-DNC Chairman Terry McAuliffe of forging the Killian memos that led CBS News to report that President Bush had not fulfilled his service obligations while enlisted in the Texas Air National Guard. McAuliffe cited a report in the New York Post in his accusations. For his part, Stone denied having forged the documents.[15][72]
In 2007, Stone, a top adviser at the time to Joseph Bruno (the Majority Leader of the New York State Senate), was forced to resign by Bruno after allegations that Stone had threatened Bernard Spitzer, the then-83-year-old father of Democratic gubernatorial candidate Eliot Spitzer.[73][74] On August 6, 2007, an expletive-laced message was left on the elder Spitzer's answering machine threatening to prosecute the elderly man if he did not implicate his son in wrongdoing. Bernard Spitzer hired a private detective agency that traced the call to the phone of Roger Stone's wife. Roger Stone denied leaving the message, despite the fact that his voice was recognized, claiming he was at a movie that was later shown not to have been screened that night. Stone was accused on an episode of Hardball with Chris Matthews on August 22, 2007, of being the voice on an expletive-laden voicemail threatening Bernard Spitzer, father of Eliot, with subpoenas.[75][76] Donald Trump is quoted as saying of the incident, "They caught Roger red-handed, lying. What he did was ridiculous and stupid."[15]
Stone consistently denied the reports. Thereafter, however, he resigned from his position as a consultant to the New York State Senate Republican Campaign Committee at Bruno's request.[74]
In January 2008, Stone founded Citizens United Not Timid, an anti-Hillary Clinton 527 group with an intentionally obscene acronym.[77]
Stone is featured in Boogie Man: The Lee Atwater Story, documentary on Lee Atwater made in 2008. He also was featured in Client 9: The Rise and Fall of Eliot Spitzer, the 2010 documentary of the Eliot Spitzer prostitution scandal.
Former Trump aide Sam Nunberg considers Stone his mentor during this time, and "surrogate father".[78]
2010–2014: Libertarian Party involvement and other political activity
In February 2010, Stone became campaign manager for Kristin Davis, a madam linked with the Eliot Spitzer prostitution scandal, in her bid for the Libertarian Party nomination for governor of New York in the 2010 election. Stone said that the campaign "is not a hoax, a prank or a publicity stunt. I want to get her a half-million votes."[79] However, he later was spotted at a campaign rally for Republican gubernatorial candidate Carl Paladino,[80] of whom Stone has spoken favorably.[81] Stone admittedly had been providing support and advice to both campaigns on the grounds that the two campaigns had different goals: Davis was seeking to gain permanent ballot access for her party, and Paladino was in the race to win (and was Stone's preferred candidate). As such, Stone did not believe he had a conflict of interest in supporting both candidates.[82] While working for the Davis campaign, Warren Redlich, the Libertarian nominee for Governor, alleged that Stone collaborated with a group entitled "People for a Safer New York" to send a flyer labeling Redlich a "sexual predator" and "sick, twisted pervert" on the basis of a blog post Redlich had made in 2008.[83] Redlich later sued Stone in a New York court for defamation over the flyers, and sought $20 million in damages. However, the jury in the case returned a verdict in favor of Stone in December 2017, finding that Redlich failed to prove Stone was involved with the flyers.[84]
Stone volunteered as an unpaid adviser to comedian Steve Berke ("a libertarian member of his so-called After Party") in his 2011 campaign for mayor of Miami Beach, Florida in 2012.[85] Berke lost the race to incumbent Mayor Matti Herrera Bower.[86]
In February 2012, Stone said that he had changed his party affiliation from the Republican Party to the Libertarian Party. Stone predicted a "Libertarian moment" in 2016 and the end of the Republican party.[87]
In June 2012, Stone said that he was running a super PAC in support of former New Mexico governor and Libertarian presidential candidate Gary Johnson, whom he had met at a Reason magazine Christmas party two years earlier.[88] Stone told The Huffington Post that Johnson had a real role to play, although "I have no allusions [sic] of him winning."[88]
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Stone considered running as a Libertarian candidate for governor of Florida in 2014, but in May 2013, he said in a statement that he would not run, and that he wanted to devote himself to campaigning in support of the 2014 Florida Amendment 2 referendum legalizing medical cannabis.[89]
2015–2019: Donald Trump campaign and media commentary
Roger Stone was an adviser to the 2016 presidential campaign of Donald Trump.[90] He left the campaign in August 2015, with Stone saying he resigned and Trump saying he was fired.[91] Despite this, Stone continued to support Trump.[92] Stone wrote an op-ed for Business Insider on how Trump could still win.[93] Even after being called a "stone-cold loser" by Trump in 2008, Trump later praised him on Alex Jones' radio show, which Stone arranged.[94] Stone remained an informal adviser and media surrogate for Trump throughout the campaign.[95]
Stone considered running in the 2016 United States Senate election in Florida for the Libertarian nomination but did not enter.[96] During the 2016 campaign, Stone was banned from CNN and MSNBC after making offensive Twitter posts about TV personalities like Ana Navarro ("entitled diva bitch" and imagined her "killing herself") and Roland Martin ("stupid negro" and a "fat negro").[97][98][99] Erik Wemple, media writer for The Washington Post, described Stone's tweets as "nasty" and "bigoted".[98] In June 2016, Stone admitted some regret for his comments on Martin.[97]
In March 2016, the National Enquirer published a story about Ted Cruz's alleged extramarital affairs, quoting Stone.[100] Cruz denied the claims and accused Stone and the Trump campaign of orchestrating a smear.[100] Cruz called Stone a "dirty trickster" and said he encouraged violence, while Stone compared Cruz to Nixon and called him a liar.[101]
In April 2016, Stone formed the pro-Trump group Stop the Steal and threatened "Days of Rage" if Republican leaders denied Trump the nomination at the Republican National Convention.[102][95] The Washington Post reported Stone organized Trump supporters as a force of intimidation and threatened to publicize hotel room numbers of anti-Trump delegates, which Reince Priebus condemned.[95]
After Trump was criticized by Khizr Khan at the 2016 Democratic National Convention, Stone defended Trump and accused Khan of sympathizing with the enemy.[103] According to The Times of Israel, Stone was in contact with well-connected Israelis during the campaign, with one promising "critical intell[sic]."[104][21]
The 2017 Netflix documentary Get Me Roger Stone focused on Stone's life and career. When asked about his sexuality, Stone replied, "I'm trysexual. I've tried everything".[105] Stone criticized Saudi Arabia and Trump's visit to Riyadh, suggesting the Saudi government or royal family supported the September 11 attacks and should pay for them.[106][107]
During the campaign, Stone promoted conspiracy theories, including the false claim that Huma Abedin was connected to the Muslim Brotherhood.[108] In December 2018, Stone retracted a false claim that Guo Wengui had donated to Hillary Clinton.[109]
On September 10, 2020, Stone told InfoWars that if Trump lost the 2020 United States presidential election, he should consider declaring martial law under the Insurrection Act, seize ballots in Nevada, and arrest business and political figures like Tim Cook, Mark Zuckerberg, and the Clintons, and shut down The Daily Beast for "seditious" activities.[110][111] Stone also said the president should arrest The Daily Beast staff for "seditious" activities.[112]
After the 2020 election, Stone spread false claims of voter fraud, including one about North Korean boats delivering ballots to Maine, which the Secretary of State of Maine dismissed as baseless.[113] Stone called Trump "the greatest president since Abraham Lincoln" in a 2020 interview.[114] Stone has said he would support Trump in a 2024 run and criticized Ron DeSantis for "disloyalty".[115]
Stone supported Russia during its 2022 invasion of Ukraine, claiming Vladimir Putin was acting defensively to stop a non-existent U.S.-funded biological weapons program.[116][117]
2020s: Canada political organizing, radio host
On April 25, 2022, the Ontario Party announced that Stone had joined their campaign team as a Senior Strategic Advisor for the 2022 Ontario general election.[118] According to the media release issued by the Ontario Party, Stone had previously joined party leader Derek Sloan to address the party's candidate convention and criticized Ontario Premier Doug Ford's approach to conservatism.[118]
In June 2023, Stone launched The Roger Stone Show on WABC radio, which became syndicated in September 2024.[119] Stone became a weekday host on WABC in February 2025.
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Proud Boys ties
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In early 2018, ahead of an appearance at the annual Republican Dorchester Conference in Salem, Oregon, Stone sought out the Proud Boys, a radical right group known for street violence, to act as his "security" for the event; photos posted online showed Stone drinking with several Proud Boys.[120][121][122] After his arraignment at the Miami federal courthouse in January 2019, they joined him on its steps holding signs that read, "Roger Stone is innocent," and promoting right-wing conspiracy theorist Alex Jones and his InfoWars website. Proud Boys founder Gavin McInnes said Stone was "one of the three approved media figures allowed to speak" about the group. When Stone was asked by a local reporter about the Proud Boys' claim that he had been initiated as a member of the group, he responded by calling the reporter a member of the Communist Party.[122] He is particularly close to the group's former leader, Enrique Tarrio, who has commercially monetized his position.[122] At a televised Trump rally in Miami, Florida, on February 18, 2019, Tarrio was seated directly behind President Trump wearing a "Roger Stone did nothing wrong" tee shirt.[123]
The Washington Post reported in February 2021 that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) was investigating any role Stone might have had in influencing the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers in their participation in the 2021 storming of the United States Capitol.[124]
Connections with WikiLeaks and Russian espionage before the 2016 United States elections
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During the 2016 campaign, Roger Stone was accused by Hillary Clinton 2016 presidential campaign chairman John Podesta of having prior knowledge of the publishing by WikiLeaks of Podesta's private emails obtained by Russian hackers.[125] Stone tweeted before the leak, "It will soon [sic] the Podesta's time in the barrel." Five days before the leak, Stone tweeted, "Wednesday Hillary Clinton is done. #Wikileaks."[126] Stone denied having advance knowledge of the Podesta email hack or any connection to Russian intelligence, stating his tweet referred to reports of the Podesta Group's ties to Russia.[127][128] In his opening statement before the United States House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence on September 26, 2017, Stone reiterated this claim.[129]
Stone admitted he had established a back-channel with WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to obtain information on Hillary Clinton, naming Randy Credico as his intermediary.[130][125][129] A January 2019 indictment claimed Stone communicated with additional contacts knowledgeable about WikiLeaks' plans.[131][132] The FBI investigated Stone's contacts with Russian operatives, including direct messaging with Guccifer 2.0, a persona linked to Russian military intelligence.[133] U.S. intelligence agencies believe Guccifer 2.0 was a persona created by Russian intelligence to obscure its role in the DNC hack.[134] The Guccifer 2.0 persona was ultimately linked to an IP address associated with the Russian military GRU intelligence agency in Moscow.[135]
In March 2017, the Senate Intelligence Committee asked Stone to preserve all documents related to any Russian contacts.[136] Stone denied wrongdoing and expressed willingness to testify.[126] The Committee's final report in August 2020 found that Stone had access to WikiLeaks and that Trump had spoken to Stone and other associates about it multiple times. The Committee also found that WikiLeaks "very likely knew it was assisting a Russian intelligence influence effort".[137][138][139]
Congressional testimony and social media conduct
On September 26, 2017, Stone testified before the House Intelligence Committee behind closed doors and made personal attacks on Democratic committee members.[140] On October 28, 2017, Stone's Twitter account was suspended for targeted abuse of CNN personnel.[141] Stone also sent threatening messages to witness Randy Credico, warning him against testifying and making threats regarding his safety and that of his dog.[142][143][144][145][146]
Charges
Arrest and indictment
On January 25, 2019, Stone was arrested at his Fort Lauderdale, Florida home by FBI agents on seven criminal charges: one count of obstructing an official proceeding, five counts of false statements, and one count of witness tampering.[147][23][148] He was released on a $250,000 bond and vowed to fight the charges, which he called politically motivated.[149][150] Prosecutors alleged that after the first WikiLeaks release of hacked DNC emails in July 2016, a senior Trump campaign official was directed to contact Stone about any additional releases and determine what other damaging information WikiLeaks had regarding the Clinton campaign. Stone then told the Trump campaign about potential future releases of damaging material by WikiLeaks.[131][151]
On February 18, 2019, Stone posted on Instagram a photo of the federal judge overseeing his case, Amy Berman Jackson, with what resembled rifle scope crosshairs next to her head. Later that day, Stone filed an apology with the court. Jackson then imposed a full gag order on Stone, citing her belief that Stone would "pose a danger" to others without the order.[152]
Trial and conviction
Stone's trial began on November 6, 2019, at the United States District Court for the District of Columbia.[153] Randy Credico testified that Stone urged and threatened him to prevent him from testifying to Congress.[154] Stone had testified to Congress that Credico was his WikiLeaks go-between, but prosecutors said this was a lie in order to protect Jerome Corsi. During the November 12 testimony, former Trump campaign deputy chairman Rick Gates testified that Stone told campaign associates in April 2016 of WikiLeaks' plans to release documents, far earlier than previously known. Gates also testified that Trump had spoken with Stone about the forthcoming releases.[155]
On November 15, 2019, after a week-long trial and two days of deliberations, the jury convicted Stone on all counts: obstruction, making false statements, and witness tampering.[156][157][158]
Sentencing, intervention, and clemency
On February 20, 2020, Judge Amy Berman Jackson sentenced Stone to 40 months in federal prison and a $20,000 fine, but allowed him to delay the start of his sentence pending resolution of post-trial motions.[159] The Justice Department's original recommendation of seven to nine years was reduced after intervention by senior officials, following public criticism by President Trump.[160] This led to all four prosecutors withdrawing from the case.[161] The intervention was widely criticized as political interference in the U.S. justice system.[162]
On July 10, 2020, President Trump commuted Stone's sentence, removing his jail time days before he was to report to prison.[162] On December 23, 2020, Trump issued a full pardon to Stone.[163]
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2020 United States presidential election, January 6 United States Capitol attack and later political career
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On November 5, 2020, two days after the presidential election, Stone dictated a message saying that "any legislative body" that has "overwhelming evidence of fraud" can choose their own electors to cast Electoral College votes.[164]
A video released to the public in August 2023 showed that Stone had been pushing to overturn the states' election results two days before the election was called for Joe Biden. According to the New Republic, this contradicted Donald Trump's defense that he and his allies genuinely believed they had won the race.[165]
On December 12, at a Washington, DC rally, Stone urged followers to "fight until the bitter end".[166] He appeared at the "Stop the Steal" rally on January 5, at Freedom Plaza, telling the crowd that the president's enemies sought "nothing less than the heist of the 2020 election and we say, No way!" And "... we will win this fight or America will step off into a thousand years of darkness. We dare not fail. I will be with you tomorrow shoulder to shoulder."[167][168]
The Washington Post reported that video footage showed Stone meeting with the Oath Keepers, a militia group indicted for seditious conspiracy for their role in the storming of the Capitol, on the day of the attack. In the weeks afterwards he pressured the Trump administration for a pardon of all Members of Congress who supported overturning the 2020 election, including Ted Cruz, Josh Hawley, Jim Jordan, and Matt Gaetz.[169]
On November 22, 2021, the House Select Committee on the January 6 Attack subpoenaed Stone and Alex Jones for testimony and documents by December 17 and 6, respectively.[170] Stone agreed to appear before the committee, but invoked the Fifth Amendment and refused to answer the committee's questions during a 51 minute period.[171][172] Stone also sued to prevent a subpoena of his AT&T cell phone metadata by the committee.[173] The committee also revealed ties between Stone and the Proud Boys extremist group.[174]
On December 23, 2021, Stone urged a judge to dismiss a lawsuit filed against him by eight Capitol Police officers, alleging that he is responsible for inciting a crowd of former President Donald Trump's supporters to riot on January 6, 2021.[175] Video evidence later surfaced of him telling Trump supporters on November 2, 2020, that they had "the right to violence."[176]
In January 2024, further controversy arose from a tape being released in which Stone discusses assassinating Democratic politicians Eric Swalwell and Jerry Nadler.[177] Stone denied the recording as a "poorly fabricated AI-generated fraud", while it was reported that the US Capitol Police were investigating the matter after the audio's release.[178]
In 2025, Stone accused the Navy veteran, former astronaut, and current Arizona Democratic Senator Mark Kelly of treason and called for his execution for questioning Trump's crypto connections, meme coins and activities.[179]
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Personal life
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Stone married his first wife Anne Elizabeth Wesche in 1974. Using the name Ann E.W. Stone, she founded the group Republicans for Choice in 1989. They divorced in 1990.[180]
Stone's personal style has been described as flamboyant.[68][181] In a 2007 Weekly Standard profile written by Matt Labash, Stone was described as a "lord of mischief" and the "boastful black prince of Republican sleaze".[6][182] Labash wrote that Stone "often sets his pronouncements off with the utterance 'Stone's Rules,' signifying to listeners that one of his shot-glass commandments is coming down, a pithy dictate uttered with the unbending certitude one usually associates with the Book of Deuteronomy." Examples of Stone's Rules include "Politics with me isn't theater. It's performance art, sometimes for its own sake."[6]
Stone does not wear socks – a fact that Nancy Reagan brought to her husband's attention during his 1980 presidential campaign.[183] Labash described him as "a dandy by disposition who boasts of having not bought off-the-rack since he was 17", who has "taught reporters how to achieve perfect double-dimples underneath their tie knots".[182] Washington journalist Victor Gold has noted Stone's reputation as one of the "smartest dressers" in Washington.[184] Stone's longtime tailor is Alan Flusser. Stone dislikes single-vent jackets (describing them as the sign of a "heathen"), saying he owns 100 silver-colored neckties and has 100 suits in storage.[6] Fashion stories have been written about him in GQ and Penthouse.[6] Stone has written of his dislike for jeans and ascots and has praised seersucker three-piece suits, as well as Madras jackets in the summertime and velvet blazers in the winter.[185][186]
In 1999, Stone credited his facial appearance to "decades of following a regimen of Chinese herbs, breathing therapies, tai chi and acupuncture."[41] Stone wears a diamond pinky ring in the shape of a horseshoe and in 2007 he had Richard Nixon's face tattooed on his back.[6] He has said: "I like English tailoring, I like Italian shoes. I like French wine. I like vodka martinis with an olive, please. I like to keep physically fit."[187] Stone's office in Florida has been described as a "Hall of Nixonia" with framed pictures, posters, bongs,[188] and letters associated with Nixon.[6]
Federal civil tax evasion suit
In April 2021, the Justice Department filed a civil suit against Stone and his wife to recover about $2 million (~$2.22 million in 2023) in alleged unpaid federal taxes, asserting they had used a commercial entity to shield their income and fund their personal expenses.[189][190] In 2022, Stone agreed to pay more than $2 million in taxes as part of a settlement.[191]
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Books and other writings
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Since 2010, Stone has been an occasional contributor to the conservative website The Daily Caller.[192][185] Stone also writes for his own fashion blog, Stone on Style.[185]
Stone has written five books, all published by Skyhorse Publishing of New York City.[193] His books have been described as "hatchet jobs" by the Miami Herald[194] and Tampa Bay Times.[195]
- The Man Who Killed Kennedy: The Case Against LBJ (with Mike Colapietro contributing) (Skyhorse Publishing, 2013): Stone contends that Lyndon B. Johnson was behind a conspiracy to kill John F. Kennedy and was complicit in at least six other murders.[186] In a review for The Washington Times, Hugh Aynesworth wrote: "The title pretty much explains the book's theory. If a reader doesn't let facts get in the way, it could be an interesting adventure."[196] Aynesworth, who covered the assassination for the Dallas Morning News, said that the book "is totally full of all kinds of crap".[194] The book, which was a New York Times Best Seller, has 4.5 out of 5 stars on Amazon.com with 4,837 global ratings. [197]
- Nixon's Secrets: The Rise, Fall and Untold Truth about the President, Watergate, and the Pardon (Skyhorse Publishing, 2014): Stone discusses Richard Nixon and his career. About two-thirds of the book "is a conventional biography that is by no means a whitewash of Nixon. Stone writes that the President took campaign money from the mob, had a long-running affair with a Hong Kong woman who may have been a Chinese spy,[198][199][200][201][202][203] and even once unwittingly smuggled three pounds (1.4 kg) of marijuana into the United States when carrying the suitcase of jazz great Louis Armstrong." The remaining one-third of the book is an unconventional account of the Watergate scandal.[194] Stone portrays Nixon as a "confused victim" and claims that John Dean orchestrated the break-in (which he depicts as ordinary politics of the time[204]) to cover up involvement in a prostitution ring. This account is rejected by experts, such as Watergate researchers Anthony Summers and Max Holland. Holland said of Stone: "He's out of his ever-lovin' mind."[194] Dean said in 2014 that Stone's book and his defense of Nixon are "typical of the alternative universe out there" and "pure bullshit".[205]
- The Clintons' War on Women (with Robert Morrow of Austin, Texas) (Skyhorse Publishing, 2015): This book, according to Politico, is a "sensational" work that contains "explosive, but highly dubious, revelations about both Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton", with a focus on Bill Clinton sexual misconduct allegations, and a claim that Webster Hubbell is the biological father of Chelsea Clinton. This book was promoted by Trump, who posted a Twitter message containing the book's Amazon.com page.[206] David Corn, writing in Mother Jones, writes that the book is "apparently designed to smear the Clintons – by depicting Bill as a serial rapist, Hillary as an enabler, and both members of the power couple as a diabolical duo bent on destroying anyone who stands in their way" and said that the book was part of a wider "extreme anti-Clinton project" by Stone.[193]
- Jeb! and the Bush Crime Family: The Inside Story of an American Dynasty (with Saint John Hunt) (Skyhorse Publishing, 2016): The book focuses on Jeb Bush and the Bush family.[195]
- The Making of the President 2016: How Donald Trump Orchestrated a Revolution (Skyhorse Publishing, 2017): Susan J. McWilliams, Professor of Politics at Pomona College, wrote in her review of the book that "[a]side from some minor revelations about how long Trump planned what would later appear to be spontaneous decisions – he trademarked the slogan "Make America Great Again" in 2013 – there's very little Trump, doing very little orchestrating, in these pages" and that "[t]here are many provocative political musings here, but they get lost in Stone's avaricious appetite for self-promotion and grudge-holding."[207]
- Stone's Rules: How to Win at Politics, Business, and Style (Skyhorse Publishing, 2018)
- The Myth of Russian Collusion: The Inside Story of How Donald Trump REALLY Won (Skyhorse Publishing, 2019) (paperback edition of Stone's 2016 book The Making of the President 2016 with an added "Introduction 2019")[208]
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See also
Notes
- Name as rendered in the 2019 federal indictment.[1] As The Washington Post put it: "He was born Roger Joseph Stone Jr. in Norwalk, Conn., on Aug. 27, 1952... Birth and college records list his name that way, but at some point Stone adopted 'Jason' as his middle name".[2]
References
External links
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