Roger Stone Wiki – Biography
Roger Jason Stone Jr. is an American political consultant, author, and lobbyist. In November 2019, subsequent to the Mueller Report and Special Counsel investigation, he was convicted on seven counts, including witness tampering and lying to investigators.
This is a horrible and very unfair situation. The real crimes were on the other side, as nothing happens to them. Cannot allow this miscarriage of justice! https://t.co/rHPfYX6Vbv
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 11, 2020
Roger Stone Age
He is 67 years old.
Personal Life and Career
Stone has twice been married, first to Anne Wesche, from 1974 to 1990, and then to Nydia Bertran in 1992, to whom he is still married. Stone has two stepchildren, Adria and Scott, who are Nydia’s children from a previous relationship.
Stone first entered the political arena in 1972 when he began working for President Richard Nixon. He would go on to work on campaigns for Presidents Reagan, H.W. Bush and then Trump. This is not the first time Stone has been part of a congressional hearing. In 1973, during the Watergate hearings, it came to light that Stone recruited a spy to infiltrate the campaigns of Nixon’s Democratic presidential rivals.
Stone began working for Trump in the 1990s, suggesting as early as 1998 that Trump run for president. He was hired in 2015 to work on the campaign but was fired later that same year for being a “publicity seeker.” Still, he continued to work behind the scenes to help get Trump elected.
Charges and Arrested
Roger Stone, former adviser to President Trump, was sentenced to 40 months (just over 3 years) in prison on Thursday, February 20, by Judge Amy Berman Jackson after being convicted on seven charges of obstruction, lying to Congress and witness tampering in November 2019. The judge also gave him 24 months probation.
In the sentencing, Judge Jackson also considered whether to punish Stone for repeatedly violating a court gag order during the trial.
During the sentencing hearing, Judge Jackson said that sentencing guidelines are advisory, not mandatory and that she has “the authority and the duty” to decide what is the appropriate sentence for Stone, according to USA Today legal correspondent Kristine Phillips. Jackson also said that sentencing should be higher due to the threats that Stone sent to Randy Credico, a potential congressional witness. The judge said that a threat only needs to exist in order to trigger a longer sentence, even if the threat was not acted upon or even if the recipient of said threat did not feel threatened.
The judge said that the prosecution-recommended seven to nine years was too harsh, but probation, which the defense was asking for, was too lenient. She also said that the sentence should be decided by a neutral arbiter, not someone who was a longtime friend of Stone or someone whose political career was helped by Stone.
Who is Brittan Atkinson? Wiki, Biography, Age, Charged over Sending Death Threat, Arrested, Investigation report
Jackson did agree with the defense that Stone’s crimes did not rise to the level of an extensive scheme, but she then said that Stone violating her gag order was an aggravating factor in his sentence, citing his social media posts and his book that was re-released during the trial. The book is called “The Myth of Russian Collusion: The Inside Story of How Donald Trump REALLY Won” and in the new introduction, Stone said that Robert Mueller “tried to implicate” him in the WikiLeaks’ plan to release information that was damaging to Hillary Clinton’s presidential bid.
“The defendant engaged in a threatening and intimidating conduct towards the court,” said Jackson of Stone’s violation of the gag order, adding that Stone’s behavior was “designed” to disrupt proceedings and foster outrage against the prosecutors, judge, and jury.
Stone chose not to speak during the sentencing hearing. Here’s what you need to know about the sentencing and trial.
Investigation Report
Stone, 67, is the latest in a line of political advisers to President Trump who has been sentenced as part of Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. Stone was found guilty on five counts of lying to Congress, one count of witness tampering and one of obstructing a congressional committee proceeding.
The other advisers who either pleaded guilty or were found guilty in the probe include Trump’s former lawyer Michael Cohen, former campaign manager Paul Manafort, former campaign adviser George Papadopoulos, Manafort’s associates Alex van der Zwaan and Rick Gates, and Richard Pinedo, a California resident who sold fake online identities to Russians.
Gates was a witness in Stone’s trial, testifying that he overheard a phone call between Stone and Trump in July 2016 where Trump seemed to discuss WikiLeaks with Stone. Former Trump strategist Stephen K. Bannon was also a key witness for the prosecution, testifying that the campaign viewed Stone as a liaison to WikiLeaks who claimed to know about its plans even before the Russian hacking of Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta and from the servers of the Democratic National Committee was made public.
Stone’s defensive team maintained that there was “no collusion” with Russia, arguing that Stone was a hapless victim who got caught up in the dealings with Russia. Judge Jackson agreed that Stone was not convicted of conspiring with the Russians, but that that is not relevant to the case against him because Stone’s charges stem from obstruction, lying to Congress and witness tampering, which all happened during the Russia investigation.
The judge said that not only did Stone lie to the House Intelligence Committee, but he also took steps to cover up the lie. She also said Stone “took it upon himself to lie, to impede, to obstruct before the investigation was complete, in an endeavor to influence the result.”