Donald Trump adviser Roger Stone has been convicted on all seven counts he was facing, including charges of lying to Congress and witness tampering, both in direct relationship to Stone’s role as a liaison between WikiLeaks and the Trump campaign.
Stone’s conviction brings to a close the last-known case begun under special counsel Robert Mueller. Though Stone claimed he was “not intentionally dishonest” and tried to pass off his actions as politics as usual, jurors sided with federal prosecutors who made a compelling case that Stone undertook his actions to assist the Trump campaign, and both lied and intimidated to cover up the WikiLeaks connection because the truth would have been embarrassing to Trump—embarrassing in the sense that, among other things, the truth showed that Trump also lied in his written responses to the special counsel’s office.
Throughout the trial, Stone repeatedly violated a gag order issued by Judge Amy Berman Jackson. At the hearing on Friday, lead prosecutor Jonathan Kravis reported that Stone had continued to violate that order, including on Thursday, when Stone got a note to propagandist Alex Jones. On a Thursday broadcast, Jones declared that “Roger Stone's message” was that he expected to be convicted and he was looking for a miracle to save him.
Those testifying against Stone included Trump deputy campaign chair Rick Gates, who delivered devastating testimony showing how Stone worked to connect the campaign and WikiLeaks. Additional blows came from statements that highlighted Stone’s efforts to subvert testimony by right-wing radio host Randy Credico. In addition to telling Credico to mimic a character who lied under oath in the Godfather movies, Stone texted him, “Stonewall it. Plead the fifth. Anything to save the plan.” For those seeking evidence of a conspiracy in the Trump campaign, Stone’s statements make it clear that, at every level of the campaign, right up to Trump, there were both collusion to work with WikiLeaks in using stolen material and a conspiracy to cover up that effort.
Stone’s trial took just over a week. Jurors deliberated for just over a day before finding him guilty on all charges. The charge of tampering with a federal witness alone could bring a potential sentence of 20 years, and it is likely prosecutors will ask for a sentence measured in decades. However, Stone has made it clear—including in his note to Jones—that he is seeking a pardon from Trump.
Stone has been released pending sentencing. The gag order remains in effect. Trump has already tweeted about Stone’s conviction and provided a list of those who he thinks should go to jail, including House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff and, of course, Hillary Clinton.
