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Friday, November 15, 2019

Trump ally Roger Stone is convicted of lying to the US Congress

Political advisor was investigated for involvement in spreading stolen Democratic Party documents with WikiLeaks aid in 2016 elections


Roger Stone , longtime friend and campaign adviser to President Donald Trump , was convicted on Friday, 15. The political adviser was found guilty of seven crimes in an investigation into Russian influence in the 2016 elections. Prosecutors alleged that he lied to lawmakers about his involvement with WikiLeaks, coerced witnesses and obstructed a House Intelligence Committee investigation into the case by refusing to hand over the requested documents.
Stone was arrested in January, but later released on bail for his involvement in disclosing thousands of stolen Democratic Party documents in 2016 to bolster the Republican White House campaign. He would have used WikiLeaks to perform the task. Stone, 67, was indicted as part of the investigation conducted by Special Prosecutor Robert Mueller.
Stone and Trump have been friends for three decades. He was Trump's formal advisor in 2015 and in subsequent years kept in touch with the then Republican candidate and his collaborators. Prior to the 2016 elections, he was in contact with WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, whom he considered "a hero."
In the case of the Democrats' data leak, Stone has always denied contact with Russia and WikiLeaks. But US intelligence agents proved that he had exchanged messages with “Guccifer 2.0,” a Twitter profile used by Russian military personnel. Among the leaked documents in 2015 were the personal emails of then-Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton from the time she was secretary of state. The former senator used personal accounts - rather than those provided by the State Department, with a high level of security - to handle her official duties. Stone has been considered a "hotspot" for WikiLeaks.
The political adviser's lawyers deny that he lied to Congress, or that he tried to protect Donald Trump in any way during the investigations.
In his investigation, Mueller found no evidence that Trump's campaign or the Republican himself acted directly with Russia during the elections. The prosecutor, however, said he was the victim of several attempts by the president to end his investigation. Despite the finding, he said formally accusing Trump was not an option to consider, as the Justice Department is not allowed to prosecute an incumbent president. Still, the Constitution provides for the possibility for Congress to initiate an impeachment process.

Trump is currently the subject of a lawsuit overturning his mandate led by House Democrats for his involvement in another scandal involving Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky.

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