Roger Stone's Legal Troubles: What Laws Were Broken?

Roger Stone, a former campaign adviser to U.S. President Donald Trump, was convicted of seven felonies, including lying to Congress, witness tampering, and obstructing a congressional investigation. Stone was a colourful Republican political operative, known for his flamboyant style and self-description as a dirty trickster. He was arrested in 2019 and sentenced to 40 months in prison, but his sentence was commuted by Trump in 2020, and he was pardoned in 2020.

Lying to Congress

Roger Stone, a former campaign adviser to U.S. President Donald Trump, was convicted on seven counts of lying to Congress, obstruction of justice, and witness tampering. The charges were brought about by Robert Mueller, the former special counsel tasked with investigating Russian interference in the 2016 election.

Stone was found to have lied about his contacts with WikiLeaks and his efforts to learn more about when they would publish damaging emails about Hillary Clinton in 2016. He also lied about the existence of certain texts or emails. Stone maintained that the case against him was politically motivated.

Witness tampering, the most serious of the charges, carries a sentence of up to 20 years in prison. Stone was sentenced to 40 months in prison, but this was commuted by Trump.

The law prohibits individuals from knowingly and willfully making false statements or representations in any matter within the jurisdiction of the legislative branch of the U.S. government. This includes making false statements during congressional hearings, in reports or documents submitted to Congress, or in other communications with congressional officials.

Individuals found guilty of lying to Congress can face fines, imprisonment, or both. The specific penalties may vary depending on the nature and circumstances of the offence.

Obstructing an official proceeding

In January 2019, Roger Stone was arrested at his Fort Lauderdale, Florida, home in connection with Robert Mueller's Special Counsel investigation and charged with one count of obstructing an official proceeding, five counts of making false statements, and one count of witness tampering.

> (c) Whoever corruptly—

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> (1) alters, destroys, mutilates, or conceals a record, document, or other object, or attempts to do so, with the intent to impair the object's integrity or availability for use in an official proceeding; or

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> (2) otherwise obstructs, influences, or impedes any official proceeding, or attempts to do so,

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> shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than 20 years, or both.

The term "official proceeding" is defined in 18 U.S.C. § 1515(a)(1) to include proceedings before federal judges, Congress, federal government agencies, and regulators of insurance businesses.

In Stone's case, he was found guilty of obstructing a congressional investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. Specifically, he was accused of making false statements relating to the identity of a person he had referred to as his "back-channel" or "intermediary" to the head of WikiLeaks, and then urging that person to either corroborate this false account or to plead the Fifth Amendment.

Stone's trial began on November 6, 2019, and on November 15, 2019, he was convicted on all seven felony counts. He was sentenced to 40 months in prison and a $20,000 fine. However, days before he was scheduled to report to prison, his sentence was commuted by President Trump. Trump later pardoned Stone on December 23, 2020.

Witness tampering

Roger Stone was found guilty of witness tampering in 2019. The witness in question was Randy Credico, a New York radio host and comedian who scored an interview with WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange in 2016.

Stone had initially told the House Intelligence Committee that Credico was his intermediary to Assange. However, this was later proven to be false. Stone then urged Credico to corroborate his false account or to plead the Fifth Amendment to avoid testifying. Credico ultimately invoked his Fifth Amendment right in response to a Committee subpoena.

Stone also threatened Credico, telling him that he would "take that dog away from you", referring to Credico's therapy dog, Bianca. In addition, Stone instructed Credico to ""do a 'Frank Pentangeli,', a reference to a character in 'The Godfather: Part II' who lies before Congress.

Stone was convicted on all seven counts in the federal indictment, which also included lying to Congress and obstructing the House investigation into whether the Trump campaign coordinated with Russia to influence the 2016 election. He was sentenced to 40 months in prison, but his sentence was commuted by President Trump just days before he was scheduled to report to prison. Trump later pardoned Stone in December 2020.

Making false statements

Roger Stone was charged with five counts of making false statements to Congress about his contacts with the Trump campaign and WikiLeaks. He was also charged with witness tampering and obstruction of justice.

During the trial, prosecutors presented evidence that Stone had exchanged messages with Assange in 2017 and orchestrated hundreds of fake Facebook accounts and bloggers to spread political propaganda on social media. They also pointed to Stone's public statements, such as his tweet saying, "It will soon [be] the Podesta's time in the barrel," referring to John Podesta, chairman of Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign.

Ultimately, the jury convicted Stone on all seven felony counts, including the five counts of making false statements. He was sentenced to 40 months in prison and a $20,000 fine. However, his sentence was commuted by President Trump a few days before he was scheduled to report to prison.

Threatening a witness

Roger Stone was found guilty of witness tampering by urging comedian Randy Credico to corroborate a false account, or to tell the House Intelligence Committee that he could not remember the relevant events, or to invoke his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination to avoid testifying.

Stone was sentenced to 40 months in prison for witness tampering and lying to Congress. He was also fined $20,000. Stone was the seventh presidential associate to face jail time for crimes stemming from the investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election.

In text messages and emails to Credico, Stone wrote: "If you testify you're a fool... I guarantee you you [sic] are the one who gets indicted for perjury if you're stupid enough to testify." He also wrote: "You are a rat. A stoolie... Keep running your mouth and I'll file a bar complaint against your friend." In another message, Stone wrote: "Prepare to die cock sucker."

In response to these messages, Judge Amy Berman Jackson said that Stone's actions were part of a "corrupt and unlawful campaign to tamper with a witness."

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