Topline: A federal jury on Friday found Roger Stone guilty of lying to Congress and witness tampering in relation to his work on President Trump’s 2016 campaign, which means the longtime Republican operative joins the roster of former Trump associates who ran afoul of the law as a result of Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian election interference.
Michael Cohen, Trump’s former personal lawyer, was sentenced in December 2018 to three years of prison for lying to Congress, campaign finance violations and tax evasion, and separately received an additional two months of prison time for lying to Congress about a Moscow Trump Tower deal.
George Papadopoulos, a former Trump foreign policy advisor, was sentenced in September 2018 to 14 days in prison (with a year of supervised release) after pleading guilty to lying to FBI agents about his contacts with Russian intermediaries during the 2016 campaign; he filed in October to run for Katie Hill’s vacant California Congressional seat.
Paul Manafort, Trump’s former campaign manager, was found guilty by a Virginia court of tax and bank fraud in August 2018, and in November 2018 voided his plea deal (by lying to investigators) in separate federal charges brought by Mueller; he’s currently serving a combined seven and a half years in prison from both cases.
Rick Gates, a former deputy to Manafort during the Trump campaign, pleaded guilty in February 2018 to charges of conspiracy against the United States and making false statements; despite a plea bargain, he faces between four to six years in prison, but his sentencing date has yet to happen—partially because he testified against Stone.
Michael Flynn, Trump’s former national security advisor, pleaded guilty in December 2017 to lying to the FBI but nearly two years later has yet to be sentenced; his sentencing has been scheduled for early December, but could be upended by a new claim of innocence filed in federal court. What to watch for: Stone’s February 6 sentencing date.
He could face a maximum penalty of 50 years in prison, based on his charges. But the Washington Post reported that Stone, as a first-time offender, will likely serve less time according to federal sentencing guidelines.
President Trump, who has long claimed the Russia investigation was a “hoax” and a “witch hunt.” He tweeted shortly after Stone’s sentencing asking if Hillary Clinton and James Comey were liars—along with a list of former and current federal officials he’s also attacked—and suggested a “double standard” was to blame.
This from his twitter feed yesterday...
"So they now convict Roger Stone of lying and want to jail him for many years to come. Well, what about Crooked Hillary, Comey, Strzok, Page, McCabe, Brennan, Clapper, Shifty Schiff, Ohr & Nellie, Steele & all of the others, including even Mueller himself? Didn’t they lie?. "
He is worse than a child...''What about them?, they did it too?
Here is an interesting and surprising fact...Roger Stone was the last person indicted by Robert Mueller as part of the Russia investigation.
Mr. Stone, you'll remember was arrested in a pre-dawn FBI raid at his Florida home on January 24. It looked like a TV show raid..
34. THIRTY FOUR! Think about that number..That’s how many people Robert Mueller's investigation ended up convicting or indicting.
Think about this now, Roger Stone worked for Donald Trump’s campaign as an adviser. He officially left the campaign in 2015 but remained a consultant through its conclusion.
Roger Stone was accused of working to obtain emails that were hacked by Russia from a Democratic National Committee (DNC) server and released through Wikileaks. According to prosecutors, Roger Stone contacted Trump just hours after the DNC said it was hacked by Russia.
Roger Stone’s political career began with a stint working for Richard Nixon of all people, and he sports a tattoo of the late president on his back....That ought to go well in Prison.!
No comments:
Post a Comment