Getty Roger Stone, a former advisor to President Donald Trump, exits the Federal Courthouse after he's indicted in Mueller probe.
Roger Stone’s net worth was estimated at $5 million by CelebrityNetWorth.com.
Stone, a political operative, author, pundit, self-described “dirty trickster,” and longtime adviser to President Donald Trump was indicted in special counsel Bob Mueller’s investigation on seven counts related to charges of lying about his contacts with the Trump campaign about WikiLeaks. He has vowed to plead not guilty to all charges.
Stone has been involved in Republican politics for years. He has worked for the campaigns of Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, Jack Kemp, and Bob Dole.
In 1980, he co-founded a Washington lobbying firm with Reagan adviser Charles Black and Paul Manafort, who went on to head Trump’s 2016 campaign and has also been indicted and convicted in the Mueller probe.
More recently, Stone has been a frequent guest on conspiracy theorist Alex Jones’ “InfoWars” show, an occasional fashion blogger at the conservative news outlet The Daily Caller, and has written five books.
Here’s what you need to know:
1. Roger Stone is a Longtime Republican Operative
Stone began his political career as an aide for Richard Nixon’s 1972 re-election campaign, Vox reported. Though he has admitted to underhanded dealings, he denied doing anything illegal during Watergate, which forced Nixon out of office during his second term. He was later fired from his job for Sen. Bob Dole over “dirty tricks” he pulled during his time on the Nixon campaign.
He joined the Regan campaign in 1976 and a year later won the presidency of the Young Republicans, thanks to his friend and campaign manager Paul Manafort.
Manafort and Stone briefly worked on Reagan’s 1980 campaign before launching a lobbying firm with fellow Reagan adviser Charlie Black.
In 2000, Stone became the campaign manager of Trump’s short-lived campaign for the Reform Party presidential nomination.
He worked for various politicos in New York before helping Trump launch his 2016 campaign.
2. Stone Was Behind Trump’s Presidential Run
Stone met Trump in the 1980s and Trump hired Stone and Manafort’s lobbying firm to do PR for him, Vox reported.
In 1987, Stone urged Trump to launch a presidential bid, though Trump later decided against it.
Stone convinced Trump to run for the Reform Party nomination for president in 1999 but Trump ultimately changed his mind.
During President Barack Obama’s presidency, Stone “egged” on Trump to push birther conspiracy theories about the president’s birthplace, The New York Times reported.
Stone was by Trump’s side when he announced his presidential campaign in 2015, though he was pushed out of the campaign within a few months after clashing with campaign manager Corey Lewandowski, Vox reported.
Trump later replaced Lewandowski with Manafort.
Trump and Stone continue to communicate regularly.
3. Stone Repeatedly Bragged About His Knowledge of Stolen Clinton Emails
Despite officially leaving the Trump campaign in August 2015, Stone continued to play a major role in the 2016 campaign. Though he now denies communicating with WikiLeaks during their releases of emails stolen from the Hillary Clinton campaign, CNN reported that he repeatedly claimed to know about forthcoming leaks from the group.
Stone told a local Florida Republican Party official in August 2016 that he had “communicated with Julian Assange,” the founder of WikiLeaks.
That same month, before WikiLeaks released emails from Clinton campaign chief John Podesta, Stone tweeted that “it will soon be Podesta’s time in the barrel.”
In September 2016, Stone told Boston Herald Radio that he expects “Julian Assange and the Wikileaks people to drop a payload of new documents on a weekly basis fairly soon. And that of course will answer the question of exactly what was erased on that email server.”
In October 2016, just days before the election, Stone told a Florida news station that he knew about the material WikiLeaks would release in “a broad sense” from a source who was a friend of Assange.
4. Stone Was Indicted on 7 Counts in The Bob Mueller Probe
On January 25, 2019, Stone was arrested by FBI agents with their guns drawn in a pre-dawn raid on his Florida home.
According to an indictment by special counsel Bob Mueller, Stone is charged with seven counts related to obstruction, lying to investigators, and witness tampering related to his contacts with the Trump campaign about WikiLeaks.
According to the indictment, then-Trump campaign CEO Steve Bannon “was directed” to contact Stone about WikiLeaks.
“On or about October 4, 2016, the head of Organization 1 held a press conference but did not release any new materials pertaining to the Clinton Campaign. Shortly afterwards, STONE received an email from the high-ranking Trump Campaign official asking about the status of future releases by Organization 1,” the indictment reads. “STONE answered that the head of Organization 1 had a “[s]erious security concern” but that Organization 1 would release “a load every week going forward.”
Stone has vowed to plead not guilty to charges, which he called politically motivated. He was released on $250,000 bail.
5. Stone is Appealing for Money to Fund His Legal Fees
Shortly after his arrest, Stone appeared on “InfoWars” to appeal to Alex Jones’ fans for donations to fund his legal defense.
“There is no circumstance under which I would plead guilty to these charges” or “bear false witness against the president,” Stone told Jones. “I think I’m being persecuted for being a 40-year friend and supporter of his.”
“As long as I have a breath in my body and a dollar to pay a lawyer, I’m going to fight,” he said.
“I need people’s help more than ever,” he said, adding that he needed $2 million for his legal defense fund.
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