Roger Stone To Fight Mueller’s ‘Politically Motivated’ Charges
Roger Stone, the latest Trump ally to be criminally charged in the expanding Robert Mueller investigation, vows to fight the “politically motivated” charges against him, Fox News is reporting.
On Friday, as Time reports, Stone, who had worked on Trump’s 2016 campaign, was arrested by federal agents after being indicted by the Mueller probe. Specifically, a seven-count indictment alleges that Stone knew about, and/or was in possession of, hacked Hillary Clinton obtained by Russian agents and provided to WikiLeaks. Stone is also accused of lying to the House Intelligence Committee about those emails.
Shortly after his arrest, Stone posted $250,000 bond. The judge restricted Stone’s travel to South Florida, Washington, and New York City, and told him to avoid contact with witnesses.
In a press conference outside of the Florida courtroom where this all took place, Stone, speaking over hecklers, said that he was the victim of a politically-motivated investigation and that he would fight the charges against him.
“I will plead not guilty to these charges. I will defeat them in court. This is a politically-motivated investigation.”
He also promised not to turn on Donald Trump.
“There is no circumstance whatsovever under which I will bear false witness against the president, nor will I make up lies to ease the pressure on myself.”
Donald Trump associate Roger Stone arrested, faces obstruction charge https://t.co/VAvtYOqFLl pic.twitter.com/t0ntiSxMzT
— The Hollywood Reporter (@THR) January 25, 2019
In a later interview with Alex Jones’ radio program Infowars, Stone said he was being “persecuted,” according to the Week. In a phone interview lasting barely a minute before his signal began breaking up, Stone said he’s had “better mornings” and that the FBI “terrorized not only my wife but my dogs” during the early-morning arrest.
Roger Stone joined Alex Jones on Infowars just now: "I can say I've had greater — better moments. Better mornings, shall we say" pic.twitter.com/NUVASycLcp
— Media Matters (@mmfa) January 25, 2019
Donald Trump, who for his part, has previously called Stone a “stone-cold loser” and a “good guy” who has been “so loyal and wonderful,” tweeted about the situation on Friday. Without naming names, the president repeated his claim, which he has made several times since the Mueller investigation began, that the entire thing is a “witch hunt.”
“Greatest Witch Hunt in the History of our Country! NO COLLUSION! Border Coyotes, Drug Dealers and Human Traffickers are treated better. Who alerted CNN to be there?”
Stone is the sixth person closely associated with Donald Trump to be criminally indicted as a result of the Mueller investigation: the other five being former Trump attorney Michael Cohen; Trump’s former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn; Trump’s former campaign manager Paul Manafort; Manafort’s business partner Rick Gates; and former Trump campaign adviser George Papadopoulos, according to USA Today.
