Roger Stone, Former Trump Aide, Convicted On 7 Felony Charges

Roger Stone, a longtime confidant of Donald Trump, was convicted today in federal court of seven felonies for obstructing the congressional inquiry, lying to investigators under oath and trying to block the testimony of a witness whose account would have exposed his lies. It took jurors barely seven hours of deliberation before convicting him on all counts. Stone faces up to 50 years in prison, although guidelines suggest he’ll receive less than that. From the New York Times:

For decades, Roger J. Stone Jr. played politics as a kind of performance art, starring himself as a professional lord of mischief, as a friend once called him. He tossed bombs and spun tales from the political periphery with no real reckoning, just a reputation as a dirty trickster.

On Friday morning, a reckoning arrived, the consequences of his efforts to sabotage a congressional investigation that threatened his longtime friend President Trump.

Mr. Stone, 67, was convicted in federal court of seven felonies for obstructing the congressional inquiry, lying to investigators under oath and trying to block the testimony of a witness whose account would have exposed his lies. Jurors deliberated for a little over seven hours before convicting him on all counts. Together, the charges carry a maximum prison term of 50 years.

In a last-minute bid for salvation, prosecutors said that Mr. Stone appealed to Mr. Trump for a pardon on Thursday, using a right-wing conspiracy theorist who runs the website Infowars as his proxy. Mr. Trump attacked the guilty verdict against Mr. Stone in a tweet on Friday but made no mention of a pardon.

Stone is the 6th former Trump associate to be convicted in cases stemming from the investigation into Russia’s interference in the 2016 election.

Roger Stone was convicted today on all charges, including, among other things, lying to the Intelligence Committee about his contacts with the Trump campaign and efforts to coordinate with Wikileaks.

A good day for the rule of law.

— Adam Schiff (@RepAdamSchiff) November 15, 2019

If anyone’s counting, Roger Stone is the sixth Trump associate convicted as a result of the Mueller investigation. Oh, Trump is a criminal, too—just protected by feckless senators and a slimy AG.

— George Takei (@GeorgeTakei) November 15, 2019

Ambassador Gordon Sondland has a lot of explaining to do Wednesday. He should review the Roger Stone verdict carefully.

— Preet Bharara (@PreetBharara) November 16, 2019

With Roger Stone’s felony conviction today, the following people have all been found guilty of crimes:
✓ Trump’s campaign chairman
✓ Deputy campaign manager
✓ Personal attorney
✓ Longtime political confidant
✓ National security adviser pic.twitter.com/nLJI5l7PFH

— NowThis (@nowthisnews) November 15, 2019