Tag: Trump stooge

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

Roger Stone
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.

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House Dems Demand EU Ambassador Resign Over Ukraine Involvement

NBC News reports that a dozen House Democrats have called for Donald Trump’s ambassador to the European Union, Gordon Sondland, to resign in the aftermath of reports regarding his role in the ongoing Ukraine scandal.

The calls for his ouster come as Sondland prepares to be deposed Tuesday by House committees as part of their impeachment inquiry into the president. The list includes one presidential candidate — Rep. Tim Ryan of Ohio.

Sondland, a Trump political appointee, has emerged as a central player in Trump’s bid to persuade Ukraine’s new government to commit publicly to investigate corruption and the president’s political opponents.

Text messages given to Congress show Sondland and another diplomat explicitly tying Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s willingness to announce an investigation to whether he would be granted a coveted White House visit.

Sondland, a Republican megadonor, came by his ambassadorship after donating over $1 million to Trump’s inaugural committee. He’s spent the bulk of his life developing high-end, luxury hotels. Because, that’s what qualifies you to be an ambassador for the United States, yes? (photo: GordonSondlandPortrait.png” by EdiTHORial is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0)