Longtime Trump associate Roger Stone must place ads in national newspapers expressing regret over defamatory statements he previously made on InfoWars.com about a Chinese businessman, as part of a settlement for a defamation lawsuit Monday.
In order to avoid paying any of the $100 million in damages the defamation suit was seeking, Stone must run ads in papers, including the Wall Street Journal, apologizing for the inaccurate statements. There will also be a retraction of the statements on social media.
According to the Journal, Stone said his behavior was “irresponsible” and added, “I am solely responsible for fulfilling the terms of the settlement.”
The settlement was related to a lawsuit filed by exiled Chinese businessman Guo Wengui against Stone for falsely stating he was a “turncoat criminal who is convicted of crimes here and in China.” Stone also claimed that Wengui broke U.S. election laws by making a political donation to Hillary Clinton, even though he is not a U.S. citizen, according to the lawsuit.
Guo claimed that Stone was paid to make the statements by Bruno Wu, a Chinese-American media tycoon who had previously accused Guo of being a Chinese spy. The settlement indicates the information was fed to Stone by Wu via Sam Nunberg, a former Trump campaign staffer.
Stone told the Journal he should not have depended on Nunberg for the information. Both Nunberg and Wu declined to comment.
InfoWars.com is a far-right website founded by Alex Jones that has promoted conspiracy theories.
