Opening statements in the trial of self-proclaimed “agent provocateur” and political dirty trickster Roger Stone on seven criminal charges related to the Trump-Russia investigation are expected to begin Wednesday afternoon.
The longtime Republican operative and flamboyant hatchet man is charged with misrepresenting his 2016 attempt at collaborating with WikiLeaks and founder Julian Assange to obtain dirt on then-candidate Hillary Clinton and stolen emails to Trump-Russia investigators from the House Intelligence Committee in a spin-off case from special counsel Robert Mueller’s two-year investigation.
Stone, an on-again-off-again political ally and confidante of President Trump for three decades, who by the summer of 2016 was an informal adviser with Trump’s campaign, haphazardly reached out to Assange, who was suspected of having tens of thousands of stolen Democratic emails. Cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike, and eventually the U.S. intelligence community and Mueller, concluded the emails were stolen by Russian military intelligence and handed to WikiLeaks. Stone also communicated with hacker Guccifer 2.0, a fictitious persona created by Russian intelligence.
Prosecutors say Stone tried to contact Assange by using conspiracy theorist Jerome Corsi and radio host Randy Credico as conduits, though he allegedly misled Congress in 2017 by concealing monthslong WikiLeaks discussions with Corsi, telling the committee he’d only reached out to WikiLeaks through Credico. He then allegedly worked to stop Credico from telling the House, including by threatening to kidnap Credico’s dog, Bianca, and calling him a “rat” and a “stoolie.”
The Department of Justice’s charges against Stone include one count that he “corruptly influenced, obstructed, and impeded” the congressional investigation and another that he attempted to “corruptly persuade” Credico’s congressional testimony. Stone faces five counts of making “materially false, fictions, and fraudulent statements” to Congress.
The trial has already taken some unusual turns.
Judge Amy Berman Jackson of the D.C. District Court placed a gag order on Stone banning him from talking about the case or using social media. He violated her order, including by posting a picture of the judge with crosshairs next to her on Instagram.
Steve Bannon, the chief executive of the Trump campaign who was in contact with Stone, is expected to be called to the stand.
And Berman Jackson has ruled prosecutors can read a transcript of a scene from The Godfather Part II about committing perjury before the Senate trial to explain a text message from Stone to Credico that said Credico should pull a “Frank Pentangeli,” though they cannot show the clip in court.
The first day of jury selection was marked by an appearance by right-wing troll Milo Yiannopoulos, the court having to be cleared when a member of the public observing the trial gave out a shout and collapsed to the ground, and Stone leaving the proceedings early due to an alleged bout of food poisoning.
Stone’s trial is expected to last up to three weeks. If convicted, Stone faces up to 20 years behind bars.
In 1987, Stone unsuccessfully tried to recruit Trump for a 1990 run for New York governor. By 1989, Stone’s consulting firm with future Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort listed Trump as a client. When Trump left the Republican Party in 1999, he explored a presidential bid with the Reform Party with Stone as his political adviser, but the two had a falling out after that.
“He always tries taking credit for things he never did,” Trump said in 2008, calling Stone a “stone-cold loser.”
But by July 2015, Trump was paying Stone’s firm Drake Consulting roughly $20,000 per month after declaring his presidential run.
A month later, Stone says he quit, but the Trump campaign said he was fired. Stone formed the Committee to Restore America’s Greatness to help Trump, raising more than $500,000 by October 2016.
