Roger Stone, a longtime Republican adviser and friend of President Trump, pleaded not guilty to seven criminal charges of false statements, witness tampering, and obstruction of justice in federal court in Washington, where he was greeted outside the federal courthouse to “Lock him up!” chants.
The charges were brought against him by special counsel Robert Mueller and the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, and both offices are working together on the case.
Now that U.S. Magistrate Judge Deborah Robinson has heard his arraignment, Stone’s case will move to District Judge Amy Berman Jackson, who is already handling a handful of Mueller’s major cases. Stone will be due in court again Friday at 1:30 p.m. for his first status hearing before Jackson.
FBI agents arrested Stone at his home before sunrise in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., last week, and he he made his initial appearance in court in South Florida later Friday.
Leaving the courthouse on a $250,000 bond, he said he would “not bear false witness against the president.”
Stone is not allowed to communicate with any witnesses in the case, and he can only travel between Washington, New York, and South Florida.
But Stone said Sunday that he will tell the truth, and he did not rule out the possibility of cooperating with Mueller’s team.
“If there’s wrongdoing by other people in the campaign that I know about — which I know of none — but, if there is, I would certainly testify honestly,” Stone said on ABC. “I would also testify honestly about any other matter, including any communications with the president. It’s true that we spoke on the phone, but those communications are political in nature.”
Federal prosecutors have alleged Stone lied to congressional investigators about his communications with WikiLeaks before, during, and after their publication of stolen emails from Democrats in 2016.
Stone also allegedly communicated with top Trump campaign officials about his own communication with WikiLeaks.
Mueller has charged 34 people total since taking over the investigation into Russian election interference and possible connection to the Trump campaign in May 2017.
