This archive report was first published on 16 November 2019.
On November 15, 2019, a jury delivered a guilty verdict against Roger Stone, a former advisor to President Donald Trump, in a trial that reignited the controversy surrounding the Trump-Russia saga.
Testimony from Rick Gates, Mr. Trump's deputy campaign chairman, raised questions about the President's responses to queries from Special Counsel Robert Mueller. Mr. Trump claimed he couldn't recall specifics of 21 conversations with Roger Stone in the six months leading up to the 2016 election.
However, a July 31, 2016, phone call between Mr. Stone and Mr. Trump, just days after WikiLeaks released a trove of emails embarrassing the Clinton campaign, was a pivotal moment in the trial. According to Mr. Gates, as soon as he hung up with Mr. Stone, Mr. Trump declared that 'more information' was coming, an apparent reference to future WikiLeaks releases.
Mr. Stone, 67, joins a list of former Trump aides convicted of lying to federal authorities, including Michael T. Flynn, Michael D. Cohen, and George Papadopoulos. His former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, was convicted of financial crimes and is serving a seven-and-a-half-year prison term.
The most serious charge against Mr. Stone, witness tampering, carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. However, as a first-time offender, his punishment is likely to be much lighter.
Mr. Stone's history of run-ins with Judge Amy Berman Jackson, who will preside over sentencing on February 6, may also impact his sentence. After a series of infractions, including posting a photo of the judge with cross-hairs next to her head on Instagram, she banned him from social media.
