Roger Stone

For the British town councillor, see Roger Stone (councillor). For the village in Wales, see Rogerstone.

Roger Stone
Roger Stone at a event in Detroit, Michigan
Stone in 2024
Born
Roger Joseph Stone Jr.

(1952-08-27) August 27, 1952 (age 72)
Norwalk, Connecticut, U.S.
EducationGeorge Washington University
Political party
Other political
affiliations		Ontario Party (2022–2023)
Spouses
Anne Wesche
​
​
(m. 1974; div. 1990)​
Nydia Bertran
​
(m. 1992)​
Criminal information
Criminal statusPardoned, following commutation
Criminal chargeFelony counts of:
Penalty40 months in federal prison (Stone served no time as President Donald Trump commuted his sentence, then pardoned him.)

Roger Jason Stone[a] (born Roger Joseph Stone Jr.; August 27, 1952) is an American political assistant and lobbyist.[3] He is most well known for the Robert Mueller special counsel investigation, and his involvement with[4] and connections to Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election as a political consultant for the 2016 campaign of 45th, and 47th U.S. president Donald Trump.[5]

Since the 1970s, Stone has worked on the campaigns of Republican politicians, including Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, Jack Kemp, Bob Dole,[6] George W. Bush,[7] and Trump. In addition to frequently serving as a campaign adviser, Stone was a political lobbyist. In 1980, he co-founded a Washington, D.C.–based lobbying firm with Paul Manafort and Charles R. Black Jr.[8][9][10] The firm recruited Peter G. Kelly and was renamed Black, Manafort, Stone and Kelly (BMSK) in 1984.[11]: 124  During the 1980s, BMSK became a top lobbying firm by leveraging its White House connections to attract high-paying clients, including U.S. corporations and trade associations, as well as foreign governments. By 1990, it was one of the leading lobbyists for American companies and foreign organizations.[11]: 125  His personal style of achieving his clients' goals have been described as "a renowned infighter", "a seasoned practitioner of hard-edged politics",[12] "a Republican strategist",[13] and "a political fixer".[14] Stone has referred to himself as "an agent provocateur".[15] He has described his own political modus operandi as "Attack, attack, attack – never defend" and "Admit nothing, deny everything, and launch a counterattack."[16]

Stone first suggested Trump run for president in early 1998 while he was Trump's casino business lobbyist in Washington.[17] Stone officially left the Trump campaign on August 8, 2015. In 2018, two associates of Stone alleged that Stone claimed to have had contact with Julian Assange during the 2016 presidential campaign. In response, Assange told The Washington Post that he had not met with Stone in the spring of 2016 and WikiLeaks said it had had no contact with Stone. Stone said he could recall only one occasion on which he mentioned meeting with Assange, and said that mention was made as a joke.[18][19] Court documents released in 2020 showed Stone and Assange exchanged messages in June 2017.[20] Nearly three dozen search warrants were unsealed in April 2020 which revealed contacts between Stone and Assange in 2017, and that Stone orchestrated hundreds of fake Facebook accounts and bloggers to run a political influence scheme on social media.[21][22][23]

On January 25, 2019, Stone was arrested at his Fort Lauderdale, Florida, home in connection with Robert Mueller's Special Counsel investigation and charged in an indictment with witness tampering, obstructing an official proceeding, and five counts of making false statements.[24][25] In November 2019, a jury convicted him on all seven felony counts.[26][27][28] He was sentenced to 40 months in prison.[29][30] On July 10, 2020, days before Stone was scheduled to report to prison, Trump commuted his sentence.[26] On August 17, 2020, he dropped the appeal of his convictions.[31] Trump pardoned Stone on December 23, 2020.[26][32]

  1. ^ "U.S. v. Roger Jason Stone Jr: The full indictment". United States Department of Justice. February 1, 2019. Archived from the original on April 20, 2019. Retrieved February 1, 2019 – via The Washington Post.
  2. ^ Mansfield, Stephanie (June 16, 1986). "The Rise and Gall of Roger Stone". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on March 13, 2021. Retrieved December 11, 2019.
  3. ^ Warner, Margaret (February 29, 1996). "Money and the Presidency". NewsHour with Jim Lehrer. Public Broadcasting Service. Archived from the original on June 17, 1997. Retrieved November 17, 2019.
  4. ^
  5. ^ Paschal, Olivia; Carlisle, Madeleine (November 15, 2019). "A Brief History of Roger Stone". The Atlantic. Retrieved October 2, 2023.
  6. ^ Labash, Matt (November 5, 2007). "Roger Stone, Political Animal, 'Above all, attack, attack, attack – never defend.'". The Weekly Standard. Archived from the original on May 9, 2019. Retrieved November 17, 2019.
  7. ^ Greg Palast Talked Enron Corruption With BF Back in the Day Archived July 17, 2020, at the Wayback Machine, Buzzflash, February 2002. Retrieved July 16, 2020.
  8. ^ Edsall, Thomas B. (May 14, 2012). "The Lobbyist in the Gray Flannel Suit". The Opinion Page. The New York Times. Archived from the original on December 12, 2020. Retrieved June 16, 2017.
  9. ^ "A Political Power Broker". The New York Times. June 21, 1989. Archived from the original on December 9, 2020. Retrieved June 16, 2017.
  10. ^ "Registration with the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA)" (PDF). Department of Justice. August 1982. Archived (PDF) from the original on June 15, 2018. Retrieved June 16, 2017.
  11. ^ a b Choate, Pat (1990). Agents of Influence. New York: Simon and Schuster. p. 307. ISBN 978-0-671-74339-0.
  12. ^ Zimmer, Ben (January 25, 2019). "Roger Stone and 'Ratf—ing': A Short History". Politico. Archived from the original on November 1, 2022. Retrieved October 31, 2022.
  13. ^
  14. ^ Hillyer, Quin (January 25, 2019). "The FBI's ridiculous riot gear and pre-dawn raid on Roger Stone was excessive and unnecessary". Washington Examiner. Archived from the original on May 8, 2019. Retrieved November 17, 2019.
  15. ^
  16. ^ Cite error: The named reference toobin was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  17. ^ Duffy, Michael; Cooper, Matthew (September 20, 1999). "Take my party, please". CNN. Archived from the original on March 8, 2021. Retrieved November 17, 2019.
  18. ^ Hamburger, Tom; Dawsey, Josh; Leonnig, Carol D.; Harris, Shane (March 13, 2018). "Roger Stone claimed contact with WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange in 2016, according to two associates". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on March 13, 2018. Retrieved November 17, 2019.
  19. ^ Dukakis, Ali (December 2, 2018). "Emails about WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange being 'mischaracterized': Roger Stone". ABC News. Archived from the original on May 2, 2021. Retrieved January 26, 2019.
  20. ^ LaFraniere, Sharon (April 29, 2020). "Roger Stone Was in Contact With Julian Assange in 2017, Documents Show". The New York Times. Retrieved August 25, 2023.
  21. ^ Tucker, Eric; Long, Colleen; Balsamo, Michael (April 28, 2020). "FBI documents reveal communication between Stone, Assange". Associated Press. Archived from the original on May 1, 2020. Retrieved May 1, 2020.
  22. ^ Cite error: The named reference clues was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  23. ^ Polantz, Katelyn; Perez, Evan; Cohen, Marshall; Murray, Sara (April 28, 2020). "Mueller investigators said Roger Stone orchestrated hundreds of fake Facebook accounts in political influence scheme". CNN. Archived from the original on March 13, 2021. Retrieved May 1, 2020.
  24. ^ Cite error: The named reference stone arrested was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  25. ^ Tucker, Eric; Day, Chad. "Roger Stone Arrested on Obstruction Charges in Mueller Investigation". Time. Archived from the original on January 25, 2019. Retrieved January 25, 2019.
  26. ^ a b c Baker, Peter; Haberman, Maggie; LaFraniere, Sharon (July 10, 2020). "Trump Commutes Sentence of Roger Stone in Case He Long Denounced". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on July 11, 2020. Retrieved July 11, 2020.
  27. ^ LaFraniere, Sharon; Montague, Zach (November 15, 2019). "Roger Stone Is Found Guilty in Trial That Revived Trump-Russia Saga". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on November 15, 2019. Retrieved November 15, 2019.
  28. ^ Sneed, Tierney; Shuham, Matt (November 15, 2019). "Roger Stone Found Guilty On All Counts". Talking Points Memo. Archived from the original on November 15, 2019. Retrieved November 16, 2019.
  29. ^ Phillips, Kristine; Johnson, Kevin; Phillips, Nicholas (February 20, 2020). "'Truth still matters': Judge sentences Roger Stone to 40 months in prison for obstructing Congress' Russia investigation". USA Today. Archived from the original on February 20, 2020. Retrieved February 20, 2020.
  30. ^ "The Latest: Roger Stone to remain free pending sentencing". ABC News. The Associated Press. November 15, 2019. Archived from the original on December 21, 2020. Retrieved November 17, 2019.
  31. ^ Gerstein, John (August 18, 2020). "Roger Stone drops appeals of felony convictions". Politico. Yahoo! News. Archived from the original on August 18, 2020. Retrieved August 18, 2020.
  32. ^ "Statement from the Press Secretary Regarding Executive Grants of Clemency". whitehouse.gov. Archived from the original on January 20, 2021 – via National Archives.


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