Donald Trump adviser Roger Stone found guilty of lying to US Congress, obstruction, witness tampering

Confessed ‘dirty trickster’ told lawmakers series of lies related to WikiLeaks, which dumped damaging emails about Hillary Clinton in 2016

Verdict renews scrutiny on Trump’s activities as he faces impeachment inquiry that could derail his presidency

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Long-time Trump adviser Roger Stone waits in line at the federal court in Washington on Tuesday. Photo: AP

Published: 1:27am, 16 Nov 2019Updated: 2:23am, 16 Nov 2019

A jury convicted US President Donald Trump’s adviser Roger Stone on Friday, finding the long-time Republican operative and self-proclaimed “dirty trickster” guilty on seven criminal counts of lying to Congress, obstruction and witness tampering.

The verdict, in a trial arising from investigations of Russian interference in the 2016 US election, is not only a blow to Stone but renews scrutiny on then-candidate Trump’s activities at a time when he faces an impeachment inquiry that could derail his presidency.

Stone, 67, a veteran Republican political operative and self-described “dirty trickster” and “agent provocateur”, was charged earlier this year with obstructing justice, witness tampering and lying to the US House of Representatives Intelligence Committee during its investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.

Stone’s colourful trial in federal court in Washington was as much about the rough-and-tumble world of politics as it was about hairsplitting legal arguments, such as whether Stone truly lied about WikiLeaks since that website was never explicitly mentioned in the intelligence committee’s publicly stated parameters of its inquiry.

Former Trump adviser Roger Stone holds a Bible as he arrives with his wife, Nydia, for the second day of jury deliberations in his trial in Washington on Friday. Photo: EPA-EFE

The trial featured multiple references to The Godfather Part II, a Bernie Sanders impression and testimony by political heavyweights including former Trump adviser Steve Bannon and former Trump campaign deputy Rick Gates, each of whom said they believed Stone had inside information about when WikiLeaks might release more damaging emails about then-Republican candidate Trump’s Democratic opponent, Hillary Clinton.

Prosecutors accused Stone of telling lawmakers five different lies related to WikiLeaks and its founder Julian Assange, which in 2016 dumped a series of damaging emails about Clinton that US intelligence officials and special counsel Robert Mueller later concluded had been stolen by Russian hackers.