Last updated on January 26th, 2019 at 01:21 pm
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Longtime Donald Trump friend and adviser Roger Stone was finally indicted and arrested by federal law enforcement authorities early Friday morning after months of speculation.
The indictment of Stone came from special counsel Robert Mueller who charged him with obstruction of justice, giving false statements to the FBI and tampering with witnesses.
NEW: Roger Stone, a former adviser to President Trump, was indicted by special counsel Robert Mueller and arrested on charges of obstruction, giving false statements and witness tampering.
NEW: Roger Stone, a former adviser to President Trump, was indicted by special counsel Robert Mueller and arrested on charges of obstruction, giving false statements and witness tampering. https://t.co/bN6uK6IPKA
— NBC News (@NBCNews) January 25, 2019
Since the 2016 presidential campaign Stone has been looked at closely by federal investigators due to his rumored close connections to WikiLeaks. There has long been speculation that Stone was the go-between who arranged for hacked Democratic emails to be released by WikiLeaks in the summer of 2016.
Stone has always denied that he worked with WikiLeaks to arrange for the emails, that were stolen by agents of the Russian government, to be published at a time and manner that would most hurt Trump’s presidential opponent Hillary Clinton.
Stone, who is 66 years old, was arrested by the FBI at his home in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. He reportedly will make an initial appearance at 11 a.m. Friday in a nearby federal courthouse.
Stone was initially an official with the Trump campaign but left in August 2015. After that he continued to maintain regular contact with Trump and other campaign officials. He also publicly supported the campaign through the 2016 election. Details of Stone’s involvement with Trump and with WikiLeaks were set forth in a grand jury indictment filed by special counsel Robert Mueller on Thursday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
During the past 12 months over ten Stone associates were summoned by the special counsel to appear and give testimony to his Washington grand jury. Stone himself has talked about the possibilities that he would be arrested, claiming that Mueller would make up charges against him simply because of his friendship with the president.
Last December Trump tweeted his support and approval of Stone who had said that, unlike other former Trump campaign officials, he would never testify against the president.
Trump wrote that Stone was “essentially stating that he will not be forced by a rogue and out of control prosecutor to make up lies and stories about ‘President Trump.’ Nice to know that some people still have ‘guts!'”
Former high-ranking Trump campaign officials who were indicted by Mueller and then “flipped†to provide evidence against Trump include Paul Manafort, Rick Gates and Michael Flynn.
The arrest of Stone occurred early Friday and no more details are currently available. The White House has not yet issued any comments concerning the arrest.
CNN posted a tweet that included an exclusive video of Stone being arrested.
"FBI. Open the door.â€
Watch exclusive CNN footage of the FBI arresting longtime Trump associate Roger Stone. Stone has been indicted by a grand jury on charges brought by special counsel Robert Mueller. https://t.co/ZQCuuxLHAG pic.twitter.com/moQwNndB91
— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) January 25, 2019
Mother Jones published the entire 24 page indictment against Stone on its website this morning. CLICK HERE to see the indictment.
More details about this breaking news story will be provided as they become available.
I am a lifelong Democrat with a passion for social justice and progressive issues. I have degrees in writing, economics and law from the University of Iowa.
