Roger Stone, a longtime confidant of Donald Trump, was “directed” by a senior official on the president’s 2016 campaign team, to seek emails damaging to Hillary Clinton from Wikileaks, prosecutors have claimed. Mr Stone, 66, was arrested on Friday in a pre-dawn raid by heavily armed FBI agents in night-vision goggles at his home in Florida. He faces seven charges including lying to Congress, obstruction, and witness tampering, brought by Robert Mueller, the special counsel investigating whether Mr Trump’s campaign colluded with Russia. Mr Stone later appeared in court in shackles and was released on $250,000 bail. He did not enter a plea. On Twitter, Mr Trump condemned the case as the “Greatest Witch Hunt in the History of our Country!” and added: “NO COLLUSION!” Roger Stone is shown in this courtroom sketch at his appearance in U.S. federal court in Fort Lauderdale Credit: Reuters The arrest was a significant development in the Mueller investigation, the first time the special counsel has alleged that people close to the president coordinated with Mr Stone over the Clinton emails, which were hacked by Kremlin-backed Russian operatives. According to the detailed 24- page indictment, Mr Stone first informed “senior Trump campaign officials” in June 2016 that Wikileaks had information damaging to Mrs Clinton. After the first release of emails on July 22, 2016, a “senior Trump campaign official was directed to contact Mr Stone about any additional releases, and what other damaging information” Wikileaks had, it was alleged. Prosecutors wrote: “Stone thereafter told the Trump campaign about potential future releases of damaging material.” The indictment did not say who the Trump campaign officials were, or who “directed’ them to work with Mr Stone. On Octtober 4, 2016, Stone received an email from a “high ranking Trump campaign official” asking about future Wikileaks releases. At a glance | Who has been charged by the Russia investigation Mr Stone responded that Julian Assange, the Wikileaks founder living at the Ecuadorian embassy in London, had a “serious security concern,” but there would be “a load every week going forward”. Three days later Wikileaks published embarrassing emails hacked by the Russians from John Podesta, Mrs Clinton’s campaign chairman. Soon after, an “associate of the high ranking Trump campaign official” texted Mr Stone, saying: “Well done”. The New York Times reported that the high ranking official appeared to be Steve Bannon, Mr Trump’s campaign chief executive, based on previous email exchanges it has published between the pair. In one exchange the newspaper published from October 2016, Mr Stone emailed Mr Bannon to tell him more WikiLeaks disclosures were due to be published, “a load every week going forward”. The same email is quoted in Friday’s indictment without naming the official. Mr Bannon has not commented. Steve Bannon was the chief executive of the Trump campaign Credit: Chris Warde-Jones Mr Mueller’s team alleged that Mr Stone had two conduits to Mr Assange. The first, referred to as “Person 1” was Jerome Corsi, a political commentator and conspiracy theorist. On July 25, 2016 Mr Stone sent an email to Mr Corsi telling him to “get to” Mr Assange regarding hacked emails about the Clinton Foundation. Mr Corsi forwarded the email to “an associate who lived in the United Kingdom and was a supporter of the Trump Campaign,” according to the indictment. Mr Stone’s second alleged conduit, referred to as “Person 2,” was Randy Credico, a radio host who interviewed Mr Assange. In evidence to a congressional committee Mr Stone has referred to Mr Credico as an “intermediary and go-between” to Mr Assange, and called him “the gentleman who confirmed” that Mr Assange had information on Mrs Clinton. Roger Stone after his court appearance on Friday Credit: Getty Prosecutors alleged that Mr Credico sent Mr Stone messages saying Mr Assange had “kryptonite on Hillary” and, in early October, that “Hillary’s campaign will die this week”. Following one request from Mr Stone, Mr Credico forwarded it to “a friend who was an attorney with the ability to contact” Mr Assange, prosecutors said. Mr Credico has not been accused of any wrongdoing. During the ongoing Russia investigation Stone allegedly made extensive efforts to keep Mr Credico from giving evidence. He allegedly told Mr Credico to “do a Frank Pentangeli,” a reference to The Godfather: Part II. The Frank Pentangeli character lies to Congress. Mr Stone also allegedly wrote a message to Mr Credico that said: “You are a rat. A stoolie. You backstab your friends – run your mouth. My lawyers are dying [to] Rip you to shreds. I am so ready. Let’s get it on. Prepare to die.” Here’s Randy Credico with his dog, Bianca, who is mentioned in the Stone indictment pic.twitter.com/mmuJDIpyl6— Betsy Woodruff (@woodruffbets) January 25, 2019 In another message he allegedly threatened Mr Credico’s pet, saying he would “take that dog away from you”. Mr Credico has a white Coton de Tuléar service dog called Bianca. Grant Smith, Mr Stone’s lawyer, said he would “vigorously” contest the charges. Mr Smith added: “There was no collusion. He forgot to tell something to Congress and what it was was immaterial.” Mr Stone, a self-described “dirty trickster,” began his political career as a campaign aide to Richard Nixon, and has a large tattoo of the former president on his back. He was one of the first members of Mr Trump’s campaign team, but left after a few months and remained in contact. Asked whether it was Mr Trump who “directed” an official to contact Mr Stone about Wikileaks, Sarah Sanders, the White House press secretary, said: “This has nothing to do with the president.” If Mr Trump did give the direction, he would have engaged in a conspiracy to violate federal hacking statutes, said Paul Rosenzweig, a lawyer who worked on the Whitewater investigation into former President Bill Clinton. “You are directing Stone to take possession of what he knows to be stolen materials,” said Rosenzweig, now a fellow at the R Street Institute think tank. Roger Stone speaks after his appearance at Federal Court in Fort Lauderdale Credit: Reuters Mr Stone was released on a $250,000 bond. He did not enter a plea. Leaving court, a smiling Mr Stone said he intended to fight the charges. “After a two-year inquisition, the charges today related in no way to Russian collusion, WikiLeaks coordination or any other illegal act in connection with the 2016 campaign,” he told reporters, flashing the twin “V for Victory” signs that the disgraced President Richard Nixon was famous for. He added: “I will not testify against the president because I would have to bear false witness against him.” A crowd chanted “Lock Him Up,” riffing on the “Lock Her Up” chant that Trump and his surrogates led against Clinton at rallies in 2016. Someone played the Beatles song “Back in the U.S.S.R.” Others cheered in support of Stone.
