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Political strategist Roger Stone, a long – time ally of President Trump, was arrested in Florida and charged with seven counts as part of the Mueller investigation.
Mr. Stone, 66, appeared in Fort Lauderdale City Court.
The indictment includes a charge of obstructing an official proceeding, five counts of false statement and a witness tampering.
The charges are linked to alleged piracy led by Russia in e-mails from Democratic Party officials.
The information contained in the emails was published by Wikileaks during the campaign for the 2016 US presidential election.
CNN reports that FBI agents arrested Mr. Stone during a raid before dawn on Friday. One of them pounded the door and said, "The FBI, open the door," says the American cable network.
After the announcement of the arrest of his old friend, President Donald Trump again criticized the investigation on Russia on Twitter, calling it "the biggest witch hunt in the world." history of our country! "
The biggest witch hunt in the history of our country! NO COLLUSION! Border coyotes, drug traffickers and human traffickers are better treated. Who warned CNN to be there?
– Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 25, 2019
End of @realDonaldTrump's post
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CBS News
Mr. Stone appeared in Fort Lauderdale Court
What exactly is Peter accused of?
The Special Council accused Mr Stone of attempting to impede the investigation of Russia's interference by:
- Allusion to the House Intelligence Committee on what happened between him and Wikileaks
- Provide the committee with information about its interactions with Wikileaks
- Witness tampering, for attempting to prevent his Wikileaks middleman from telling the truth to Congress
The indictment does not say that Mr. Stone committed any criminal activity during the elections.
How did Roger Stone respond?
He was released on bail of $ 250,000, but with restrictions allowing him to travel only to court in Florida, Washington DC and New York.
After his appearance in court, Mr. Stone spoke on the phone with Alex Jones, conspiracy theorist, about his Infowars radio show.
"I have the intention to fight for my life," Stone said by launching a fundraiser for his legal battle. "There is no circumstance in which I would plead guilty to these charges.
"There is no circumstance in which I would bear false testimony to the President."
He added: "Once again, there is no evidence of Russian collusion, collaboration with Wikileaks and I am not accused of doing anything inappropriate or illegal. [Mr Trump’s] election."
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EPA
Protesters outside chanted "lock him up" as Mr. Stone left the courtroom
Mr. Stone then left the court smiling broadly, wearing a double Nixon V sign and wearing a Ralph Lauren blue polo shirt.
He has maintained his innocence, although he is sometimes inaudible because of the cries and slogans of "Lock it!"
Mr Stone said he would plead officially not guilty to a Washington DC court next week.
He declared himself the target of a "politically motivated investigation" and criticized the manner of his arrest.
"At dawn, 29 FBI agents arrived at my home with 17 vehicles with flashing lights, they terrorized my wife [and] my dogs."
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What is Stone connecting to email?
President Hillary Clinton's campaign in 2016, John Podesta, who was targeted in email, accused Stone of knowing it before.
More than a month before the emails were made public, Mr Stone had tweeted that it would soon be Mr. Podesta's "time spent in a barrel", which, according to the critics, would indicate that he was already aware.
Mr Stone denied knowing in advance of the cyber-violation and any known contacts with Russian agents.
Friday, Mr. Podesta referenced the cryptic tweet in a post about Mr. Stone 's indictment, noting that it was "Roger' s time in the barrel".
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Reuters
Roger Stone is a political lobbyist and an ally of President Donald Trump
According to the investigators, Mr. Stone allegedly "communicated" with Wikileaks founder Julian Assange before the e-mail was posted, and described the contact as "perfectly legal".
The indictment accuses the lobbyist of having lied to the House Intelligence Committee about what happened between him and Wikileaks, and of having falsely claimed not to not have a trace.
Mr. Stone reportedly spoke to "Organization 1" senior Trump campaigners – who are not identified [believed to be Wikileaks] "and information he may be aware of would be detrimental to the Clinton campaign".
Prosecutors say Mr Stone has also been contacted by "top officials of the Trump campaign", whose name has not been clarified, to inquire about future versions of Wikileaks.
They also claimed that he had made false statements about his communications with conservative writer and conspiracy theorist Jerome Corsi about the leak of email in Wikileaks.
The indictment reports conversations about the public posting of Wikileaks between Mr. Stone, "Person 1" and "Person 2", which are not identified by name.
Mr. Corsi's lawyers confirmed that he was "Person 1" in Friday's indictment, adding that they did not think he was accused of any offense whatsoever in the investigation into the Mueller case.
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Getty Images
Mr. Stone has been working on Republican political campaigns since the 1970s
Special advocate Robert Mueller, who is investigating allegations of collusion between Russia and the Trump campaign, has been monitoring his campaign activities for a long time.
In 2016, US intelligence agencies concluded that Russia had attempted to turn the election in favor of Mr. Trump through state-sponsored cyber-attacks and fake media reports. social.
Mueller's investigation also focused on Mr. Stone's communications with Guccifer 2.0, a Twitter personality, who US intelligence officials say constitutes a front for Russian military intelligence.
Mr. Trump repeatedly badaulted the Mueller investigation. The Kremlin has always denied being involved in US elections.
- Who is Roger Stone's Trump confidant?
- All you need to know about Trump Russia's history
Jay Sekulow, the president's attorney, said: "The indictment does not claim to have been labeled Russian collusion by Roger Stone or anyone else. The indictment focuses instead on false statements in Congress. "
Tom Perez, chairman of the Democratic National Committee, accused the Trump campaign of being "a willing and active participant in a conspiracy with Russia and Wikileaks" in a statement.
Mr Perez added that "there are still many conspirators to be accountable – and at least one of them calls himself Donald Trump".
During interviews, Mr. Stone repeatedly stated that he was waiting to be indicted. In May, he told NBC: "It's no longer inconceivable that Mr. Mueller and his team are trying to evoke a superficial crime pertaining to my business, or even the 2016 election. ".
The missing link
Through previous indictments, Robert Mueller demonstrated that the Russians were behind the hacking of senior Democratic campaigners and Hillary Clinton. He alleges that they then used Wikileaks to inject damaging information into American political blood at a time particularly prejudicial to Democrats.
What the special council office had not yet alleged, was that there were links between Wikileaks and Donald Trump's presidential campaign.
On Friday, Mr. Mueller accused Trump's advisor and advisor, Roger Stone, of being this missing link, citing communications between Mr. Stone and the "senior" Trump campaigners before and after the publication of the documents. Wikileaks.
The move marks a significant development in this legal drama of nearly two years. For the first time, a member of Mr Trump's inner circle, even though he is an informal member, faces accusations directly related to Russian interference in elections – the central focus of the special council inquiry.
Mr. Stone rejected the suggestions of criminal misconduct. But the man who boasted of being a master of dark political arts and who seemed to adore the notoriety badociated with such claims, now finds himself directly in the center of a withered legal spotlight. .
Who was accused in the Mueller probe?
Mr. Stone is the 34th person to be charged as part of the Mueller investigation. Among the indictees are 12 Russian army officers and 13 Russian nationals accused of leading a campaign to interfere in the US elections.
Three other Russian entities, including the "troll farm" of the Internet Research Agency, were also charged.
- Mueller challenges Buzzfeed's Trump report
- Russia-Trump: Who is who in the drama to end all the dramas?
Several people directly linked to Trump have been indicted, including his former national security advisor, Michael Flynn, and Paul Manafort, the former president of his election campaign, who is in prison.
Michael Cohen, former personal attorney for Trump, and George Papadopoulos, former campaign counselor, were also indicted.
Who is Roger Stone?
Former friend of Donald Trump, Roger Stone has participated in Republican political campaigns since the 1970s.
A self-proclaimed Republican "trickster", he prefers three-piece suits and would not wear socks.
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He began his career working on Richard Nixon's candidacy in 1972, and sports a tattoo of the 37th President on his shoulders.
Mr Stone was involved in the Watergate scandal after Congressional hearings revealed that he had hired an agent to infiltrate the campaign of George McGovern, Mr. Nixon's Democratic opponent.
He then worked for Ronald Reagan's successful presidential campaigns in 1980 and 1984 and advised George HW Bush in his 1988 White House nomination.
Mr. Stone published a book, The Making of the President 2016, after helping Trump gain power.
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