Roger Stone
| Roger Stone | |||
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| Basic facts | |||
| Role: | Political consultant | ||
| Location: | New York, N.Y. | ||
| Affiliation: | Republican | ||
| Website: | Official website | ||
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Roger Stone is a political consultant, author, and lobbyist.[1] He is the co-author, with Robert Morrow, of The Clintons' War on Women, published in 2015.[2] Stone has been an advisor to a number of Republican presidents, beginning with Richard Nixon in 1972.[3] On November 15, 2019, Stone was found guilty on seven counts of lying to Congress, obstruction of a federal investigation, and witness tampering.[4] He was sentenced to 40 months in prison on February 20, 2020.[5] On July 10, 2020, President Donald Trump commuted Stone's sentence.[6] On December 23, 2020 President Trump pardoned Stone. [7]
Career
Early career and consulting
Roger Stone began his career in politics in 1972 as a member of Richard Nixon's Committee to Reelect the President and then worked as the national director of Youth for Reagan in 1976. He again worked for Reagan's campaigns in 1980 and 1984 before supporting Jack Kemp in the 1988 presidential election.[8]
As a political consultant, Stone was a founding partner of the firm Black, Manafort, and Stone (commonly shortened to Black, Manafort), a group that The Washington Post described as having "developed a reputation as one of Washington's most aggressive and controversial. It combined lobbying with campaign consulting and was often in the position of seeking votes from members of Congress for whose campaigns the firm had worked."[9] In a 1985 profile of the lobbying group—when H. Lee Atwater joined the firm—The Washington Post said the group had become influential in Washington politics:[10]
| “ | In just five years, Black, Manafort and Stone -- and now Atwater -- has become a major new presence in the capital, specializing in connections, influence and hardball politics. It combines a political client list of influential elected officials with a lobbying clientele of corporations, foreign governments and trade associations.[11] | ” |
In 1989, The New York Times described Black, Manafort as "a power broker that thrives on a hardball approach."[12] The group was sold in 1991.[9]
Stone has also consulted for Bob Dole (R) and Tom Kean (R), and, according to New Yorker magazine, he "worked for Donald Trump as an occasional lobbyist and as an adviser when Trump considered running for President in 2000."[1]
Brooks Brothers riot
In the 2000 presidential election, Stone played a key role in the recount of ballots in Florida. The election came down to contested ballots in the state, with Al Gore (D) officially conceding the presidency to George W. Bush (R) on December 13, 2000.[13] On November 22, 2000, as ballots were being recounted for the second time in Florida, "a Stone-led squad of pro-Bush protestors stormed the Miami-Dade County election board, stopping the recount and advancing then-Governor George W. Bush one step closer to the White House."[14]
The event became known as the Brooks Brothers riot because the protest was led by Republican operatives. The Washington Post described the protesters as "mostly Republican House aides from Washington." In June 2008, Stone described his involvement to The New Yorker: "The whole idea behind what they were doing was that there had already been one recount of the votes, so we didn’t want another. The idea was to shut it down, stop the recount here in Miami. ... I had walkie-talkies and cell phones, and I was in touch with our people in the building. Our whole idea was to shut the recount down. That was why we were there." [1]
Campaign tactics
The Miami Herald described Stone as a "legendarily bare-knuckle Republican consultant," citing his long history of using opposition research and negative advertising for the campaigns he has advised.[15] The New York Times referred to him as a "consultant known for hardball politics and a cloak-and-dagger sensibility."[16]
In 1990, Stone told The New York Times how he prepares his clients for negative campaigning against them. He said:[17]
| “ | First, you ask them some very embarrassing and rude questions. Do you have a boyfriend or girlfriend that your husband or wife doesn't know about? Ever owned any stock in companies that do business in South Africa? Ever been arrested on a morals charge? Any bankruptcies we don't know about? Own any property where they've dumped toxic waste?[11] | ” |
His campaign tactics are also governed by what he calls Stone's Rules. According to a profile in The Weekly Standard in 2007, one of the main Stone's Rules" is "Hit it from every angle. Open multiple fronts on your enemy. He must be confused, and feel besieged on every side."[18]
Media presence
Stone is also a regular contributor to a number of publications. According to his website's biography, "Mr. Stone has written for the New York Times Sunday Magazine, The New York Times Op Ed page and for Newsmax.com, Breitbart, the Huffington Post and the FOX Opinion page. He has appeared frequently on FOX News."[3] Stone is also the author of four books, including The Man Who Killed Kennedy: The Case Against LBJ (2013) and a sequel, Nixon’s Secrets: The Rise, Fall, and Untold Truth about the President, Watergate, and the Pardon (2014).[19][20]
Speaking with The Orlando Political Observer about the books, Stone said:[21]
| “ | If you read both books you’ll get a very real look at how politics operated in the 1950s. We hear about break in’s, phone bugging, wire tapping. Nixon didn’t do anything, Kennedy didn’t do, Johnson didn’t do. Mob support from candidates. Sure. Nixon took money from the mob. Not as much as Kennedy, Johnson or Truman. But, there were no campaign finance laws in the 50s and 60s. What I’m trying to do is put the politics into perspective. Nixon was not an angel. Nor was he Satan. He made enormous mistakes but he also did great things. He ended the Vietnam war. He opened the door to China, brokered arms reduction treatiss with the Soviets. Ended the draft. Clean water act. Clean air act. Desegregated the public schools in the south.[11] | ” |
Donald Trump presidential campaign, 2016
- See also: Donald Trump presidential campaign, 2016
Stone left Donald Trump's campaign during the first week of August 2015. Trump said he fired Stone, while Stone told the press that he resigned.[22][23] In an interview with Talking Points Memo, Stone said that he still spoke with Trump on a regular basis but was no longer a formal advisor to the campaign: "We talk on a semi-regular basis and it’s cordial. But I have no formal — I resigned any formal role. We just talk politics." He also commented on his reasons for continuing to support Trump after his resignation from the campaign:[24]
| More on Donald Trump's 2016 campaign staff |
|---|
| Staff overview |
| • Trump staff overview |
Management and strategy |
|
•Steve Bannon, Executive chairman |
Communications |
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•Hope Hicks, Communications director |
Advisors |
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•Roger Stone, Informal advisor |
| “ | I worked as a lobbyist. I worked as a Senate staffer. I worked as a House staffer. I’ve seen American government up close. I’ve seen them making sausage. It’s not pretty. Everything is for sale. The special interests and the lobbyists and the billionaires and the super PACs control everything. Anything in Washington can be bought for the right amount of money. In my view, Trump has the financial independence and the boldness to challenge the entire system.[11] | ” |
Stone's other partners in his original consulting firm, Paul Manafort and Charlie Black, also signed on with 2016 candidates. Manafort was hired in March 2016 as Trump's convention manager.[25] Black joined the John Kasich (R) campaign as a delegate strategist, also in March 2016.[26]
Delegate disclosure comments
In an interview on April 5, 2016, Stone commented on what he would do if the presidential nominating convention was contested:
| “ | We will disclose the hotels and the room numbers of those delegates who are directly involved in the steal. If you're from Pennsylvania, we'll tell you who the culprits are. We urge you to visit their hotel and find them.[11] | ” |
Criticism of Corey Lewandowski
On May 10, 2016, in an interview with Steve Malzberg, Stone critiqued campaign manager Corey Lewandowski for what Stone perceived to be an unduly influential role in Trump's campaign. In response to Malzberg's question about Lewandowski's reported role in selecting a vice presidential candidate, Stone said, "There are some people in Donald Trump's campaign who are working to elect him president. And there are other people more concerned with their position in the entourage and measuring the curtains for their White House office. It doesn't really serve the candidate well, but Corey Lewandowski seems to be on a course of self-aggrandizement. ... I think he's oversold his role here."[28]
Relation to WikiLeaks
- See also: WikiLeaks and Julian Assange
In August 2016, Stone said that he had been in contact with WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and promised an “October surprise,” saying, “Well, it could be any number of things. I actually have communicated with Assange. ... I believe the next tranche of his documents pertain to the Clinton Foundation but there's no telling what the October surprise may be.”[29]
In an opinion piece for Breitbart News, Stone wrote, "I had no advance notice of Wikileaks’ hacking of Podesta’s e-mails. I didn’t need it to know what Podesta has been up to. I do not work for any Russian interest. I have no Russian clients. I have never received a penny from any public or private entity or individual and that includes Russian intelligence. None. Nada. Zilch."[30]
Contact with Guccifer 2.0
After the election, in March 2017, Stone revealed that he had been in contact with Guccifer 2.0, a hacking identity that the U.S. suspected of hacking and releasing DNC emails, through Twitter in August 2016. In his own account of the contact, Stone said, "It was so perfunctory, brief and banal I had forgotten it. Not exactly 007 stuff even if Guccifer 2.0 was working for the Russkies."[31]
Noteworthy events
November 15, 2019: Stone convicted on seven counts
On January 25, 2019, Roger Stone, a former adviser to President Donald Trump, was arrested by the FBI as part of special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. Stone was accused of lying to Congress about his involvement in providing the Trump campaign with information about emails WikiLeaks stole from Democrats in 2016. He was also charged with obstructing the congressional inquiry and persuading a witness to provide false testimony.[32]
Stone said he would not plead guilty. He said, “There is no circumstance, whatsoever, under which I will bear false witness against the president.”[32]
On November 15, 2019, the jury found Stone guilty on five counts of lying to Congress and one count each of obstruction of an official proceeding and witness tampering.[33] Stone's sentencing was scheduled for February 6, 2020.[4][34] Stone's sentencing was later delayed to February 20, 2020.[35]
On February 20, 2020, Judge Amy Berman Jackson sentenced Stone to 40 months in prison.[5][36] On July 10, 2020, President Donald Trump commuted Stone's sentence.[6]
On December 23, 2020 President Trump pardoned Stone. [37]
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 New Yorker, "The Dirty Trickster," June 2, 2008
- ↑ Breitbart News, "EXCLUSIVE: Roger Stone Touts His New Book, ‘The Clintons’ War on Women,'" September 2, 2015
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 The Stone Zone, "About," accessed April 5, 2016
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 FOX News, "Roger Stone found guilty on all counts in trial stemming from Mueller probe," November 15, 2019
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 The Washington Post, "Trump loyalist Roger Stone gets 40 months in prison after Justice Department backs off sentencing recommendation," February 20, 2020
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 The New York Times, "Trump Commutes Sentence of Roger Stone in Case He Long Denounced," July 10, 2020
- ↑ Politico, "Trump pardons Manafort, Stone, father of Jared Kushner," December 23, 2020
- ↑ The New American, "Roger Stone, Former Nixon Hit Man, Now a Libertarian," March 14, 2012
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 The Washington Post, "PR Firm Acquires Black, Manafort," January 3, 1991
- ↑ The Washington Post, "Partners in Political PR Firm Typify Republican New Breed," April 7, 1985
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 11.4 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ The New York Times, "A Political Power Broker," June 21, 1989
- ↑ CNN, "So, who really won? What the Bush v. Gore studies showed," October 31, 2015
- ↑ The Daily Beast, "A GOP Dirty Trickster Has Second Thoughts," November 20, 2008
- ↑ Miami Herald, "Hatchet job: Roger Stone’s edgy takes on history and politics," October 14, 2014
- ↑ The New York Times, "G.O.P. Consultant Says He Reported Spitzer Trysts in 2007," March 24, 2008
- ↑ The New York Times, "'Wars Wound Candidates and the Process," March 19, 1990
- ↑ The Weekly Standard, "Roger Stone, Political Animal," November 5, 2007
- ↑ WorldCat, "The man who killed Kennedy : the case against LBJ," accessed April 5, 2016
- ↑ WorldCat, "Nixon's secrets : the rise, fall, and untold truth about the president, Watergate, and the pardon," accessed April 5, 2016
- ↑ The Orlando Political Observer, "Interview with Roger Stone, NY Times Best Selling Author of 'Nixon’s Secrets,'" September 20, 2014
- ↑ Washington Post, "Donald Trump struggles to turn political fling into a durable campaign", August 9, 2015
- ↑ Politico, "Trump prepares to bolster depleted staff", August 10, 2015
- ↑ Talking Points Memo, "The TPM Interview: Roger Stone May Be Off The Campaign, But He Still Has Trump's Ear," November 2, 2015
- ↑ New York Times, "Donald Trump Hires Paul Manafort to Lead Delegate Effort," March 28, 2016
- ↑ Columbus Dispatch, "Ohio Politics Now: A look at John Kasich's fight for delegates," March 29, 2016
- ↑ Talking Points Memo, "Roger Stone Threatens To Sic Trump Voters On Delegates Who 'Steal' Nom (VIDEO)," April 5, 2016
- ↑ Newsmax, "Roger Stone Slams Corey Lewandowski's 'Self-Aggrandizement,'" May 10, 2016
- ↑ Media Matters, "Roger Stone Confirms That He's In Communication With Julian Assange," August 9, 2016
- ↑ Breitbart News, "Stone: WikiLeaks, Mike Morrel, Russia, and Me," October 19, 2016
- ↑ Stone Cold Truth, "Roger Stone: The Smoking Gun Aims, Fires, Misses," March 10, 2017
- ↑ 32.0 32.1 The Wall Street Journal, "Trump Adviser Roger Stone Charged as Part of Mueller Investigation," January 25, 2019
- ↑ National Public Radio, "Longtime Trump Ally Roger Stone Indicted On 7 Counts In Mueller Investigation," January 26, 2019
- ↑ The Washington Post, "Roger Stone guilty on all counts in federal trial of lying to Congress, witness tampering," November 15, 2019
- ↑ Politico, "Judge delays Roger Stone’s sentencing until Feb. 20," December 20, 2019
- ↑ The New York Times, "Roger Stone Sentenced to Over 3 Years in Prison," February 20, 2020
- ↑ Politico, "Trump pardons Manafort, Stone, father of Jared Kushner," December 23, 2020
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