Politics

The 7 biggest claims in Robert Mueller's new indictment of President Trump associate Roger Stone

Key Points
  • A new indictment against Roger Stone threatens to land the longtime confidant of President Donald Trump in prison.
  • The indictment, brought as part of special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation, alleges that Stone gave Trump's presidential campaign advance notice of the release by WikiLeaks of material that had been stolen from the Democratic National Committee by Russian agents.
  • And it claims Stone lied to Congress and then used a "Godfather" analogy to encourage an associate to also lie to Congress to avoid exposing Stone's mendacity. And he allegedly threatened to steal the associate's service dog.
Roger Stone, a former advisor to President Donald Trump, exits the Federal Courthouse on January 25, 2019 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
Joe Raedle | Getty Images

A new indictment against Roger Stone threatens to land the longtime confidant of President Donald Trump in prison.

The indictment, brought as part of special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. election, describes Stone as a source of information for Trump's presidential campaign about the plans of the secret documents disclosure group WikiLeaks.

WikiLeaks that year released material that had been stolen from the Democratic National Committee by what Mueller has said were Russian agents.

The indictment claims Stone lied to Congress and then used a "Godfather" analogy to encourage an associate to also lie to Congress to avoid exposing Stone's mendacity.

And he allegedly threatened to steal the associate's service dog.

Stone, who was released on a $250,000 bond hours after his arrest Friday in Florida, said he plans to plead not guilty in the case.

Here are seven highlights of Stone's indictment, unsealed Friday in federal court in Washington, D.C.

After the July 22, 2016 release of stolen DNC emails by Organization 1, a senior Trump Campaign official was directed to contact STONE about any additional releases and what other damaging information Organization 1 had regarding the Clinton Campaign. STONE thereafter told the Trump Campaign about potential future releases of damaging material by Organization 1.

Organization 1 refers to WikiLeaks. A source has told CNBC that the senior campaign official was Steve Bannon, who later served as senior advisor to Trump once he was elected president.

This line in the indictment was quickly noticed by Rep. Adam Schiff, the California Democrat who is chairman of the House Intelligence Committee.

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The indictment describes the Trump campaign as being keen to know the nature of any information that Wikileaks had about Trump's opponent in the 2016 campaign, Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.

During the summer of 2016, STONE spoke to senior Trump Campaign officials about Organization 1 and information it might have had that would be damaging to the Clinton Campaign. STONE was contacted by senior Trump Campaign officials to inquire about future releases by Organization 1.

The Trump campaign's interest appeared to increase closer to Election Day, particularly as WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange said on Fox News that he had documents "associated with the election campaign, some unexpected angles, some quite interesting."

On Oct. 1, 2016, Stone tweeted "@HillaryClinton is done."

"#Wikileaks," Stone added.

But an Assange press conference days later in London did not include any disclosures on Clinton. And that led the Trump campaign to ask Stone what was going on, according to the indictment.

On or about October 4, 2016, the head of Organization 1 held a press conference but did not release any new materials pertaining to the Clinton Campaign. Shortly afterwards, STONE received an email from the high-ranking Trump Campaign official asking about the status of future releases by Organization 1. STONE answered that the head of Organization 1 had a "[s]erious security concern" but that Organization 1 would release "a load every week going forward."

Three days later, the Washington Post published details of a tape recorded in 2005 by the show "Access Hollywood" which revealed Trump talked lewdly about trying to have sex with a married woman, and kissing and grabbing the genitals of women without getting permission first because "when you're a star, they let you do it."

Less than an hour later, WikiLeaks published, for the first time, emails stolen from John Podesta, chairman of Clinton's campaign.

On or about October 7, 2016, Organization 1 released the first set of emails stolen from the Clinton Campaign chairman. Shortly after Organization 1's release, an associate of the high-ranking Trump Campaign official sent a text message to STONE that read "well done." In subsequent conversations with senior Trump Campaign officials, STONE claimed credit for having correctly predicted the October 7, 2016 release.

The indictment suggests that Stone knew his contacts with WikiLeaks, which has come to be viewed as either a knowing or unknowing dupe of Russians trying to get Trump elected with the use of stolen material, could cause trouble for him and for the Trump campaign.

And he was allegedly worried that a longtime associate of his could also cause him trouble.

The indictment says Stone:

Made multiple false statements to [The House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence] about his interactions regarding Organization 1, and falsely denied possessing records that contained evidence of these interactions; and attempted to persuade a witness to provide false testimony to and withhold pertinent information from the investigations.

That witness has been identified as Stone's associate Randy Credico, who is referred to as "Person 2" in the indictment.

The grand jury found that Stone referenced the movie "The Godfather: Part II," and a famous scene in which former Corleone crime family captain Frank Pentangeli dramatically abandons his plan to give evidence against family chief Michael Corleone to a Senate committee.

Pentangeli, known as "Frankie Five Angels," has that change of heart after seeing his brother, who lives in Sicily, walk into the Senate hearing room with Corleone.

Stone told Person 2 that Person 2 should do a 'Frank Pentangeli' before [the committee] in order to avoid contradicting Stone's testimony," the indictment charges, adding: "Frank Pentangeli is a character in the film The Godfather: Part II, which both Stone and Person 2 had discussed, who testifies before a congressional committee and in that testimony claims not to know critical information that he does in fact know."

The indictment says that in April 2018, Stone called Credico a "rat" and threatened to steal his service dog: a white Coton de Tulear named Bianca.

"You are a rat. A stoolie. You backstab your friends-run your mouth my lawyers are dying Rip you to shreds," Stone allegedly wrote.

Stone told Credico he would "take that dog away from you," the indictment says.

"I am so ready. Let's get it on. Prepare to die [expletive]," Stone allegedly told Credico.