Trump friend Roger Stone found guilty on all charges

WASHINGTON

Roger Stone, U.S. President Donald Trump's long-time friend and confidante, was found guilty by a federal court Friday of all seven charges he faced, including obstructing a Congressional investigation into whether the Trump campaign colluded with Russian interference in the 2016 election.

Stone, 67, was charged in a seven-count indictment that included obstruction, lying to Congress and witness tampering, and was convicted on each of the felony counts, according to multiple reports.

He testified in September 2017 before the House Intelligence Committee, and much of the case against him was centered on those sworn comments.

During the hearing he told lawmakers he had no electronic communications with political comedian and radio host Randy Credico whom he identified as his intermediary to Wikileaks founder Julian Assange.

But during the trial and earlier investigation led by Special Counsel Robert Mueller it emerged that Stone had in fact sent numerous emails and text messages to Credico, including dozens of texts on the day of his congressional testimony.

Prosecutors said Stone sought to have Credico, who himself was subpoenaed by Congress, stonewall lawmakers in their probe.

Credico reportedly said during the trial that Stone urged him to "do a Frank Pentangeli," a reference to the character from the Godfather: Part II who lies to the Senate in its mafia investigation. Credico said Stone threatened him if he chose not to go along with the directive, adding that Stone misidentified him as the Wikileaks go-between.

Prosecutors reportedly said Stone's true intermediary was Jerome Corsi, a conservative author and conspiracy theorist, whom he instructed. Corsi was never called to testify.

Stone, a onetime Trump campaign associate, has said the case against him is politically motivated and said he would be "vindicated" at trial.

Trump himself took to Twitter to complain about what he called "a double standard like never seen before."

"So they now convict Roger Stone of lying and want to jail him for many years to come. Well, what about Crooked Hillary, Comey, Strzok, Page, McCabe, Brennan, Clapper, Shifty Schiff, Ohr & Nellie, Steele & all of the others, including even Mueller himself?" Trump said, listing a number of individuals he has repeatedly criticized.

Stone's sentencing was scheduled for Feb. 6. He faces up to 20 years behind bars.