The FBI agents, more than two dozen, arrived before dawn, wearing bullet-vests, night-vision goggles, and heavily armed. They scurried across the front yard and slammed the front door: "FBI, open!" Finally a man opened.
With this cinematic scene, captured by CNN cameras, began on Friday, the latest chapter in the saga of US President Donald Trump and the Russian affair: On behalf of Special Investigator Robert Mueller arrested the FBI in Fort Lauderdale, Florida one of Trump's oldest political adviser , the strategist Roger Stone.
Six hours later, Stone, 66, was presented to a judge. He was released on bail of $ 250,000 and then joined the reporters with a grin. He was "not guilty," he said with a loud roar from onlookers. It is about "politically motivated investigations". In an Instagram post he also accused Mueller and the FBI of "Gestapo methods".
AFP
Mueller accuses Stone in the 23-page indictment of lied to the US Congress to cover up its involvement in the Russian affair. It's about the release of compromising e-mails from the Democrats during the 2016 election campaign. These e-mails had been hacked by Russia and then published by the WikiLeaks disclosure platform. Stone wants to know in advance.
The prosecution focuses only on the charge that Stone has tried to cover up his role later. Nevertheless, she also reveals new details about his alleged connection to WikiLeaks - as a kind of contact person to the Trump team.
Greatest Witch Hunt in History of Our Country! NO COLLUSION! Border Coyotes, Drug Dealers and Human Traffickers are treated better. Who alerted CNN to be there?
- Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 25, 2019As with previous revelations, the White House tries to distance itself from the current defendant. "The allegations made against Mr. Stone have nothing to do with the president," insisted Trump spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders. The name Trump appears in the current indictment, however, a total of 20 times.
"Biggest witch hunt in the history of our country!" Trump tweeted himself. "Who informed CNN in advance that they could be there?"
Who is Roger Stone?
REUTERS
Roger Stone
Stone has been acting as a stripper for the US Conservatives for decades. Behind his always preppy appearance - tailored suit, pocket handkerchief, hair gel - often had dubious means: He denounced, he spread rumors, he instrumentalized sex scandals. Known as the "Dirty Trickster" and "political assassin", he intrigued for Richard Nixon, whose likeness he tattooed on his back. After the coup between George W. Bush and Al Gore in 2000, he tried to manipulate the "Recount" in Florida. Most of it he did openly: "It's better if people talk about you than if they do not talk about you," he once said.
What does Stone have to do with Trump?
AP
Trump's former bankruptcy casino
Stone and Trump are old friends. In the 1980s, Stone founded a lobbying firm in Washington with Paul Manafort, Trump's later campaign chief. He also got to know Trump, whose casino projects he steered at that time by the approval authorities. Stone suggested Trump for the first time in 1998 to run for president. When Trump got so serious in 2015, he joined his team, but left after a short time, at least officially. Unofficially, he remained a consultant, tingling through the TV cable channels and maintaining personal contacts with the candidate.
What does Stone have to do with the Russian affair?
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Trump and Clinton in the 2016 election campaign
In the midst of the 2016 election campaign - and shortly after Trump's top advisor met with a Russian envoy at the Trump Tower - the WikiLeaks disclosure platform released thousands of Russia hacked Democratic emails. Stone boasted about having known in advance about the emails and announced more. According to the prosecution, he is said to have communicated with a "senior adviser" Trumps. According to the New York Times, these were Trump's chief strategist Steve Bannon. According to Mueller, he was "instructed" to contact Stone. From whom? The US media tap Trump himself.
Why was Stone arrested now?
REUTERS
Stone comes to court
Special investigator Mueller accuses Stone of judicial obstruction, perjury and witness influence. He is said to have lied to the Intelligence Committee of the US House of Representatives under oath about his WikiLeaks contacts and later to have also urged a presumptive middleman to do so - including a reference to the movie "The Godfather - Part II", in which a key witness against the Mafia denied his statement at the very last moment. Stone himself asserted that he would not be forced to take "false testimony against Donald Trump." That said, however, Trump's former lawyer Michael Cohen, who now cooperates with Mueller.
What does this mean for the Mueller investigations?
REUTERS
Robert Mueller
Judicial watchers see a potential further building block of a major indictment of the Trump team and possibly Trump himself. Mueller will find out if Russian and other electoral manipulation was coordinated with the Trump team, and if so, how. He also investigates alleged attempts at subsequent cover-up and disability. Mueller has now indicted 34 people from Trump environment - if not because of concrete Russia offenses, but because of other allegations such as perjury, judicial disability and tax fraud. Six have since pleaded guilty and cooperate with Mueller.