Roger Stone
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| “ | My name is Roger Stone, and I'm an agent provocateur. | „ |
| ~ Roger Stone |
Roger Jason Stone Jr. (born August 27, 1952) is an American political consultant, lobbyist, conspiracy theorist, and convicted felon. He was a lobbyist for the lobbying firm Black, Manafort, Stone and Kelly, which worked with the administrations of several past presidents of the United States, as well as contacting various international leaders, including tyrannical dictators.
Since the 1970s, Stone has worked on the campaigns of Republican politicians including Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, Jack Kemp, Bob Dole, and Donald Trump. He has been variously described as a "self-proclaimed dirty trickster," a "renowned infighter," a "seasoned practitioner of hard-edged politics," a "mendacious windbag," a "veteran Republican strategist," and a political fixer.
Biography edit
Stone was born on August 27, 1952, in Norwalk, Connecticut, to Gloria Rose (Corbo) and Roger J. Stone. He grew up in Lewisboro, New York, in a family of Hungarian and Italian descent. His mother was a small-town reporter, his father a well driller and business owner. He has described his family as middle-class, blue-collar Catholics.
Stone said that as an elementary school student in 1960, he broke into politics to further John F. Kennedy's presidential campaign: "I remember going through the cafeteria line and telling every kid that Nixon was in favor of school on Saturdays ... It was my first political trick."
Stone's political career began in earnest on the 1972 Nixon campaign (notably as a member of the Committee for the Re-Election of the President), with activities such as contributing money to a possible rival of Nixon in the name of the Young Socialist Alliance – then slipping the receipt to the Manchester Union-Leader. He also hired a spy in the Hubert Humphrey campaign who became Humphrey's driver. According to Stone, during the day he was officially a scheduler in the Nixon campaign, but "By night, I'm trafficking in the black arts. Nixon's people were obsessed with intelligence." Stone maintains he never did anything illegal during Watergate. The Richard Nixon Foundation later clarified that Stone had been a 20-year-old junior scheduler on the campaign, and that to characterize Stone as one of Nixon's aides or advisers was a "gross misstatement".
After Nixon won the 1972 presidential election, Stone worked for the administration in the Office of Economic Opportunity. After Nixon resigned, Stone went to work for Bob Dole, but was later fired after columnist Jack Anderson publicly identified Stone as a Nixon 'dirty trickster'.
In 1975, Stone helped found the National Conservative Political Action Committee, a New Right organization that helped to pioneer independent expenditure political advertising.
In 1976, he worked in Ronald Reagan's campaign for U.S. President. In 1977, at age 24, Stone won the presidency of the Young Republicans in a campaign managed by his friend Paul Manafort; they had compiled a dossier for each of the 800 delegates that gathered, which they called "whip books".
Crimes edit
Stone was arrested on January 25, 2019 at his Fort Lauderdale residence on charges of witness tampering, obstructing an official proceeding, and false statements as part of Robert Mueller's investigation into possible Russian interference in the 2016 United States presidential election. After his indictment and arrest, Roger Stone made a V-sign, similarly to how Richard Nixon did upon resignation.
Stone's antics during his period of indictment were questionable. He notably acted in a poor manner during official proceedings, although he has acted as what others call "flamboyant" long before this. He posted an Instagram post of what appeared to be the overseeing judge Amy Berman Jackson with crosshairs on her. Stone later apologized and deleted the post, stating that it was a Celtic cross. This too was questioned by many, as it is commonly used by white supremacists as a symbol. As a result of the image, Amy Berman Jackson put a gag order on Stone.
He went on trial on November 6, 2019, and was found guilty of all charges. He was sentenced to 40 months in prison on 20 February 2020. The date in which he was to report to prison was delayed multiple times until his sentence was commuted by President Trump in July before being pardoned in December 2020.
Other villainy edit
- In early 2018, ahead of an appearance at the annual Republican Dorchester Conference in Salem, Oregon, Stone sought out the Proud Boys, a far-right neo-fascist group known for street violence and the promotion of illicit drug use, to act as his "security" for the event; photos posted online showed Stone drinking with several Proud Boys. He is particularly close to the group's current leader, Enrique Tarrio, who has commercially monetized his position. At a televised Trump rally in Miami, Florida, on February 18, 2019, Tarrio was seated directly behind President Trump wearing a "Roger stone did nothing wrong" tee shirt.
- Due to his association with Paul Manafort, Stone has ties to the infamous "Torturers' Lobby", which includes such dicators as Mobutu Sese Seko, Ferdinand Marcos, and Siad Barre.
- During his tenure in the Nixon Administration, Stone had a role in the Watergate scandal.
- During the Florida ballot recount of the contested 2000 U.S. presidential election, Stone claimed to have organized the so-called Brooks Brothers riot, an astroturf demonstration of primarily paid GOP staffers from Washington DC, who weren't even dressed in Brooks Brothers suits.
- He has claimed that Lyndon B. Johnson was behind the assassination of John F. Kennedy.
- He accused Huma Abedin, an aide to Hillary Clinton, of being an agent of the Muslim Brotherhood.
- He is considered to be a founder of the Stop the Steal movement.