As Washington reporters sift through the indictment of Roger Stone, confusion about exactly what he is being charged with, as well as the implications for the Trump administration, has already seeped into the coverage.
Following Stone's first court appearance on Friday, his bail was set at $250,000 and his travel limited to Washington DC, Virginia, New York and Florida (Stone can't leave the country, but his passport wasn't taken because, according to his lawyers, he has no valid passport).
With rulings in the case about to accelerate, the Washington Examiner's Byron York has published a handy guide to the Stone indictment that aims to set the record straight. Instead of being a broad indictment of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russian-backed agents, the indictment sketches a picture of a man who had been pushed to the periphery of Trump World as the campaign locked up the nomination, who maybe ran his mouth a little too much. But importantly, Stone wasn't accused of directly coordinating with Wikileaks - indeed he had no advanced knowledge of the contents of the leaks. And he never lied in his interviews with Mueller, either.
All of the lies Stone allegedly told stemmed from his September 2017 interview with the HPSCI, as well as what he told his unindicted associates.
Released on $250,000 bail, Roger Stone said Friday as he left court that he will plead not guilty to charges brought against him by special counsel Robert Mueller.
The Hill reports that Stone told reporters outside of a federal courthouse in Florida that he will go to trial over the indictment, saying that it is "incorrect" that he made false statements during his testimony before Congress.
He also dug in on his previous vow not to testify against Trump.
"There is no circumstance whatsoever under which I will bear false witness against the president," Stone said, "nor will I make up lies to ease the pressure on myself."
Trump associate Roger Stone gave a Nixonian salute after speaking to reporters outside federal court, where he was greeted with both cheers and boos, along with chants of "Lock him up!" t.co
— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) January 25, 2019
Stone said he will be arraigned on the charges in a Washington, D.C., court next week.
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