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The Center for Media and Democracy

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Roger Stone

About

Roger Stone is a political consultant who served as a campaign adviser to Donald Trump in 2015 and ultimately remained an ally despite being fired from the campaign due to a reported falling out between the two men.

In 2019, Stone was found guilty of witness tampering, lying to the House Intelligence Committee, and obstruction of justice in connection with former special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into alleged collusion between Russia and Trump’s 2016 campaign. In 2020, Trump commuted Stone’s 40-month jail sentence and later pardoned him. 

Well before Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign, Stone was notorious for using “dirty tricks” to push his political causes and candidates. His first political scandal came amid the Watergate Congressional hearings, when it was revealed that Stone had hired an operative to infiltrate Democratic candidate George McGovern’s presidential campaign.

After the 2020 presidential election, Stone was very involved in Trump’s attempts to overturn the results and remain in power.

January 6, 2021

  • According to The Washington Post, Stone was in close contact with right-wing figures hours before the attack on the Capitol, including a member of the Oath Keepers who later pleaded guilty to seditious conspiracy. He also exchanged messages with Oath Keepers leader Stewart Rhodes and Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio. 
  • According to footage from the Danish documentary A Storm Foretold, Stone fled Washington as the insurrection unfolded, saying, “I really want to get out of here.” Given his recent conviction on charges brought by the Justice Department, he reportedly feared prosecution by incoming Attorney General Merrick Garland. 
  • Although he didn’t ultimately make an appearance, Stone was billed as a speaker at Ali Alexander’s Wild Protest, which preceded the attack on the Capitol.
  • Stone helped raise funds for security at the Stop the Steal protest on Jan. 6, and according to The Washington Post, he raised approximately $40,000.
  • Stone is closely associated with Ali Alexander, a right-wing personality who coordinated Stop the Steal rallies (including the D.C. rally on Jan. 6), and actively spread the lie that the election had been stolen. 
    • At a rally on Jan. 5, Alexander told the crowd, “I am here to say it couldn’t be done without Roger Stone.”
  • After the attack, Stone pushed for the so-called “Stone Plan,” a presidential pardon that would legally protect Trump allies involved in the effort to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. 
  • In November 2021, the House Select Committee investigating the attack on the Capitol subpoenaed Stone. In February 2022, he sued to block the committee from accessing his phone records.

The Big Lie

  • According to the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), Stone coined the phrase “Stop the Steal” in 2016 in preparation for Trump’s possible electoral defeat by Hillary Clinton. 
    • After the 2020 election, associates of Stone—including male supremacist Mike Cernovich and One America News host Jack Posobiec—used their platforms online and on air to promote the lie that the election had been stolen. Their rallying cry, “Stop the Steal,” went viral and became the favored chant at pro-Trump rallies. 
  • Stone promoted the lie that Democrats stole the 2020 presidential election in blog posts, public appearances, and on air.
    • In an Oct. 31, 2020 blog post titled “ROGER STONE EXCLUSIVE: How the Democrats Plan to Steal the 2020 Election,” he wrote that Democrats were “already in the process of resorting to widespread voter fraud.”
    • In a Nov. 4, 2020 appearance on InfoWars, Alex Jones’ far-right rant site, Stone claimed that Democratic operatives and lawmakers would “go out and manufacture” votes for Biden, suggesting that Trump would otherwise win by a landslide. 
  • According to footage released to the House Select Committee and the DOJ by Danish documentary filmmakers working on A Storm Foretold, the day before the presidential election Stone can be heard saying, “F**k the voting, let’s get right to the violence.” 
  • According to The Washington Post, on Nov. 5, 2020, Stone drafted a Stop the Steal “action plan” to lobby state lawmakers to overturn the election results.