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Former Trump adviser Roger Stone arrested after indictment by Robert Mueller

WION Web Team
New Delhi, Delhi, IndiaUpdated: Jan 25, 2019, 06:08 PM IST
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File photo of former Trump advisor Roger Stone. Photograph:(AFP)

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Stone has been charged with seven counts, including obstruction of an official proceeding, making false statements and witness tampering.

US President Donald Trump's former advisor, Roger Stone got arrested by police on Friday under an indictment issued by special counsel Robert Mueller; , according to a grand jury indictment made public by US Special Counsel Robert Mueller's office.

According to the report, he was arrested in Florida after being indicted on Thursday. 

Stone has been charged with seven counts, including obstruction of an official proceeding, making false statements and witness tampering.

Stone will now appear in a court in Fort Lauderdale on Friday.

Stone has faced scrutiny for his support for Trump during the 2016 presidential election campaign, when Stone implied that he had inside knowledge of data obtained by hackers that could embarrass Democrats, including Trump's rival for the White House, Hillary Clinton.

According to a Reuters' report, US prosecutors, in the indictment, said Stone had "sent and received numerous emails and text messages during the 2016 campaign in which he discussed Organisation 1, its head, and its possession of hacked emails."

Stone also spoke to senior Trump Campaign officials about the organisation "and information it might have had that would be damaging to the Clinton Campaign," the indictment said. He was also "contacted by senior Trump Campaign officials to inquire about future releases" by the group, it added.

Robert Mueller is investigating possible Russian collusion with the Trump election campaign which has led to dozens of indictments for federal crimes and several guilty pleas or convictions.

In August 2018, Paul Manafort, Trump's Presidential campaign chairman, was found guilty on eight felony counts of financial crimes in a district court, a month later, he pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud the United States and obstructing justice, in a plea bargain for his full cooperation with prosecutors.

The investigation also led to former national security advisor Michale Flynn pleading guilty to making false statements to the FBI and, as part of a December 2017 plea deal, he is required to be a cooperating witness in the investigations. 

Trump's personal lawyer, Michael Cohen is also scheduled to begin a three-year prison sentence in March after pleading guilty to charges including campaign finance violations, tax evasion and lying to Congress.

Mueller further secured guilty pleas from Manafort's business partner, Rick Gates, Dutch attorney Alex van der Zwaan, Trump's former campaign adviser George Papadopoulos, lobbyist W Samuel Patten, and Richard Pinedo; all, except Van der Zwaan, have become cooperating witnesses for investigators.

In February 2018, Mueller indicted 13 Russian citizens and three Russian entities, most notably the Internet Research Agency and, in June 2018, added an indictment of Konstantin Kilimnik, Manafort's business partner. In July 2018, 12 members of the Russian GRU cyber espionage group known as Fancy Bear, responsible for the 2016 DNC email hacking, were indicted.

(With inputs from agencies)