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Roger Stone Trial Closes with Dueling Versions of Motives in 2016 Trump
Campaign

Reuters

   WASHINGTON - Updated 6:17p.m., Nov. 13, 2019

   Prosecutors delivered closing arguments in the trial of U.S. President
   Donald Trump's adviser Roger Stone on Wednesday, saying the Republican
   operative lied to Congress about his efforts to keep abreast of when
   WikiLeaks might dump damaging emails on Hillary Clinton in the 2016
   election campaign because he knew it would make Trump look bad.

   A lawyer for Stone countered in his closing argument that this
   purported motive lacked all "common sense" because Trump had already
   been elected president by the time Stone testified to the House of
   Representatives Intelligence Committee in September 2017.

   By then, attorney Bruce Rogow said, the campaign was "long since over."

   "Why would he make stuff up? Why would be volunteer to testify? Why
   would Stone produce documents?" he asked.

   Stone, 67, has pleaded not guilty to seven counts of obstruction,
   witness tampering and making false statements in testimony during the
   committee's investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 U.S.
   elections.

   "Roger Stone knew if this information came out, it would look really
   bad for his longtime associate Donald Trump, so he lied to the
   committee," prosecutor Jonathan Kravis told the jury in federal court
   in Washington.

   "Ladies and gentlemen, Roger Stone is a political strategist. He knows
   how this is going to look."

   The jury is expected to begin its deliberations Thursday.

   Prosecutors allege 5 different lies

   Prosecutors accused Stone of telling lawmakers five different lies
   related to WikiLeaks website and its founder Julian Assange. WikiLeaks
   released a series of damaging emails about Trump's Democratic election
   rival Clinton that U.S. intelligence officials and Special Counsel
   Robert Mueller later concluded had been stolen by Russian hackers.

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