STONE COLD
Defiant Roger Stone flashes a Nixon double-v sign outside court as ‘dirty trickster’ vows to fight Russia meddling charges
Self-proclaimed 'dirty trickster' Roger Stone, 66, was arrested in a dawn raid by armed FBI agents this morning
TRUMP ally Roger Stone channelled his old boss Richard Nixon as he performed a defiant v-sign pose after being charged in the ongoing Russian "collusion" probe.
Stone, 66, was arrested in a dawn raid on Friday by FBI agents in Fort Lauderdale, Florida - who reportedly pounded the door and shouted: "FBI, open the door".
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He has been charged with seven counts relating to an alleged Russian-led hack of damaging Democratic Party emails.
They were later published on Wikileaks during the 2016 US election - harming Hilary Clinton's campaign.
A longtime political strategist, Stone is accused of lying to Congress about his pursuit of the Russian-hacked emails.
Prosecutors allege that senior Trump campaign officials sought to use the publication of the stolen material to help engineer a White House victory.
The self-proclaimed dirty trickster faces one count of obstruction of an official proceeding, five counts of making false statements and one count of witness tampering, according to the Special Counsel's Office.
Speaking over jeers of "lock him up" outside court, Stone said: "As I have said previously, there is no circumstance whatsoever under which I will bear false witness against the president, nor will I make up lies to ease the pressure on myself."
He then performed Richard Nixon's signature double v-sign pose as supporters cheered.
LIST OF CHARGES
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".
Organisation 1 was unnamed in court documents but matches the description of Wikileaks, which is dedicated to publishing secret and classified information provided by anonymous sources.
Stone still possessed many of those communications when he gave false testimony about them, prosecutors claimed.
He 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.
And Stone was "contacted by senior Trump Campaign officials to inquire about future releases" by the group, it added.
After news of his old friend's arrest, President Donald Trump slammed the Russia investigation on Twitter, calling it the "Greatest Witch Hunt in the History of our Country!"
FBI PROBING ALLEGED RUSSIAN LINKS
Representatives for Stone could not be immediately reached for comment.
Robert Mueller is investigating whether there was collusion between the Russian government, its agencies or affiliates, and the Trump campaign.
It is already the established view of the United States that Russia intervened in the election through a massive overt online propaganda campaign and covert means to influence the election in favour of Donald Trump.
The aim of Muller's investigation is to discover whether this effort was coordinated or aided by the Trump team.
Stone is the sixth Trump aide or adviser charged by Mueller and the 34th person overall.
INVESTIGATION IS 'WITCHHUNT'
Stone began his career on Richard Nixon's 1972 re-election bid - and has a tattoo of the 37th president across his shoulder blades.
He has publicly slammed the Mueller investigation and echoed the president's descriptions of it as a witch hunt.
But he has long attracted investigators' attention, especially in light of a 2016 tweet that appeared to presage knowledge that emails would soon be released.
Stone has said he had no inside information about the contents of the emails in WikiLeaks' possession or the timing of when they'd be released.
He has said he learned from Randy Credico, a New York radio host, that WikiLeaks had the emails and planned to disclose them.
Stone has released emails that he says support that assertion.
He was released on a $250,000 (£189,000) bond with restrictions allowing him to travel only for court appearances in Florida, Washington DC and New York.
FBI arrest Donald Trump's longtime advisor Roger Stone after being indicted by a grand jury on charges bought by Robert Mueller
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Crowd chants 'lock him up' as Trump ally Roger Stone addresses the media in Fort Lauderdale
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