Who is Roger Stone? Trump, Nixon ties made him political celeb
But there was at least as much buzz out in the lobby for
Stone, 66, has long played up his reputation as a practitioner of the political dark arts. He is, among other things, a former teen-aged dirty trickster for
But it is his association with Trump, whom he began urging to run for president in the 1980s, that has brought Stone his greatest celebrity and legal peril.
At Lobsterfest -- which featured future Gov.
"It's not inconceivable that the special counsel could conjure up some other bogus offense in an attempt to get me to testify against the president, who I've known for 40 years. I'm not going to do that," Stone told
"I wouldn't rule out cooperating with (Mueller) on some other basis if I can be helpful, but I will never testify against the president," Stone said. Asked if there was anything for him to testify against Trump about, Stone replied: "Not that I know of, but they may think otherwise."
A few weeks later, Stone was back in
Stone estimated the Mueller probe could cost him
Stone began encouraging a Trump presidential bid more than three decades ago, succeeding in persuading the celebrity mogul to make a 1987 trip to
Stone was also there when Trump flirted with a 2000 presidential run as a third-party supporter of abortion rights, gun control and single-payer health care. In 2011, Stone helped Trump rebrand himself as a tea party conservative as he considered and ultimately passed up a 2012
When Trump finally launched an actual presidential campaign, Stone was an official part of it for only a short time. In the summer of 2015, he lost a power struggle with
But Stone remained a visible supporter of Trump who, according to Mueller's indictment, "maintained regular contact" with the campaign, including discussions about potential future releases of documents stolen by Russian hackers from the
In
"I am of course no stranger to the world of hardball politics," Stone said. "But treason -- treason is a step too far."
Before Friday's drama, Stone was scheduled to appear in
Club President
"We are waiting to see what unfolds as far as what he's able to do," said Appell, who said about 100 tickets were initially available for the lunch. "Our ticket sales were running ahead of schedule. He's usually a big draw without all of this. We'll probably be sold out on this one if he's able to do it."
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