Who is Roger Stone? The Longtime Republican Operative Worked for Nixon

Roger Stone, a political operative who worked on several Republican campaigns from Richard Nixon to Donald Trump, has links to multiple targets of special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential campaign.

Stone was arrested Friday morning after a federal grand jury indicted him on five charges of false statements, one count of witness tampering and one count of obstruction all in relation to Mueller’s inquiry. The allegations revolve around Stone’s alleged contacts with WikiLeaks, the organization that released thousands of emails about Democrats during the 2016 election in an effort to damage Trump’s opponent, Hillary Clinton.

Stone is charged with lying to the House Intelligence Committee during its Russia investigation, and for trying to conceal emails and other records the committee had requested.

The longtime Republican has, as USA Today put it, “always been pugnacious. His web site features pictures of him with Nixon and Ronald Reagan.”

Stone’s site also links to a 2008 New Yorker profile, which said he “regularly cross the line between respectability and ignominy.” The profile featured a picture of his tattoo of Nixon on his back.

For decades, Stone has worked on a variety of Republican political campaigns and was a partner in a political consulting firm with former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort in the 1980s.

He claims to have left the Trump campaign in 2015 but, as Mueller’s probe will likely reveal, Stone reportedly stayed close to the periphery as an “informal adviser.”