The criminal trial of US President Donald Trump's longtime adviser Roger Stone is set to begin on Tuesday on charges arising from former Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation that documented Russian interference to help Trump win the 2016 US election.
The trial could renew attention on efforts by Trump's 2016 campaign to capitalise on emails embarrassing to his Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton that US intelligence officials have concluded were stolen by Russian state-backed hackers. It also coincides with the impeachment inquiry against the Republican president in the House of Representatives over Trump's request that Ukraine investigate a Democratic rival, Joe Biden.
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Mueller's investigation, which concluded in March, led to criminal charges against several Trump advisers and campaign aides. Stone is just the second from this group not to plead guilty. Paul Manafort, Trump's former campaign chairman, was convicted by a Virginia jury last year and is now serving a prison sentence of seven and a half years.
Stone, a self-described "dirty trickster" and "agent provocateur," has pleaded not guilty to charges of obstructing justice, witness tampering and lying to the House of Representatives Intelligence Committee. That committee is now spearheading the impeachment inquiry.
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Stone, a Republican operative since the days of the Watergate scandal that forced President Richard Nixon to resign in 1974, has been a friend and ally of Trump for some 40 years. Stone has a tattoo of Nixon's smiling face on his back.
The trial kicks off on Tuesday with jury selection set to start at 9:30am (1430 GMT), and opening statements could begin as soon as Wednesday, US District Judge Amy Berman Jackson said on Monday. The tr ..
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