One of the redacted faces is of someone in a blue shirt, tie, suspenders and khaki slacks. Stone wore matching clothing at a rally of Trump supporters that day in Largo, Fla., according to video by
the Bay News 9 cable channel. The rally site, a two hours’ drive from the two defendants’ homes, was a coffee shop with
a matching reproduction backdrop of the Oval Office. The coffee shop had
indicated on Instagram that Stone would be a guest with “other Patriots” on Dec. 14.
The defense attorney for a third charged Oath Keepers co-defendant, Jessica Watkins, wrote separately Thursday that her client was planning only to provide security for Stone in Washington, where she was given a “VIP” security pass for events.
“I’m down to be security for Roger Stone. Seems like a sweet gig,” Watkins texted another co-defendant on Jan. 1, the defense filing said.
U.S. investigating possible ties between Roger Stone, Alex Jones and Capitol rioters
In a statement, Stone said, “This new filing does not in anyway provide proof or evidence that I was involved in or had advance knowledge of the illegal acts at the Capitol on January 6 that are alleged to involve some individual members of the [Oath Keepers] organization.
“Such an implication is ‘guilt by association’ with no factual basis,” he said, adding that any implication otherwise regarding any unlawful acts by any person or group in Washington that day “is categorically false.”
Stone has said Oath Keepers members “came forward to voluntarily provide free security for me [in Washington] as they had graciously done at three previous rallies in Miami and Tampa.”
Stone said he did not know the faces or names of security
guards he was photographed with in Washington before they were charged.
Stone’s cameos in the Capitol attack investigation come as prosecutors are
probing potential ties between those involved in the attack and high-profile right-wing figures who may have influenced them, to look into the mind-set of those who committed violence and their paths to radicalization, according to people familiar with the investigation.
A superseding indictment was unsealed Friday accusing four leaders of the far-right Proud Boys group of conspiring to lead the group’s efforts on Jan. 6 after its national chairman, Henry “Enrique” Tarrio, a former personal aide to Stone, was unable to attend.
Prosecutors and the FBI have also charged about 20 members or associates of the Proud Boys — a far-right group with a history of violence in street protests — in the Capitol attack, accusing some of leading some of the earliest, most aggressive and preplanned efforts to overrun police and break into the building.
In proceedings two years ago while charged with obstructing Congress’s investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 election, Stone testified that Tarrio, who lives in Miami, was one of a handful of aides he
entrusted with his phones and social media accounts.
Tarrio, 33, also
promoted Stone’s legal defense fund and
launched an online store selling Stone and Proud Boys gear, before creating a
company last year to promote the Proud Boys with two of its freshly indicted leaders, Ethan Nordean of Seattle and Joseph Biggs of Ormond Beach, Fla.
On Jan. 2, the Saturday before the riot, Stone dialed in by phone to speak to a Proud Boys protest led by Tarrio outside the West Miami home of Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), demanding that Rubio not confirm the election results, according to
the Miami Herald and
New York Times.
After 9 p.m. on Jan. 5, according to the recent indictment, as 60 users connected on an encrypted Proud Boys communications channel called “Boots on the Ground” in Washington, Biggs responded to another indicted leader who asked about the next day’s plan: “I gave [first name of Proud Boys chairman] a plan. The one I told the guys and he said he had one.”
Tarrio has denied that the group organized any violence at the Capitol. Tarrio was not at the Jan. 6 rally and has not been charged with any wrongdoing related to the riot. “There was no plan to go into the Capitol. . . .
There was no plan to even interrupt Congress,” Tarrio has said.
Proud Boys conspired in multiple encrypted channels ahead of Jan. 6 riot, fearing criminal gang charges, U.S. alleges
“We will fight to the bitter end for an honest count to the 2020 election,”
Stone told the crowd. “Never give up. Never quit. Never surrender. And fight for America!”
The following night, Nordean was in a group where
four people, including at least one Proud Boys, member were stabbed.
Oath Keepers provided security at the December event, including one Alabama member who the FBI said became a
driver for Stone on Jan. 5 and who was among
guards seen with Stone on Jan. 5 and 6 before later being charged with entering the Capitol.
Stone in online columns accused news organizations of engaging in “more ‘Russian-collusion hoax-style’ smears.” He wrote that if credible information were to emerge revealing a conspiracy, everyone involved should be prosecuted.
Stone has complained that his finances were devastated by legal costs related to his trial, in which he was convicted of lying and witness-tampering in the years-long probe of Russia’s interference in the 2016 U.S. election. Trump pardoned Stone on Dec. 23.
Stone said he was forced to move from a comfortable rented waterfront home to a less spacious apartment in Fort Lauderdale. Book sales have long provided a key source of income for Stone, a prolific author who has published book with unproved claims about the John F. Kennedy assassination and the Clinton family.