U.S. government says Roger Stone ‘undermined’ Russia inquiry

Republican political operative Roger Stone undermined the effectiveness of the congressional investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election by repeatedly and deliberately lying under oath to help Donald Trump’s presidential campaign avoid embarrassment, prosecutors told jurors in closing arguments at his trial Wednesday.Defense attorneys countered that Stone had done nothing deliberately illegal and claimed the government’s case was built on conjecture, leaps of logic and unreliable witnesses.Stone, 67, was indicted in January as part of special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian electoral tampering. A veteran Republican political operative and longtime Trump confidant, Stone is accused of lying to lawmakers about his attempts to communicate with the anti-secrecy website WikiLeaks, tampering with a witness and obstructing a House Intelligence Committee investigation into whether Trump’s Republican presidential campaign coordinated with Russia to tip the 2016 election.