Roger Stone appearing in Congress on Dec. 11, 2018. Credit: Diego M. Radzinschi / ALM

Roger Stone's lawyers want the jury to think about Stone's state of mind when he made allegedly false statements to the House Intelligence Committee about his attempts to contact WikiLeaks.

That was the defense, offered by Stone's attorneys in court for the first time Wednesday, against charges that Stone lied to Congress and impeded a congressional investigation. Defense lawyer Bruce Rogow argued that, because Stone was appearing before the committee as part of its probe on Russian interference in the 2016 election, he was only answering questions with Russia, and not WikiLeaks, in mind.

Rogow didn't deny that Stone made the statements. However, he said the conditions surrounding the interview shaped Stone's mindset as he answered questions from congressional investigators in 2017.

"His state of mind undermines any argument that he did this is in a conscious, evil, purposeful way to mislead the committee," Rogow said.

Stone's attorney also attempted to place blame on others who had been in touch with Stone at the time, including Jerome Corsi and Randy Credico. Both men are alleged to be intermediaries between Stone and WikiLeaks.

But Rogow said all of the men had their own agendas and their own "political machinations." He suggested that each individual exaggerated just how much information they had about WikiLeaks, and that at times, Stone "took the bait" from the other men.

And he said Stone never had a back channel to WikiLeaks as originally claimed, saying Stone later "renounced that idea."

Rogow further dismissed the idea that Stone being in touch with the Trump campaign could be improper, saying there was "nothing wrong, nothing illegal." Rogow also rejected the idea that Stone being in touch with Trump campaign staff and surrogates, like Steve Bannon and Erik Prince, could also be interpreted as misconduct.

"It's a joint effort to get then-Mr. Trump elected as president," Rogow said. "That is not a crime, that's a First Amendment right that people have."

Rogow also took a swipe at the credibility of Credico, who is expected to be a trial witness. Stone is also charged with witness tampering for allegedly pressuring Credico to not cooperate with investigators.

Rogow described a tumultuous relationship between Stone and Credico, noting that they often use "crude" language with each other. And Rogow suggested that Credico tried to distance himself from Stone, a known GOP operative, because Credico holds liberal political views.

Rogow told the jury that they will "get to judge for yourself what kind of person Credico is and whether he is telling the truth."

While the opening statement delivered by the DOJ was a more polished performance, Rogow at times stumbled over his words. Twice, DOJ lawyers made objections to Rogow's statements, although it's not clear what those objections involved as they were resolved quietly at U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson's bench.

DOJ lawyer Aaron Zelinsky, a former Mueller prosecutor, laid out the government's case against Stone: That Stone lied purposely, and because "the truth looked bad."

He listed five categories of alleged lies by Stone. Those include that Stone didn't possess any messages he exchanged with others about WikiLeaks head Julian Assange, that Stone only had one attempted back channel to WikiLeaks, and that Stone wasn't in touch with the Trump presidential campaign about potential WikiLeaks information dumps.

Zelinsky also described ways that Stone allegedly tried to sell himself as an asset to the Trump campaign, with Stone contacting both then-Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort and Trump campaign CEO Bannon.

Stone, a one-time Trump campaign adviser, was no longer with the campaign at the time of the messages. But Stone was still willing to help, and said he knew of a way to boost Trump's chances of winning the 2016 presidential election, Zelinsky said.

Stone told Manafort in one email that he knew how to "save Trump's ass," Zelinsky said.

"I know how to win this but it ain't pretty," Stone wrote in one email to Bannon, displayed by the DOJ on a monitor during Zelinsky's opening statement.

Zelinskly also pointed to phone records that showed Stone and Trump had phone calls amid reports that WikiLeaks could release damaging information about the Clinton campaign.

And he displayed messages between Stone and Trump campaign surrogate Prince, where Prince asked Stone why Assange hadn't released any hacked emails at a widely anticipated press conference in early October 2016.

"The evidence in this case will show that Roger Stone lied to the House Intelligence Committee because the truth looked bad," Zelinksy said. "The truth looked bad for the Trump campaign, and the truth looked bad for Donald Trump."

The Justice Department's opening statement was also the first public acknowledgment by prosecutors that WikiLeaks is the organization Stone was alleged to have tried to get in touch with during the 2016 campaign, and that now former associates Credico and Corsi were the two men Stone tried to use as back channels to WikiLeaks.

Zelinsky also shared details about Stone's alleged witness tampering in relation to Credico, including allegedly pressuring Credico to assert his Fifth Amendment rights when requested to testify before the House Intelligence Committee. "Because if Roger Stone asserted his Fifth Amendment rights, it wouldn't look pretty for then-President Donald Trump," Zelinsky said.

The prosecutor said that Stone was afraid that, if Credico testified, Stone's false statements to the committee about Credico being the sole back channel to WikiLeaks would "unravel."

It was that fear that caused Stone to pressure Credico to not testify with both the House Intelligence Committee and special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation, Zelinsky argued. He displayed texts between Credico and Stone, including one where Stone told Credico to tell Mueller "to go f–k himself."

Zelinsky also named some of the people who will appear on the witness stand during the trial: Credico, Bannon and former Trump campaign staffer Rick Gates, who has pleaded guilty to fraud-related charges and is appearing as part of a cooperation agreement.

But the prosecutor said the witnesses' main role will be to explain the documents in the case, as they serve as the bulk of the evidence.

"The written record proves that Roger Stone testified falsely," Zelinsky said.

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