Roger Stone apologizes over false statements spread on InfoWars, settles lawsuit
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Roger Stone, a former adviser to President Trump, settled a lawsuit against him. (Reuters, File)
Former Trump campaign adviser Roger Stone has settled a defamation lawsuit seeking $100 million in damages filed by a Chinese businessman who Stone claimed had violated U.S. election law by donating to Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign.
In a document filed in Florida federal court Monday, Stone said he "retracts, and apologizes for statements" he made about Guo Wengui on the conspiracist website InfoWars earlier this year. Stone described Guo, who also goes by the name Miles Kwok, as a "turncoat criminal who is convicted of crimes here and in China." Stone also said Guo was financing a presidential run by former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon and had donated to the Clinton campaign in violation of the federal law preventing foreign nationals from donating to political campaigns.
In the settlement agreement, which was first reported by The Wall Street Journal, Stone admitted that "all of these statements are not true" and said he "improperly relied upon information conveyed to me by [former Trump campaign adviser] Sam Nunberg."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}An attorney linked to Nunberg did not immediately respond to Fox News' request for comment.
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As part of the agreement, Stone is required to publish a statement of retraction on InfoWars, as well as his personal Facebook and Instagram accounts and his website, StoneZone.com. He is also required to run ads carrying the statement in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post. In exchange, Guo will drop his lawsuit.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Guo, who made his fortune in real estate, left China in 2014 and is living in self-imposed exile in the U.S. He has used social media to accuse senior Chinese officials of corruption, claims that have outraged Beijing. He applied for political asylum in the U.S. last year.
Stone, 66, has been under investigation for months by Special Counsel Robert Mueller, who is attempting to determine what knowledge Stone may have had about plans by WikiLeaks to release emails stolen from the Democratic National Committee and Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta in the weeks before the election. Stone repeatedly has claimed he had no inside knowledge about the content, source or timing of WikiLeaks' disclosure.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.