Andrew McCarthy to Roger Stone: ‘I wouldn’t do the Nixon gesture’

Fox News contributor Andrew McCarthy advised former Trump campaign associate Roger Stone to avoid drawing parallels between himself and former President Nixon after Stone left a Friday courtroom appearance flashing Nixon’s double “V” gesture.

Stone, who famously has a tattoo of Nixon on his back, was arrested earlier Friday at his home in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., as part of special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian election interference. He was indicted on seven counts, including obstruction and giving false statements, and was released on $250,000 bond, greeted by crowds of protesters and reporters on the courthouse steps.

{mosads}“Let’s watch and listen, though, as he makes his way down the stairs,” said anchor Harris Faulkner after Fox News’s “Outnumbered” cut to live coverage of Stone’s exit. “He was in federal court this morning. He’s free on a $250,000 bond. And now for the first time, we’re going to hear from the man himself.”

“Oh, wow,” co-host Jessica Tarlov said as Stone made the Nixon “V” as protesters booed. 

“This is exactly what you were talking about, Andy, in terms of — normally people make no comment. Let’s watch,” Faulkner said. 

“I wouldn’t do the Nixon gesture. I wouldn’t,” McCarthy responded. 

Stone told reporters that he would plead not guilty and never “bear false witness” against President Trump. 

“I will plead not guilty to these charges. I will defeat them in court,” the 66-year-old said. “I believe this is a politically motivated investigation.”

“There is no circumstance whatsoever under which I will bear false witness against the president, nor will I make up lies to ease the pressure on myself,” he continued. “I look forward to being fully and completely vindicated.”

Earlier in the broadcast, McCarthy, who also is a contributing editor at National Review, had predicted that Stone would likely speak to the press upon leaving the courthouse. 

“Ordinarily what you would expect is that he would have no comment, and that the lawyers would be advising he would have no comment,” McCarthy said. “But Stone has made so many statements at this point he probably figures that ship has sailed, and he’s going to go down being as aggressive as he’s been to this point.”

According to the indictment, Stone obstructed the investigations by the House Intelligence Committee and the FBI into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.

Prosecutors say Stone made “multiple false statements” to the House Intelligence Committee about his interactions regarding “Organization 1” — which matches the description of WikiLeaks, the organization that released troves of hacked Democratic emails before the 2016 election that the U.S. intelligence community later said were originally pilfered by Russian intelligence agents.