Dec. 17, 2018 / 9:46 PM EST By Tim Stelloh
Former presidential advisor and longtime Republican operative Roger Stone admitted in federal court papers filed Monday that he has spread false information online.
In the settlement, which was first reported by the Wall Street Journal, Stone retracted the information and apologized to Guo Wengui, an outspoken critic of the Chinese government also known as Miles Kwok.
A defamation lawsuit filed by Guo in May said Stone had used the far-right conspiracy theory site InfoWars to accuse Guo of making illegal political donations to Hillary Clinton and financing a presidential run by former Trump strategist Steve Bannon.
The suit also said Guo had been convicted of financial crimes in the United States.
Chinese billionaire Guo Wengui at a news conference in New York, on November 20, 2018.
"This is not true," the suit says.
The suit sought $100 million in damages.
In Monday’s settlement, a statement from Stone said he’d failed to do his own research and “improperly” relied on former Trump campaign advisor Sam Nunberg. The statement says Nunberg’s alleged source was Bruno Wu, who the Journal described as a Chinese-American media tycoon whom Guo has accused of being a Chinese government spy.
“Recognizing my errors, I reached out to Mr. Guo and asked him to settle his defamation suit against me,” Stone said. “Mr. Guo graciously agreed to accept my regrets and apology.”
