Roger Stone is selling a Trump autograph NFT to pay his legal bills

Roger Stone, a longtime associate of Donald Trump, is auctioning off a copy of a 1990s magazine cover he says is signed by the former president as part of a larger fundraising campaign to pay for his legal defenses and medical bills.

“To Roger YOU ARE THE GREATEST!,” reads a Trump note in his distinct scrawl on the cover of a now-defunct trade publication: Real Estate New York. If the bid exceeds $20,000 dollars, the bidder gets the physical version of the magazine along with “one of only one” digital copy, which Stone marketed as an NFT, or a non-fungible token. NFT’s, which are essentially non-interchangeable digital tokens of a visual item, have shaken up the art world this past year with many being sold for millions. Former first lady Melania Trump recently announced that she too was entering the industry.

In an email, Stone said he believed Trump signed the magazine in 1999 and that it was “indeed real.” While Real Estate New York was a magazine, POLITICO was unable to confirm when or if Trump graced the cover.

As of mid-day Wednesday, there were zero bids for Stone’s item.

The NFT is part of a larger auction this past week for the Stone family sponsored by Stone’s friend Pete Santilli, a right-wing internet talk show host. They auctioned off two copies of a Stone-signed 1968 Richard Nixon pamphlet, which went for $400 and $300 respectively, along with a “rare Trump/Melania” poster depicting them as Uncle Sam and Lady Liberty ($550).

“Between the cost of defending myself in 6 remaining merit-less but sensationalized harassment civil suits and the J-6 [January 6th] Witchhunt my legal expenses are formidable,” he wrote in an email. He added that the “cancer therapies not covered by insurance for my wife are also not inexpensive.”

Stone met last Friday with investigators for the House select committee investigating the attack on the Capital on January 6. He told reporters that he pleaded the 5th amendment on every question "not because I have done anything wrong, but because I am fully aware of the House Democrats' long history of fabricating perjury charges," he said.

According to the letter subpoenaing him, Stone tried to raise money for a “Stop the Steal” event on January 6 and had previously said he had been invited to “lead a march to the Capitol” but didn’t end up doing so.