The Trump Campaign viewed the Russian hack of Democratic Party emails damaging to Hillary Clinton on the eve of the 2016 election as a 'gift' that brought them 'happiness,' a court heard today.

Former campaign official Rick Gates told Roger Stone's lying-to-Congress trial that senior colleagues held 'brainstorming' sessions to decide what to do about the plundered material before it was released.

Months after Stone first predicted the explosive development in private conversations, the likes of former Trump Campaign Chairman Paul Manafort were growing skeptical it would ever happen, Gates said.

But he told the court staffers reacted with elation and incredulity when WikiLeaks finally dumped the stolen trove online, viewing it as a 'leg up' to Trump's chances of getting into the White House.

'It was, for one, happiness, that we were going to have some information on a competing campaign. In a way it was a gift that we had not sought,' Gates said.

'We were kind of in disbelief to be honest. We had heard for so long that the information would be coming out.'

Almost over: Roger Stone leaves court hand-in-hand with his wife Nydia after his brief defense. Closing speeches are expected Wednesday

Prosecution rests: Roger Stone arrived for his federal trial in Washington D.C. with his wife Nydia. He was wearing a three-button single breasted-suit in gray hopsack cloth, blue shirt with cutaway collar and navy knitted tie, and a Homburg hat

Who wore it better? Roger Stone was wearing a Homburg hate for court - the preferred headwear of Winston Churchill

Key figures: Rick Gates was Trump's deputy campaign chair and with him in a car to New York's LaGuardia airport when the then-candidate spoke to Stone. He said Stone appeared to have information from WikiLeaks' Julian Assange before it was public

Gates said he first heard from Stone that Julian Assange was planning to publicly disseminate stolen Democratic emails as early as April 2016.

'Mr. Stone indicated that WikiLeaks would be submitting or dropping information but no information on dates or anything of that nature,' he told the court.

'We believed that if information were to come out there would be a number of us that felt it would give our campaign a leg up.'

Gates told jurors that he and other Trump campaign staffers discussed the WikiLeaks disclosure with Stone on multiple occasions before and after the website's founder Julian Assange finally made them public.

That included a phone call between Stone and Trump himself, which Gates said he overheard in late July as they took a limo from Trump Tower to New York's LaGuardia airport.

THE CHARGES AGAINST ROGER STONE Roger Stone is charged with: 1. Obstruction of justice, lying to Congress and witness tampering by trying to get Randy Credico to lie to Congress 2. Lying to Congress that he did not have emails or texts about Julian Assange 3. Lying when he claimed his references to being in touch with Assange were actually about a 'go-between' - Randy Credico 4. Lying that he didn't ask his 'go-between' to communicate with Assange 5. Lying that he didn't text or email the 'go-between' about WikiLeaks 6. Lying that he had never discussed conversation with his 'go-between' with anyone in the Trump campaign Advertisement

The call was on Sunday July 31, which unknown to anyone in the campaign at the time was when the FBI formally opened a counter-intelligence investigation into whether the Trump campaign was co-coordinating with Russia.

Gates, 47, who is awaiting sentencing himself for fraud and lying to federal investigators, said he could make out Stone's voice but not what he was saying.

Asked what Trump said after he got off the phone, Gates, wearing a gray suit, blue cutaway-collar shirt and navy tie, told the court: 'He indicated that more information would be forthcoming.'

According to a prosecution timeline the Trump-Stone call took place July 31, 2016, nine days after WikiLeaks released their first tranche of stolen Democratic emails.

Gates said at least two other Secret Service agents were sat in the back of the Chevrolet Suburban with them at the time.

His evidence flies in the face of repeated denials by both Stones and Trump that they ever discussed WikiLeaks or Julian Assange.

Trump said he did recall any such conversations in written answers to Robert Mueller.

Gates detailed another communication he had with Stone in the summer of 2016 which the veteran Republican operative tried to reach Trump's son-in-law and senior advisor Jared Kushner.

'I need contact info for Jared,' Stone emailed Gates on June 15, one day after the Democratic National Party publicly admitted it had been targeted by hackers.

Stone wanted to reach out to Kushner to 'debrief him on the ongoing developments,' Gates told the court.

TRUMP, STONE AND WIKILEAKS: WHAT RICK GATES TOLD THE COURT April 2016: Roger Stone first tells Rick Gates that Julian Assange is planning to publicly disseminate stolen Democratic emails June 10 Democratic National Committee's chief operating officer tells staff organization has been hacked June 12 Julian Assange tells broadcaster ITV in the UK that WikiLeaks has Hillary Clinton-emails 'pending publication' June 15 First batch of leaks are sent to The Smoking Gun website by 'Guccifer 2.0.' A series of leaks follow to other sites and Guccifer 2.0 becomes active on Twitter, with a website called DCLeaks publishing 'his' material July 22 WikiLeaks publishes first tranche of hacked Democratic emails. Three days later Assange tells ITV he timed the release to harm Hillary Clinton July 31 Gates is with Trump when Stone calls. After the call Trump says 'more information' is coming Advertisement

He said he was also tasked by his direct boss, Manafort, to reach out to Stone to keep tabs on WikiLeaks' plans.

Manafort, who had initially been skeptical the info would ever be released after months of rumors, now wanted to know if more was forthcoming and whether it was 'real and viable,' Gates said.

Asked what the campaign had done in advance of the emails, Gates added: 'There were brainstorming sessions about the idea if the information was leaked about what the campaign would say and how it would respond.'

Stone briefly advised the Trump Campaign but was no longer officially employed by the summer of 2016.

He continued to have access, however, to senior figures and had a friendship with Trump going back decades, the court heard.

Gates said Stone was the only figure on the campaign who appeared to have information on WikiLeaks prior to the disclosures and that he and other senior officials believed he was in contact with them.

He said Stone could not have been relying on publicly available information because he appeared to have information from Assange ahead of his orchestrated press conferences.

'Mr. Stone never indicated where he got the info from,' he told jurors. 'He didn't reference a specific individual.'

Gates has been a cooperating witness for special counsel Robert Mueller's Russian collusion probe after agreeing to turn on former Trump Campaign associates in exchange for a lighter sentence.

He previously testified at the trial of disgraced former Trump ally Manafort, who was jailed for bank and tax fraud earlier this year.

Gates is expected to be sentenced in December by the same Obama-appointee judge, Amy Berman Jackson, who is presiding over Stone's case.

The 67-year-old Stone, who has been on trial in Washington, D.C, District Court, for the past week, denies obstructing justice, witness tampering and lying to Congress.

Jurors have heard how the wily GOP operative 'straight up lied' to the House Intelligence Committee about his back-channel efforts to obtain Democratic Party emails hacked by Russia and disseminated by WikiLeaks on the eve of the 2016 election.

Wanted a direct line: Roger Stone asked for the contact information of Jared Kushner, last seen last Friday in Atlanta, Georgia, at a Trump campaign event,

Rainy day: Roger Stone's ally Randy Short, an anti-gay pastor, shielded him with an umbrella as he arrived in court with his wife Nydia

The self-proclaimed political dirty trickster tried to cover his tracks because 'the truth looked bad for the Trump campaign and the truth looked bad for Donald Trump,' say prosecutors.

He not only mislead lawmakers about his attempts to reach WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, but also concealed conversations with high-ranking Trump Campaign officials who were eager to learn what dirt Assange had on their opponent, Hillary Clinton, is alleged.

Those conversations included email exchanges with Gates, Manafort and former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon, who told the court last week that he considered Stone the campaign's 'access point' to WikiLeaks.

The ex-Breitbart News chief said he had no direct knowledge of Stone's links to Julian Assange but assumed there was a relationship because Stone had been 'boasting' about it and mentioning it in the media.

Compelled to testify by subpoena, the said that to the 'best of his knowledge' nobody on the Trump Campaign ever asked Stone to secure info from WikiLeaks, nor did anyone ask him to relay messages to its founder.

Nonetheless Bannon confirmed that the Trump Campaign did have an interest in anything that could 'help Donald Trump and possibly hurt Hillary Clinton.'

'Roger would have been considered an access point if we needed an access point because he implied and he told me he had a relationship with WikiLeaks and Julian Assange,' said Bannon.

Prosecutor Michael Marando asked Bannon to read over an email Stone sent him on August 18 2016, one day after he was announced as the Trump Campaign CEO.

'Trump can still win - but time is running out. Early voting begins in six weeks. I do know how to win this but it ain't pretty,' Stone wrote.

Bannon wrote back 'Let's talk asap' but he told jurors he didn't consider that a reference to WikiLeaks.

'Roger is an agent provocateur and expert in opposition research, the tougher side of politics,' he said.

'And when you are that far behind you need to use every tool in the tool box.'

Jurors had earlier heard how Stone, a long-time confidante of Trump, saw the hacking of Democratic Party emails as an opportunity to help his longtime friend get into the White House at Clinton's expense.

Middleman? Jerome Corsi, a conspiracy theorist who wrote a book claiming Hitler was rescued from Germany by helicopter, was one of two people Stone has been shown communicating with about WikiLeaks. It's alleged he told Corsi in August 2016 to have a friend 'go see Julian Assange' and 'get a hold of emails' that the WikiLeaks boss had up had up his sleeve

Roger Stone would later try to hide Corsi's involvement from lawmakers, however, telling them his sole conduit was a comedian and radio host named Randy Credico who interviewed Assange in September 2016.

He used two different associates to try to tease information from WikiLeaks about their plans to publish the plundered emails, then contacted senior members of the Trump Campaign to say he could swing the vote their way and 'save Trump's a**.'

Stone also made several mysterious phone calls to Trump himself, one just hours after the DNC announced to the world it had been hacked, his Washington, the trial heard.

But when asked to testify to the House Intelligence Committee one year later about Russian involvement in the DNC hack and attempts to interfere with the election, Stone mislead lawmakers and about his sources and hid a trove of emails, texts and documents, said prosecutor Aaron Zelinksy.

'In a critical investigation of national importance, the defendant, Roger Stone, repeatedly lied under oath to a congressional committee and lied under oath to cover his tracks,' he told the jury comprising nine women and three men.

The long-time Republican schemer was indicted by a grand jury as part of special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into alleged collusion between the Trump Campaign and Russia.

It's alleged he told the author and conspiracy theorist Jerome Corsi in August 2016 to have a friend 'go see Julian Assange' and 'get a hold of emails' that the WikiLeaks boss had up had up his sleeve.

Stone would later try to hide Corsi's involvement from lawmakers, however, telling them his sole conduit was a comedian and radio host named Randy Credico who interviewed Assange in September 2016.

When Credico threatened to contradict the testimony by denying he was the principal go-between Stone had been publicly bragging about, Stone repeatedly told him to plead the Fifth or do a 'Frank Pentangeli', it's claimed.

Prosecutors say that is a reference to a character in Godfather Part II who lies to a congressional committee to help the Corleone family before committing suicide.

The rattled comic eventually did plead the Fifth but only after Stone peppered him with threats and insults, including 'Prepare to die c**ksucker. You are a rat,' the court was told.

'Prepare to die c**ksucker. You are a rat What Roger Stone texted associate Randy Credico allegedly to persuade him to plead the Fifth to Congress

He even threatened Credico's therapy dog Bianca, a 13-year-old Coton de Tulear, writing in an text message read out to the trial: 'I'm going to take that dog away from you.'

According to the government's indictment, Stone - who briefly served on Trump's campaign but was pushed out amid infighting with campaign manager Corey Lewandowski - is accused of telling five lies during his September 26 2017 testimony.

They say he lied that he did not have emails or texts about WikiLeaks and lied that he didn't ask his 'go-between' to communicate with Assange.

It's alleged he further lied that he only had one associate acting as a back channel when he allegedly had two, and both lied and tampered with a witness when he later tried to get Credico to mislead Congress.

Finally, Stone is accused of lying that he had never discussed conversations with his 'go-between' with anyone in the Trump campaign.

'Now you'll ask why didn't Roger Stone just tell the truth?' Zelinsky told jurors.

'The evidence in this case will show that Roger Stone lied to the House Intelligence Committee because the truth looked bad.

'The truth looked bad the Trump campaign and the truth looked bad for Donald Trump.' Bruce Rogow, Stone's lead defense attorney, claims his client never meant to lie and was merely guilty of boasting and overstating the extent of his contacts.

'He did brag about his ability to find out what was going on,' Rogow said. 'But he had no intermediary.'

That was because, in reality, Credico and Corsi were merely 'playing' Stone by claiming to have inside knowledge they didn't have, Rogow said.

And the former Nixon campaign adviser - who has the disgraced former president's face permanently tattooed on his back - was 'playing others' by pretending to have direct contact with WikiLeaks.

'We think the evidence will show that there was no corrupt intent in whatever was said or done by Mr Stone,' Rogow said.

Jurors finally got to listen to Roger Stone talking at length Tuesday afternoon, but only in the form of taped testimony from his 2017 appearance before the House Intelligence Committee.

Stone's defense decided to play a 45-minute segment from his testimony rather than have him address his lying-to-Congress trial directly.

If you talk to President Trump for an hour it means he talks for 50 minutes and you talk for 10. What Stone told Congress about talking to Trump

They concluded their evidence abruptly afterward having declined to call upon a single witness.

Jude Amy Berman Jackson asked the silver-haired defendant to confirm he was aware of his constitutional right to testify in his own defense. 'Yes your honor I do, Stone replied.

Asked if the decision not to do so was made voluntarily, he replied: 'Yes your honor it is.'

In the first clip Stone was asked if he or anyone else in the Trump Campaign colluded with Russia prior to the 2016 General Election, to which he replied: 'I did not'

He said he considered the suggestion that Assange was a Russian agent as 'unproven'.

In a further clip Stone was asked if he had talked to Donald Trump about Russian hacking or WikiLeaks. 'Did not,' he replied.

Stone said they merely discussed routine campaign business and politics, adding: 'If you talk to President Trump for an hour it means he talks for 50 minutes and you talk for 10.'

Stone was heard telling the committee he did not have any have any emails, texts, or communications relevant to their probe.

'I think we completely complied with your request,' he said.

Lawmakers reminded Stone if he was under oath and asked if he was certain he had not no texts, emails, tweets or documents that could assist their inquiry.

'In connection with Russia, consistent with your exact and precise request, yes,' he replied.

Stone was asked by the committee about his intermediary with WikiLeaks, whom he refused to name at that point but at a later date disclosed was radio host Randy Credico.

He said all he asked his intermediary to do was confirm what Assange had already said in a tweet about possessing hacked Democrat emails.

Stone further denied having any written communications with Credico about WikiLeaks, telling lawmakers: 'He's not an email guy.'

At the conclusion of the second clip the defense rested its case. Closing arguments are expected to begin 1pm Wednesday.