WASHINGTON (AP) - Donald Trump's longtime friend and confidant Roger Stone has made an uncharacteristically silent exit from his court hearing.

Stone left the federal courthouse in Washington on Tuesday without speaking publicly after entering a not guilty plea to charges filed in the special counsel's Russia investigation. Stone raised his hands to make victory signs and smiled as he hopped into a black SUV amid a swarm of protesters and supporters.

The political operative was arrested last week in Florida and spent the weekend publicly blasting special counsel Robert Mueller's case against him as politically motivated. He's charged in a seven-count indictment with obstruction, lying to Congress and witness tampering.

Prosecutors say Stone lied about the contents of his discussions with the Trump campaign involving WikiLeaks and hacked material damaging to Hillary Clinton released during the 2016 campaign.