Stone open to cooperating with U.S. special counsel in Russia probe

Stone open to cooperating with U.S. special counsel in Russia probe
Roger Stone reacts as he walks to microphones after his appearance at Federal Court in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, U.S., January 25, 2019. REUTERS/Joe Skipper Copyright JOE SKIPPER(Reuters)
By Reuters
Share this articleComments
Share this articleClose Button

By Doina Chiacu

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Roger Stone, an ally of President Donald Trump and a long-time Republican operative, on Sunday did not rule out cooperating with Special Counsel Robert Mueller in his investigation of Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

Arrested at his waterfront home in Florida on Friday in a dawn raid by FBI agents, Stone told reporters he would not "bear false witness against the president."

Stone was charged with lying to Congress about the Trump campaign's efforts to use stolen emails to undercut Democratic rival Hillary Clinton.

Asked on ABC's "This Week" if he would cooperate with Mueller, he said, "You know, that's a question I would have to – I have to determine after my attorneys have some discussion."

"I'd also testify honestly about any other matter, including any communications with the president," he said. "It's true that we spoke on the phone, but those communications are political in nature, they're benign, and there is certainly no conspiracy with Russia."

Stone's indictment cut deeply into Trump's inner circle and revealed a link between his campaign and the online publisher of secret documents WikiLeaks to damage Clinton with material that U.S. intelligence agencies have said was stolen by Russians.

Stone shared with Trump campaign staffers advance knowledge that he had of WikiLeaks' plan to release senior Democrats' emails, Mueller said in court papers.

The special counsel's indictment also said a top Trump campaign official was directed to contact Stone about additional damaging information that WikiLeaks had on Clinton.

Jerome Corsi, a right-wing commentator and conspiracy theorist, said on Friday that he is the "Person 1" cited in the indictment as having communicated with Stone about the stolen emails and WikiLeaks' plan to release them.

He also said the information in the indictment was accurate and that he would testify against Stone. "I will be happy to testify," he told CNN's "State of the Union" on Sunday. "And I will let the testimony fall wherever it falls."

'FIGHT FOR MY LIFE'  

Stone said the evidence in Mueller's indictment is thin "so I'm prepared to fight for my life."

However, U.S. Representative Adam Schiff, the Democratic chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, said the indictment presented specific allegations of lies and witness intimidation that are unambiguous and provable.

"They are very detailed and I think he's going to need a much better defense than the one you just heard," he told ABC.

Republican Senator Marco Rubio said working with WikiLeaks should be considered a crime because it is tantamount to cooperating with a foreign intelligence agency.

"It should have been clear to people a long time ago that WikiLeaks and others like that could have been tools of foreign intelligence used to divide America," Rubio said on NBC's "Meet the Press."

ADVERTISEMENT

The Kremlin denies U.S. intelligence agencies’ findings that Russia interfered to sway the 2016 election away from Clinton and toward Trump, who denies any collusion.

Schiff said his panel would give Mueller access to all transcripts of testimony before the committee, including Trump's son Donald Trump Jr., for prosecution purposes. He also pledged to continue congressional probes of any Trump-Russia ties.

"We have to continue our own investigations in Congress because one way or another. We are determined the public is going to know exactly what Donald Trump did, what his family did, what his campaign did, what the Russians did and what we need to do to protect the country,” Schiff said.

(Reporting by Doina Chiacu; Editing by Kevin Drawbaugh and Lisa Shumaker)

ADVERTISEMENT
Share this articleComments

You might also like

UK AI Safety Summit: Here’s what to expect and who is attending

Free cash rumours led to queues outside banks in Ireland following technical fault

How AI is filtering millions of qualified candidates out of the workforce