Roger Stone, a former adviser to President Trump, was indicted Friday morning on charges related to Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia collusion investigation, including obstruction, making false statements and witness tampering.
READ: Mueller's indictment of Roger Stone https://t.co/mDK1GMBaAu pic.twitter.com/EPFsH88wuk
— Axios (@axios) January 25, 2019
Stone is charged in a seven-count indictment with witness tampering, obstruction and false statements about his interactions related to the release by WikiLeaks of hacked emails during the 2016 presidential election. Some of those false statements were made to the House intelligence committee, according to the indictment.
The indictment brought by special counsel Robert Mueller does not accuse Stone of coordinating with the Russian government’s election interference in 2016, the key matter under investigation in the probe. But the indictment lays out in detail Stone’s conversations about stolen Democratic emails posted by WikiLeaks in the weeks before the Republican beat Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton. Mueller’s office has said those emails, belonging to Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta, were hacked by Russian intelligence officers. (Associated Press)
Stone has said for months that it’s possible he will be the next person indicted by Mueller.
"Robert Mueller is coming for me," he said in August in an email asking supporters for donations to his legal defense fund.
"I’m next on the crooked special prosecutor’s hit list because I’ve advised Donald Trump for the past 39 years. I am being targeted not because I committed a crime, but because the 'deep state' liberals want to silence me and pressure me to testify against my good friend President Donald J. Trump."
Stone has denied that he ever spoke with Julian Assange, WikiLeaks, or discussed the matter with Trump in any way.
He will appear in court later Friday.
Roger Stone on Fox Wednesday: “You have a runaway special prosecutor who is accountable to no one. The House Inteligence Cmte Democrats keep insisting I have purgered myself. That’s a lie.”
— Chad Pergram (@ChadPergram) January 25, 2019
As Greta Van Susteren points out, it's curious that CNN had cameras at Stone's arrest.
“FBI. Open the door.”
— CNN (@CNN) January 25, 2019
Watch exclusive CNN footage of the FBI arresting longtime Trump associate Roger Stone. Stone has been indicted by a grand jury on charges brought by special counsel Robert Mueller. https://t.co/5QHKDB2mfA pic.twitter.com/UeKo7CmXWo
CNN cameras were at the raid of Roger Stone...so FBI obviously tipped off CNN...even if you don’t like Stone, it is curious why Mueller’s office tipped off CNN instead of trying to quietly arrest Stone;quiet arrests are more likely to be safe to the FBI and the person arrested
— Greta Van Susteren (@greta) January 25, 2019