Former Trump campaign adviser Roger Stone said Monday that he hasn’t been contacted by special counsel Robert Mueller or his team amid reported scrutiny by investigators for his contact with WikiLeaks and meetings with fellow campaign adviser Rick Gates during the 2016 campaign.
On CNN’s “New Day” Monday morning, Stone acknowledged reports that his actions are being examined.
“You read in the paper, and you reported on MSNBC and CNBC, that Mr. Mueller is probing my dinners with Rick Gates and my meetings with him at Trump Tower, wants to examine my period working with him in the ’80s. There’s a couple of problems here,” Stone said. “Based on my recollection, I had one dinner with him, with other people, to discuss the makeup of the New York delegation at the Republican National Convention. I had no meetings with him whatsoever in 2016 in Trump Tower. I didn’t know him until 2016.”
The significance of Mueller’s decision so far to not ask Stone for an interview is uncertain. If he is a target in the probe, investigators likely wouldn’t approach him for an interview. Instead, they would gather evidence through other methods and interview relevant witnesses. Mueller’s team has brought at least two former Trump campaign aides to the grand jury, and asked them about Stone, among other topics.
Stone appeared on the InfoWars radio show the same day he sent an email claiming he dined with WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange – and he predicted “devastating” upcoming disclosures about the Clinton Foundation. He later told CNN in April 2018 that he didn’t have advanced knowledge of the release. He has also repeatedly said that his claim of a dinner with Assange was a joke.
The former Trump adviser also told CNN on Monday that he didn’t have advanced knowledge of the hacking of the Democratic National Committee.
“Since the DNC never let the FBI examine their server, we’re not even certain they were hacked,” Stone said. “But the idea that I had advanced knowledge is speculation … supposition.”
Last fall, Stone testified before a House panel in its investigation into Russian collusion by the Trump campaign and in April, he reportedly agreed to hand over documents to the Senate for its investigation.
CNN’s Marshall Cohen, Andrew Kaczynski and Gloria Borger contributed to this report.
