Former Trump campaign advisor and long-time Republican operative Roger Stone has been indicted as part of special counsel Robert Mueller’s sprawling investigation.
Stone has been indicted on seven counts related to the investigation, including multiple counts of providing false statements, obstruction of an official proceeding, and witness tampering.
Several media outlets had expected indictments to be dropped prior to the new year.
As speculation mounted, Stone professed his innocence.
“I stand by my statement to the House Intelligence Committee and can prove it is truthful if need be,” he insisted. “I have passed two polygraph tests administered and analyzed by two of the nations leading experts to prove I have truthful.”
Watch the Arrest
Video has emerged, with CNN apparently tipped off to the impending arrest.
“FBI. Open the door!” one agent is heard yelling in the video as he shines a flashlight through the front door.
“FBI. Warrant,” he then shouts when Stone opens the door.
“FBI. Open the door.”
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/IWQToxEDhG pic.twitter.com/qXDtpL8pjN
— New Day (@NewDay) January 25, 2019
Mueller’s team had been investigating whether Stone had prior knowledge of Wikileaks’ plans to release Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta’s stolen emails.
Stone landed on Mueller’s radar over an Aug. 21, 2016, tweet he sent in which he wrote that “it will soon [be] the Podesta’s time in the barrel.”
CNN reports that he sought emails from Wikileaks that could damage Trump’s political opponents at the direction of “a senior Trump Campaign official.”
The official is not named, though the indictment indicates multiple people knew of Stone’s efforts.
Stone’s Interview with The Political Insider
Stone has spoken about the Mueller investigation with The Political Insider in previous interviews.
This past August, he told viewers that he believed Donald Trump Jr. would be indicted by the special counsel.
Stone also blasted the man desperately seeking to find collusion between the President and Russia as a “hitman for the establishment.”
“This is the Boy Scout, this is the white knight?” he facetiously asked. “He is a hitman for the establishment … the frame is his specialty.”
Did Mueller frame another Trump associate by creating even more perjury traps? Is his ‘specialty’ on full display yet again?
An important conclusion from these indictments – while the media will slobber over arrest footage of an associate to the President, Mueller still has not found an ounce of collusion between Russia and the campaign.
No collusion.
Just the Deep State warning any future Swamp outsiders to never dare attempt what Trump achieved by winning the presidency.https://t.co/G0E1VyTcJB
— Adam Baldwin (@AdamBaldwin) January 25, 2019
Dan Bongino dismissed the Stone indictment as little more than “process crimes.”
“I don’t think they have anything to worry about,” he claimed. “Donald Trump did not collude with the Russians. I think it’s clear as day. And I think this is a Mueller witch hunt. And I think they should continue to hammer that. No collusion. There is no collusion.”
