Several senior advisers to President Donald Trump have now been called to testify before the House Intelligence Committee over its probe into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election. The latest of whom is Roger Stone, a longtime associate of Trump, who will appear before House Intelligence Committee next month.
According to ABC News , Stone will testify before the House Intelligence Committee on July 24 in a closed-door session . The committee is currently investigating Russia’s interference in the U.S. election in 2016 and possible ties to Trump associates. Stone, a veteran Republican strategist, was a pivotal figure in Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign.
Following the reports that Stone had been called to appear before the House Intelligence Committee, his attorney attacked the committee, insisting Stone had no involvement. According to a statement released by the attorney representing Stone, he will use his appearance before the House Intelligence Committee to “set the record straight,” and reportedly establish a timeline “based only on fact.” According to that same statement, Stone is reportedly looking forward to making his testimony to the committee.
“Roger Stone has been maligned by innuendo and misinformation regarding all of the events surrounding this investigation,” an attorney for Mr. Stone said. “Roger looks forward to using his time in front of the committee to set the record straight and providing a timeline based only on fact that will clearly establish that those on the committee who have misrepresented the facts regarding his involvement, did so based on false information and incorrect assumptions. I know my client looks forward to his testimony.”
Roger Stone set to testify next month in House Russia probe https://t.co/To7mupXFiI pic.twitter.com/yOdClJByVE
— POLITICO (@politico) June 27, 2017
According to Politico , Stone has in the past, strongly denied the notion that he or any others within the Trump campaign may have colluded with Russia in its interference in the election. In several interviews since the House Intelligence Committee opened its aforementioned probe, Stone has remained insistent that there wasn’t even contact between the Trump campaign and Russia.
In an interview with ABC News chief anchor George Stephanopoulos on This Week in March, Stone was asked about a tweet he sent in August 2016.
“Trust me, it will soon be Podesta’s time in the barrel,” the tweet read.
Just weeks later, Hillary Clinton’s campaign chairman John Podesta’s emails were hacked and released to WikiLeaks . It was later concluded by U.S. intelligence agencies that the Russian government was behind the attack on Podesta and other senior members of the Democratic party.
In response to the tweet, Stone claims that it made no reference to Podesta’s emails, and he was instead referring to Podesta’s business dealings.
Ex-Trump adviser Roger Stone to testify before House Intel Committee next month https://t.co/DEJUIg1XuK pic.twitter.com/KzpOWAW6hj
— The Hill (@thehill) June 27, 2017
Stone has previously been involved in a number of election campaigns, usually for Republican candidates. He’s largely seen as a “political dirty trickster” for promoting a number of falsehoods and conspiracy theories. In the 2016 presidential campaign, Stone promoted the false claim that Clinton aide Huma Abedin was connected to the Muslim Brotherhood.
[Featured Image by Joe Raedle/Getty Images]