Ex-Trump campaign adviser Roger Stone was caught red-handed on Thursday, with a new report showing that he actively sought Hillary Clinton’s emails from WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.
According to The Wall Street Journal, “Former Trump campaign adviser Roger Stone privately sought information he considered damaging to Hillary Clinton from WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange during the 2016 presidential campaign.”
The report is the latest indication that key members of the Trump campaign were working with Kremlin-connected entities to tilt the U.S. election against Hillary Clinton.
More from the damning report:
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The emails could raise new questions about Mr. Stone’s testimony before the House Intelligence Committee in September, in which he said he “merely wanted confirmation†from an acquaintance that Mr. Assange had information about Mrs. Clinton, according to a portion of the transcript that was made public.
In a Sept. 18, 2016, message, Mr. Stone urged an acquaintance who knew Mr. Assange to ask the WikiLeaks founder for emails related to Mrs. Clinton’s alleged role in disrupting a purported Libyan peace deal in 2011 when she was secretary of state, referring to her by her initials.
“Please ask Assange for any State or HRC e-mail from August 10 to August 30–particularly on August 20, 2011,†Mr. Stone wrote to Randy Credico, a New York radio personality who had interviewed Mr. Assange several weeks earlier. Mr. Stone, a longtime confidant of Donald Trump, had no formal role in his campaign at the time.
There is a clear pattern of collusion
While The Wall Street Journal notes that Stone “had no formal role in his campaign at the time,” his effort to get his hands on Clinton emails is consistent with what other campaign officials – and Trump family members – were doing.
In other words, Stone’s apparent coordination with WikiLeaks – a Russia-connected entity – is not an isolated incident. It’s part of a larger effort by multiple Trump campaign officials to get dirt from Russia on Hillary Clinton.
That’s why, as the WSJ also pointed out, “Robert Mueller’s team is examining Mr. Stone’s role in Mr. Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign.”
While troubling, this development isn’t necessarily surprising. After all, in a campaign led by Donald Trump – a man who literally asked Russia to hack and release Hillary Clinton’s emails – this is the kind of behavior one would expect.
Just as the obstruction case against Trump was further bolstered on Thursday, the Roger Stone development shows that the collusion angle of this investigation is alive and well.
Sean Colarossi currently resides in Cleveland, Ohio. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and was an organizing fellow for both of President Obama’s presidential campaigns. He also worked with Planned Parenthood as an Affordable Care Act Outreach Organizer in 2014, helping northeast Ohio residents obtain health insurance coverage.
