Special counsel Robert Mueller’s indictment of Roger Stone alleges no direct contact with Wikileaks head Julian Assange.
Mueller’s indictment of Stone, however, does vindicate his longstanding claim that radio host and associate Randy Credico was his main conduit of information regarding Wikileaks. The indictment lists several text message exchanges in which Credico provides Stone with information on possible impending releases of damaging information by Wikileaks.
The indictment at no point lists any direct contact between Stone and Assange or Wikileaks, though new information could come to light in future filings against him.
The Stone indictment shows that he was…untruthful..about many things. However it does seem to vindicate his claim that never had any direct contact with Assange (including going to London) and that Credico was only real conduit to the organization https://t.co/IJgmVCdVUd pic.twitter.com/ZrbC6n1b4T
— Saagar Enjeti (@esaagar) January 25, 2019
Stone’s alleged contact with Wikileaks and Assange was a subject of serious inquiry for the special counsel, and has been the focus of rank speculation since the 2016 presidential election. Stone’s detractors long suspected that he was in direct contact with Assange during the 2016 presidential election, and helped coordinate releases of damaging information on Hillary Clinton with the Trump 2016 campaign.
Stone has been dogged by accusations of coordination or collusion with Wikileaks since he made statements in August 2016 that he was in “communication” with Assange and in October 2016 that he had a “back channel” of communication with the WikiLeaks founder.
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange makes a speech from the balcony of the Ecuadorian Embassy, in central London, Britain February 5, 2016. REUTERS/Peter Nicholls/Files
“Roger Stone is vindicated by the fact there was no Russian collusion,” Stone’s attorney said in a Friday morning statement, adding to The Daily Caller News Foundation that “they couldn’t find collusion, so they’re trying to get him on an immaterial charge.” (RELATED: Roger Stone: I Would Never Testify Against The President)
Stone also alluded to several associates, some of them within the Trump campaign, that he was a special conduit to Wikileaks and Assange, referencing his “friend” in London. Stone also sought to direct associate Jerome Corsi to tell an associate to try and make contact with Assange. Much of Stone’s information he relayed to associates, however, is explained by information Credico provided to him, including a direct heads up about impending release of information.
In one case, Credico texted Stone about information expected in October, with the indictment reading “big news Wednesday … now pretend u don’t know me … Hillary’s campaign will die this week.” In the days preceding these messages, the press had reported that the head of Organization 1 planned to make a public announcement on or about Tuesday, October 4, 2016, which was reported to be the ten-year anniversary of the founding of Organization 1.”