The Senate Intelligence Committee has reached out to longtime Trump confidant Roger Stone, asking him to preserve any records he has in connection to a probe exploring the scope of Russian interference in the 2016 campaign.
Stone, who has recently been promoting his book on President Trump, has received heat for revealing he had contact with Democratic National Committee hacker Guccifer 2.0, who the U.S. intelligence community says is a Russian intelligence front.
The intelligence panel’s chairman, Richard Burr, R-N.C. and ranking member, Mark Warner, D-Va., made the request of Stone in a letter, a copy of which the New York Times reportedly obtained. Stone also confirmed he received it.
Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said last weekend that Stone, along with others, “obviously” need to testify during Senate Intelligence Committee hearings exploring any Russian involvement in the 2016 election.
As recently as Friday, Stone said he had not been subpoenaed, which he suggested would be unnecessary because he is “anxious” to appear before the intelligence committee.
Stone claims he was not colluding with the Russians in any way, and said his communications with Guccifer 2.0 were “innocuous” as he wasn’t aware of the time that Guccifer 2.0 was alleged to be a Russian agent. Stone has also stated he has communicated with Julian Assange, founder and editor-in-chief of WikiLeaks, which an intelligence community report in January tied to Russia. Questions were raised when WikiLeaks published hacked emails from Hillary Clinton’s campaign manager, John Podesta, in October and November, after Stone tweeted in August, “Trust me” that Podesta would soon face “time in the barrel.”
Stone made headlines last week when he claimed to be involved in a car crash in Florida, which he indicated could have been an assassination attempt.
Stone noted that the crash Wednesday happened “on the same day the ranking Democrat on the Intelligence Committee calls for me” to appear before the committee, and claimed the collision “certainly could be” related to Russian hacking scandal, CBS Miami reported.
According to the New York Times, Stone said he did not receive the letter until Friday, though it was dated Feb. 17.
