Longtime Trump confidant Roger Stone believes special counsel Robert Mueller will indict Donald Trump Jr. as part of the Russia federal investigation.
“The special counsel is going to charge Donald Trump Jr. with lying to the FBI,” Stone said during an interview with conservative website Political Insider.
Stone, a self-described political trickster, predicted the indictment would stem from the controversial June 2016 Trump Tower meeting between Donald Trump Jr., former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort, White House senior adviser Jared Kushner, and Kremlin-linked lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya.
The meeting was organized on the premise that Veselnitskaya would share politically damaging information about then-Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton, according to emails Trump Jr. released on social media. But in an explanatory statement issued in July 2017 when the meeting came to light, Trump Jr. said it was primarily about Russian adoptions.
“Notice that they’re not charging him for having an illegal meeting with a Russian at Trump Tower because there’s nothing illegal about that meeting,” Stone continued, referring to a prospective indictment.
The Trump Tower meeting reportedly piqued Mueller’s interest as he probes potential collusion between the Trump campaign and Moscow, but it is unclear how Mueller will deal with it in his upcoming report that will outline his inquiry’s findings and recommendations. Trump Jr. has testified before Congress, however it is unknown to what extent he has cooperated with federal prosecutors in connection with the probe.
[Trump: ‘I did not know’ about Trump Tower meeting]
Stone, in the interview that was taped Friday but is still circulating online, also slammed Trump’s ex-personal lawyer Michael Cohen.
“I know Michael Cohen very well, I’ve known him for a substantial period of time. He’s nobody’s idea of a genius,” he said. “Cohen had his own problems.”
Stone may additionally face legal exposure amid Mueller’s federal probe.
A number of Stone’s associates have been subpoenaed by federal prosecutors, yet Stone himself has not been contacted.
The main reason Stone could be in trouble is that he appeared to foreshadow the WikiLeaks dump of emails belonging to Hillary Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta during the 2016 campaign, believed to be obtained by Russian intelligence.
Stone has both bragged about his association with WikiLeaks as well as distanced himself from the nonprofit organization and its founder, Julian Assange.
