House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., questioned whether Russian President Vladimir Putin has blackmail material on President Trump after Trump’s longtime confidant Roger Stone was arrested by the FBI on Friday.
Pelosi claimed Stone’s indictment in special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election “makes clear that there was a deliberate, coordinated attempt by top Trump campaign officials to influence the 2016 election and subvert the will of the American people.”
“In the face of 37 indictments, the President’s continued actions to undermine the Special Counsel investigation raise the questions: what does Putin have on the President, politically, personally or financially?” Pelosi said in a statement Friday.
Stone is the sixth person in Trump’s orbit to be indicted by Mueller since the special prosecutor was appointed to lead the investigation in May 2017.
Obstruction of justice, making false statements, and witness tampering are among the seven charges Stone faces.
Mueller’s indictment alleges Stone was in regular contact with WikiLeaks and the Trump campaign around the release of emails stolen from the Democratic National Committee and Hillary Clinton’s campaign chairman John Podesta. Mueller indicted Russian intelligence members last year for the hacking of those emails.
Stone has shown defiance amid the charges, claiming he will not turn on the president and does not intend to plead guilty.
“I look forward to being fully and completely vindicated,” he told reporters after a court appearance in Florida.
