Former Trump campaign adviser Roger Stone on Tuesday implored supporters to help him raise $500,000 to defend himself as the special counsel and congressional investigations into Russian inference in the 2016 U.S. elections continue.
“Friend, I’m facing a $500K price tag to clear my name of the Deep State’s baseless charges!” Stone wrote in the fundraising email, according to USA Today, before adding he had already spent $100,000 on legal fees.
“But the Deep State Democrats who hate President Trump and need an excuse for the internal failures and disastrous results of Hillary’s campaign keep coming after us,” Stone continued. “The President and I are under assault!”
Stone has not been charged by special counsel Robert Mueller or accused of any wrongdoing by the House and Senate probes, but he did testify before the House Intelligence Committee in September.
The main line of questioning from the committee was aimed at uncovering whether Stone knew Hillary Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta’s emails would be released ahead of a WikiLeaks dump in 2016.
Stone appeared to allude to damaging information about Podesta two months before the emails were made public at the height of the presidential election.
The Republican consultant has thus far refused to name his intermediary with WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.
