Robert Mueller’s investigation into the 2016 election has put the hurt on President Trump’s former campaign adviser Roger Stone, or at least his autographing hand.
The longtime Republican strategist and lobbyist told The Washington Times on Friday that he signed and sold nearly 1,000 rocks during the last week and a half as part of a punny attempt to cover legal costs associated with the special counsel’s probe.
“What began as a gag became a tsunami of online orders for the ’Roger’ Stone, which is being sold as a paperweight and conversation piece,” the president’s longtime confidant said in an email.
“My wrist hurts from signing stones all day,” he wrote.
Sold on his personal website alongside books and T-shirts, Mr. Stone said that “just under 1,000 stones” were purchased since Dec. 17 when he began advertising them on social media as “the perfect Christmas gift” for $8 plus taxes and shipping.
Currently priced at two dollars more, sales of the signed rocks generated between $8,000 and $10,000 toward Mr. Stone’s legal defense fund within 10 days of the item becoming available for purchase, he told The Times.
Mr. Stone, 66, said the rocks were purchased by his wife from Home Depot, where similar items are sold in bulk for about $4 per pound.
“I did not personally take them to the post office, but I did personally sign every single stone that has been shipped and will continue to do so,” he said.
Each rock “is an accurate historic replica of the very stone that little David used to take down Goliath,” Mr. Stone added.
“You are free to make any analogy between me and the Mueller investigation that you wish,” he said.
An adviser to Mr. Trump’s campaign through 2015, Mr. Stone subsequently drew scrutiny from the special counsel’s office and investigators on Capitol Hill over his admitted contacts with individuals directly implicated in the alleged Russian interference campaign waged during the 2016 race.
Mr. Stone previously acknowledged communicating with Guccifer 2.0, an internet persona that leaked internal Democratic Party documents during the 2016 race, in addition to claiming to be in touch with people linked to Julian Assange, the publisher of the WikiLeaks website that similarly released material damaging to Mr. Trump’s opponent leading up to Election Day.
Russian state-sponsored hackers sourced the Democratic material released by Guccifer 2.0 and WikiLeaks, according to U.S. officials. Mr. Mueller, a former FBI director, has been appointed special counsel in charge of the Justice Department’s investigation into the alleged election meddling and related matters.
Mr. Stone has not been charged by the special counsel’s office, but multiple witnesses questioned by Mr. Mueller’s team — including fellow former Trump campaign advisers Sam Nunberg and Ted Malloch — have said that investigators seemed interested in whether Mr. Stone may have played a role in the release of stolen Democratic documents.
“There is no evidence that I participated in or have any knowledge of any collusion with the Russians to effect the 2016 elections,” Mr. Stone said previously. “I had no advance notice of the content, source or timing of the Wikileaks publication of any material.”
A spokesperson for the special counsel’s office declined to comment.
• Andrew Blake can be reached at ablake@washingtontimes.com.
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