President Trump’s former adviser Roger Stone has been asked to appear before the Senate Intelligence Committee as its members continue to investigate Russia’s involvement in the 2016 White House race, The Daily Beast reported Wednesday.
Stone attorney Grant Smith said that the Senate panel sent an email last week requesting certain electronic communications from Mr. Stone and ultimately his appearance before committee members, the news site reported.
The committee’s email contained a list of search terms to be queried to determine which electronic communications to give to investigators, the report said.
The email indicated that committee members hoped to question Mr. Stone after receiving the documents, Mr. Smith said, The Daily Beast reported.
Mr. Stone told The Washington Times Thursday, following the publication of The Daily Beast’s report, that he was initially approached by the Senate Intelligence Committee last year and that the latest email merely renewed a previous request for documents and an interview.
He said he’s “anxious” to appear before the committee and is voluntarily turning over documents.
“I want to testify in public,” he told The Times. “What does the committee have to hide?” he asked.
A self-described dirty trickster and former aide to Richard Nixon, Mr. Stone, 65, served as an adviser to Mr. Trump’s presidential election campaign through August 2015. He caused concern over his comments in the months preceding Mr. Trump’s election, however, including particularly his remarks about WikiLeaks, the antisecrecy website that released documents during the 2016 race damaging to Mr. Trump’s opponent, Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton.
Russian government hackers sourced the emails published by WikiLeaks as part of a state-sponsored operation targeting the 2016 race, according to U.S. intelligence officials, and the Senate panel is conducting one of several ongoing probes devoted to investigating Moscow’s alleged election meddling, including any possibles ties between the Trump campaign and Russia.
Mr. Stone claimed during the 2016 race that he was in contact with WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange. He successfully predicted the release of emails released by the website in the weeks before Mr. Trump’s election, raising questions about his knowledge of the leak and making him a prime witness for investigators probing possible Russian collusion.
Indeed, Mr. Stone testified last November during a private hearing held by the House Intelligence Committee as part of its Russia probe, and multiple witnesses summoned by special counsel Robert Mueller in relation to the Justice Department’s investigation have said that law enforcement officials appear interested in the former campaign adviser.
Mr. Stone has not spoken with Mr. Mueller’s team but is “prepared” to testify if asked, he told NBC’s “Meet the Press” on May 20.
“There is no evidence whatsoever that I had advanced knowledge of the content or source of this material,” Mr. Stone said. “I received nothing from WikiLeaks or from the Russians. I passed nothing onto Donald Trump or the Trump campaign. We’ve been through this ad nauseam. It is a wild goose chase.”
The Wall Street Journal reported last week that Mr. Stone contacted an acquaintance in touch with Mr. Assange during the 2016 race seeking specific emails damaging to Mrs. Clinton.
Separate from the intelligence committees, the Senate Judiciary Committee has contacted Mr. Stone as part of its own Russia probe. Mr. Stone told the Judiciary Committee in an email last month that he planned to search over one million emails and documents for information relevant to its inquiry.
• Andrew Blake can be reached at ablake@washingtontimes.com.
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