Special counsel Robert Mueller’s office has reportedly taken an interest in conference calls hosted prior to the 2016 election by President Trump’s former campaign adviser Roger Stone.
Mr. Mueller’s office is investigating calls held during the race by Mr. Stone, a longtime Republican strategist and lobbyist, and particularly his comments during those conversations relating to WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange, The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday, citing a witness in the probe and a separate source.
“In the background of this entire race going forward is the fact that Julian Assange … is going to continue to drop information on the American voters that is going to roil this race,” Mr. Stone said during a call on Aug. 4, 2016, the newspaper reported. “He has made that very clear.”
Mr. Stone claimed WikiLeaks would release information affecting the race during two separate conference calls conducted in August 2016, the report said, weeks before the website began publishing the personal emails of John Podesta, the chairman of former Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign, through a series of data dumps starting Oct. 7.
Russian hackers breached Mr. Podesta’s email account and other Democratic victims as part of a state-sponsored operation targeting the 2016 race and Mrs. Clinton’s campaign in particular, according to U.S. officials, and Mr. Mueller has been tasked with investigating topics including possible ties between Moscow and Mr. Trump’s campaign.
The comments cited by The Wall Street Journal were made by Mr. Stone during a series of public conference calls conducted near the end of the race that were advertised online as an opportunity to engage with “the man in the arena” and “the ultimate political insider.”
Investigators have collected records and interviews related to the conference calls, according to witnesses including Andrew Miller, a social media specialist employed during the race by Mr. Stone, The Wall Street Journal reported.
Mr. Stone, 66, served on Mr. Trump’s campaign through 2015. He previously faced scrutiny for several similar remarks made during the race related to WikiLeaks, and the special counsel’s office has reportedly contacted several of his current and former associates and acquaintances as part of its probe.
“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 told The Washington Times earlier this year. “I had no advance notice of the content, source or timing of the WikiLeaks publication of any material.”
• Andrew Blake can be reached at ablake@washingtontimes.com.
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