Jerome Corsi, a conspiracy theorist linked to President Trump’s former campaign adviser Roger Stone, met Friday with a federal grand jury convened as part of special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into the 2016 election, according to ABC News.
Mr. Corsi, 72, appeared in D.C. federal court in the presence of prosecutors conducting the special counsel’s probe, ABC News reported, citing a source with direct knowledge of the matter.
An author and former bureau chief for Infowars, the controversial website published by right-wing media personality Alex Jones, Mr. Corsi was previously ordered to testify before the grand jury on Sept. 7, but his lawyer, David Gray, said at the time that his appearance was abruptly canceled the night before.
Mr. Gray declined to comment on Friday’s report, Talking Points Memo reported.
Several federal prosecutors assigned to the special counsel’s probe, including Jeannie Rhee, Andrew Goldstein and Aaron Zelinsky, were all spotted in court Friday, TPM reported.
The special counsel’s office is investigating matters related to alleged Russian interference during the 2016 election, and Mr. Coris is among a growing group of people sought for questioning with a common bond: an association with Mr. Stone, a longtime Republican strategist and lobbyist who served as an adviser to Mr. Trump’s presidential election campaign through 2015.
Mr. Mueller has contacted at least 11 people associated with Mr. Stone, ABC News reported, and several have said that prosecutors appeared interested in any involvement on his part with respect to the alleged Russian meddling campaign.
Russian hackers stole sensitive documents belonging to Democratic targets during the 2016 race that were subsequently leaked online through outlets including the WikiLeaks website and an internet persona known as Guccifer 2.0, according to U.S. federal intelligence and law enforcement officials.
Mr. Stone previously claimed to have in contact with both WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange and the Guccifer 2.0 persona during the race, and he publicly made several predictions about the release of damaging material involving victims of the hacking campaign including John Podesta, the chairman of Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton’s failed campaign.
Mr. Stone has repeatedly denied wrongdoing.
Mr. Corsi’s name emerged as a potential person of interest to the special counsel’s office earlier this year after Theodore “Ted” Malloch, a London-based author, claimed that he came up during an FBI interrogation that happened in March upon arriving in Boston on an international flight.
“The questions got more detailed about my involvement in the Trump campaign (which was informal and unpaid); whom I communicated with; whom I knew and how well — they had a long list of names,” Mr. Malloch said at the time.
“They seemed to then focus more attention on Roger Stone (whom I have met a grand total of three times and with groups of people); Jerome Corsi, a journalist who edited a memoir I had written some years ago; and about WikiLeaks, which I knew nothing.”
Mr. Corsi at the time called Mr. Mueller a “hack” and a “thug” in response to news of Mr. Malloch’s interrogation.
Both Mr. Corsi and Mr. Stone have contributed frequently to Infowars and appeared multiple times on the publisher’s syndicated program, The Alex Jones Show. Mr. Jones interviewed Mr. Trump on his program in 2015, and last year Mr. Corsi was granted temporary credentials to report for Infowars from inside the White House.
• Andrew Blake can be reached at ablake@washingtontimes.com.
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