Opinion| On Wednesday, political operative Roger Stone filed a motion which requested that a federal judge force Special Counsel Robert Mueller to prove that he was not the one who leaked information to CNN regarding his January 25 arrest.
Breitbart News reports:
Stone’s legal team argues CNN showed it a draft copy of the indictment, stamped without a PACER, after their client’s arrest, suggesting the document had been released prematurely. “A person with privileged access to a ‘draft’ of Roger Stone’s Indictment, identical to that which had been filed under seal … had — in violation of the Court’s Order — publicly distributed the Indictment prior to its release from the sealing ordered by the Court,” the filing reads.
Since his arrest, Stone has contended CNN was given notice of his arrest ahead of time. The filing states a CNN camera crew began camping outside Stone’s Fort Lauderdale, Flordia residence at 4:58 a.m. EST. The FBI arrested Stone at 6:06 a.m. EST, after which a CNN journalist contacted the political operative’s lawyer and texted over a “draft copy of the still sealed indictment” at 6:22 a.m. EST.
CNN claimed that their reporters had the “instinct” to go to Stone’s house before the sun even came up on the morning he was arrested, denying with vigor allegations that they were tipped off.
“[FBI agents] walked me out in the middle of the street to make sure the CNN camera could get great footage of the whole thing. The street was sealed off, so how CNN had a camera right outside the door; that’s very hard to understand, because nobody else was allowed on the street,” Stone explained of his arrest during an interview with Breitbart News Daily host Alex Marlow.
A letter was sent to the DOJ on January 28 by Republican Representative Andy Biggs. In the letter, Biggs requested an investigation to find out if information regarding Stone’s arrest was leaked to the media prior to it happening.
“It is hard to believe that this reporter and camera crew showed up at the home of Mr. Stone, on the right day at the right time, on a hunch,” the Republican congressman stated. He continued, “This leads me to believe that CNN may have received advance notice of the date and time of the arrest.”
Stone also pondered about just why the FBI felt the need to use “excessive force” during his arrest. He explained, “I’m 66 years old, I do not own a gun, I do not have a valid passport, I have no prior criminal record, I’m charged with nonviolent process crimes,” Stone told the media. “To storm my house with greater force than was used to take down bin Laden or El Chapo or Pablo Escobar, it’s unconscionable.”
Breitbart reports that “Stone was charged with lying to Congress, obstruction and witness tampering related to discussions he had during the 2016 election about WikiLeaks, the anti-secrecy group that released material stolen from Democrat groups including Hillary Clinton’s campaign. U.S. intelligence agencies have said that Russia was the source of the hacked material, and last year Mueller charged 12 Russian intelligence officers in the hacking.”
That case has been tied to Stone’s by prosecutors. They have stated that the two cases have a search warrant in common, and they both have to do with activities which are “part of the same alleged criminal event or transaction.”
“Stone, who remains free on $250,000 bond, has denied having any direct contact with WikiLeaks. The Trump ally has said he only sought to encourage voter interest in the group’s public disclosures. He also has denied discussing the issue with President Trump,” Breitbart reports.
Stone has maintained his innocence on all charges.