The indictment of Roger Stone may have been long-awaited, but there’s a detail in the filing that’s been overlooked.
For the first time, Mueller is accusing the Trump campaign of having advance knowledge about the then-impending release of hacked Clinton-damaging emails by Wikileaks.
“STONE thereafter told the Trump Campaign about potential future releases of damaging material by Organization 1,” the DC federal grand jury indictment alleged.
The revelation was one among many in the indictment, including the tantalizing reveal that an unnamed senior Trump campaign official was directed to contact Stone about “any additional releases and what other damaging information Organization 1 had regarding the Clinton Campaign.”
It’s not clear how Stone acquired the information from Wikileaks. He repeatedly claimed throughout summer 2016 to have inside knowledge of what Wikileaks founder Julian Assange intended to release and when, but also attempted to use intermediaries like London-based conservative writer Ted Malloch to contact the group.
After former Breitbart editor Stephen K. Bannon assumed control of the Trump campaign in August 2016, Stone continued to tell the campaign about “future releases,” the indictment alleged.
In an Oct. 4 exchange with Bannon, Stone said that Assange would release “a load every week going forward,” it alleged.
After the release began on Oct. 7, a Bannon associate purportedly texted Stone to say “well done,” according to the indictment.
The indictment goes on to allege that Stone “claimed credit” for predicting the release date in “subsequent conversations with senior Trump campaign officials.”
