Political consultant Roger Stone, a longtime associate of U.S. President Donald Trump, said he has “no involvement” in alleged collusion with Russia linked to last year’s presidential election, ahead of his House intelligence committee for testimony Tuesday.
In an opening statement released before the closed-door session, Stone says it is clear there was a foreign nation colluding with a presidential campaign, but he suggests investigators instead look at Ukraine and Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton.
Stone denies having advance knowledge of the source or timing of a WikiLeaks disclosure of emails from Clinton’s campaign chairman John Podesta and says he does not engage in any illegal activities on behalf of his clients.
“I view this as a political proceeding because of a number of members of this committee have made irresponsible, indisputably and provably false statements in order to create the impression of collusion with the Russian state without any evidence that would hold up in a U.S. court of law or the court of public opinion,” the statement says.
In addition to the House intelligence committee, the Senate intelligence committee is conducting its own investigation into Russian meddling and possible links to Trump’s campaign. Former Federal Bureau of Investigation Director Robert Mueller is leading a separate probe in his role as special counsel for the U.S. Justice Department.
U.S. intelligence agencies have concluded that Russia carried out an influence campaign aimed at hurting Clinton’s chances of getting elected while boosting Trump.
Trump has denied any collusion with Russia.
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