Special counsel Robert Mueller is reportedly investigating Roger Stone’s finances as part of the probe into alleged collusion between Trump campaign associates and Russia.
CNN reported Thursday that investigators have asked associates of Stone, an informal adviser to Trump’s 2016 campaign, about his finances, including Stone’s tax returns.
Stone told CNN that investigators were apparently “combing through” his personal life, including business affairs, but claimed it was because they lacked evidence of collusion.
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“The special counsel having found no evidence or proof whatsoever of Russian collusion, trafficking in allegedly hacked emails with WikiLeaks or advance knowledge of the publication of [then-Clinton campaign chair John] Podesta’s emails now seems to be combing through every molecule of my existence including my personal life, political activities and business affairs to conjure up some offense to charge me with either to silence me or induce me to testify against the president,” Stone told the network.
“I have no intention of being silenced or turning my back on President Trump.”
Stone, a longtime Republican operative, also said that Mueller has contacted at least eight people with current or past ties to himself, but declined to provide their names.
“They are all young people who have no knowledge about my personal, political or business activities,” Stone told the network.
Mueller’s reported probe into Stone’s finances comes shortly after it was reported that the special counsel had subpoenaed two of Stone’s associates.
Reuters first reported last week that Mueller had subpoenaed Stone’s former assistant John Kakanis. CNN noted that Kakanis would have knowledge of Stone’s business dealings.
Stone’s former social media adviser Jason Sullivan was also subpoenaed by Mueller.
The CNN report comes on the heels of a Wall Street Journal article earlier Thursday that said Stone sought dirt on Hillary Clinton from WikiLeaks during the 2016 election.
“I sleep well at night because I know what I have and have not done,” Stone told CNN. “There’s no inappropriate activity pertaining to Russian collusion. I obtained nothing from WikiLeaks or Julian Assange. I never passed anything on to WikiLeaks or Julian Assange.”
Mueller’s team is also reportedly looking into Stone’s other contacts with WikiLeaks during the 2016 election, including an email in which Stone said that he met with the group’s founder Julian Assange.
Stone has maintained that the email was a joke and that he never met with Assange.