Roger Stone reportedly told allies about WikiLeaks' Clinton-targeting emails well before they were leaked


Roger Stone, who worked on President Trump's campaign in 2015 and then advised Trump afterward, told at least two associates in 2016 that he had been in contact with WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, and he told one of them in spring 2016 that Assange had told him about emails WikiLeaks had obtained that would torment Democrats like John Podesta, Hillary Clinton's campaign chairman, The Washington Post reports. "The conversation occurred before it was publicly known that hackers had obtained the emails of Podesta and of the Democratic National Committee, documents which WikiLeaks released in late July and October. The U.S. intelligence community later concluded the hackers were working for Russia."
The first Stone associate insisted on remaining anonymous, but the second one, Sam Nunberg, said Stone told him sometime in 2016 that he had met with Assange. Stone told the Post on Monday that he had been pulling Nunberg's leg. "I wish him no ill will, but Sam can manically and persistently call you," Stone said. When Nunberg called on a Friday, "I said, 'I think I will go to London for the weekend and meet with Julian Assange.' It was a joke, a throwaway line to get him off the phone. The idea that I would meet with Assange undetected is ridiculous on its face." Nunberg told the Post that Stone's statement did not seem like a joke at the time, but he was glad to hear it was. "No one connected to the president should be connected with Julian Assange," he said.
Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigators are interested in Stone's contacts with WikiLeaks and Assange, given that Stone appeared to have advance notice of WikiLeaks' Podesta email dump, which began hours after the Post published the Access Hollywood tape of Trump bragging about sexual assault. Earlier this year, The Atlantic also published private messages Stone traded with WikiLeaks. You can read more about Stone's WikiLeaks trail at The Washington Post.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
Ukraine: Trump's mixed messages
Feature Trump reverses a Pentagon freeze on Patriot missiles to Ukraine as Russia ramps up air attacks
-
Diddy: An abuser who escaped justice?
Feature The jury cleared Sean Combs of major charges but found him guilty of lesser offenses
-
Death from above: Drones upend rules of war in Ukraine
Feature The world's militaries are paying close attention to drone use in the Russia-Ukraine war
-
Secret Service 'failures' on Trump shooting
Speed Read Two new reports detail security breakdowns that led to attempts on the president's life
-
Trump set to hit Canada with 35% tariffs
Speed Read The president accused Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney of failing to stop the cross-border flow of fentanyl
-
Mahmoud Khalil files $20M claim over ICE detention
Speed Read This is the 'first damages complaint' brought by an individual targeted by the Trump's administration's 'crackdown' on Gaza war protesters
-
Trump threatens Brazil with 50% tariffs
Speed Read He accused Brazil's current president of leading a 'witch hunt' against far-right former leader Jair Bolsonaro
-
AI scammer fakes Rubio messages to top officials
Speed Read The unknown individual mimicked Rubio in voice and text messages sent to multiple government officials
-
SCOTUS greenlights Trump's federal firings
speed read The Trump administration can conduct mass federal firings without Congress' permission, the Supreme Court ruled
-
New tariffs set on 14 trading partners
Speed Read A new slate of tariffs will begin August 1 on imports from Japan, South Korea, Thailand and more
-
Elon Musk launching 'America Party'
Speed Read The tech mogul promised to form a new political party if Trump's megabill passed Congress