Sarah Huckabee Sanders says Roger Stone indictment has 'nothing to do with the president'
White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders on Friday declined to answer a key question about the indictment of the president's longtime adviser, Roger Stone, insisting the whole thing has nothing to do with President Trump.
Stone's indictment released Friday alleges that in July 2016, a senior official in the Trump campaign "was directed" to contact Stone to find out whether WikiLeaks, which Stone had an intermediary with, would be publishing more hacked emails that would damage the Hillary Clinton campaign after the initial release of hacked emails from Democratic officials. This left open the question of whether it may have been Trump himself who directed the move.
But in an interview with CNN on Friday, Sanders argued that Stone's indictment has "nothing to do with the president." When asked whether Trump directed anyone to contact Stone, Sanders declined to answer, saying, "I'm not an attorney" and repeating that "the specific charges that have been brought against Mr. Stone don't have anything to do with the President.”
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.
CNN's John Berman asked this question twice more in two different ways, but Sanders continued to dodge it. Watch Sanders' appearance on CNN below. Brendan Morrow
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Brendan worked as a culture writer at The Week from 2018 to 2023, covering the entertainment industry, including film reviews, television recaps, awards season, the box office, major movie franchises and Hollywood gossip. He has written about film and television for outlets including Bloody Disgusting, Showbiz Cheat Sheet, Heavy and The Celebrity Cafe.
-
‘Mexico: A 500-Year History’ by Paul Gillingham and ‘When Caesar Was King: How Sid Caesar Reinvented American Comedy’ by David Margolickfeature A chronicle of Mexico’s shifts in power and how Sid Caesar shaped the early days of television
-
GOP wins tight House race in red Tennessee districtSpeed Read Republicans maintained their advantage in the House
-
Are the U.S. boat strikes a war crime?Today’s Big Question Hegseth is defiant after Venezuela reports
-
GOP wins tight House race in red Tennessee districtSpeed Read Republicans maintained their advantage in the House
-
Trump targets ‘garbage’ Somalis ahead of ICE raidsSpeed Read The Department of Homeland Security will launch an immigration operation targeting Somali immigrants in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area
-
Hegseth blames ‘fog of war’ for potential war crimespeed read ‘I did not personally see survivors,’ Hegseth said at a Cabinet meeting
-
Canada joins EU’s $170B SAFE defense fundspeed read This makes it the first non-European Union country in the Security Action for Europe (SAFE) initiative
-
Appeals court disqualifies US Attorney Alina HabbaSpeed Read The former personal attorney to President Donald Trump has been unlawfully serving as US attorney for New Jersey, the ruling says
-
White House says admiral ordered potential war crimeSpeed Read The Trump administration claims Navy Vice Adm. Frank ‘Mitch’ Bradley ordered a follow-up strike on an alleged drug-smuggling boat, not Pete Hegseth
-
Honduras votes amid Trump push, pardon vowspeed read President Trump said he will pardon former Honduran president Juan Orlando Hernández, who is serving 45 years for drug trafficking
-
Congress seeks answers in ‘kill everybody’ strike reportSpeed Read Lawmakers suggest the Trump administration’s follow-up boat strike may be a war crime
