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.”
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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
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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.
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