Roger Stone speaking in Washington on January 5, 2021.Caroline Brehman/CQ via ZUMA
Longtime Donald Trump adviser Roger Stone on Thursday sued the House committee investigating the January 6 attack on Congress in an effort to block a subpoena the panel issued for his phone records.
Prior to the January 6 attack, Stone bolstered Trump’s false claims that he had been cheated out of an election win. He appeared at multiple “Stop the Steal” rallies, calling for Trump backers to fight to help Trump remain in office. Stone also raised money online for “private security” and equipment for events in Washington, DC, on January 5 and 6 that preceded the storming of the Capitol. In addition, he received security from members of the Oath Keepers and socialized with members of Proud Boys. Both are far-right groups, some of whose members stormed the Capitol. Several of the Oath Keepers who guarded Stone in Washington and at earlier events in Florida have been charged with seditious conspiracy over their alleged roles in the insurrection.
It’s no surprise that the January 6 committee would seek Stone’s phone records. The committee questioned Stone himself in December, after subpoenaing him. He asserted his Fifth Amendment rights and declined to answer questions.
In his fundraising email Thursday, Stone said he was not in the Capitol on January 6 and had “no advance knowledge whatsoever of the illegal and tragic events of that day.”
“While I have nothing to hide, it is obvious that this is a fishing expedition,” Stone said. “It was obvious to me from the questions I was asked before the committee that the Democrats are desperate to find some charge—any charge—that would have the effect of eliminating President Donald Trump as a candidate in 2024.”
Stone was convicted of lying to Congress, obstructing Congress, and witness tampering in 2019, after he made false claims to the House Intelligence Committee related to his self-appointed role as a point of contact between WikiLeaks and the Trump Campaign in 2016. Trump pardoned Stone in 2020, two weeks before the attack on the Capitol.
With his latest legal maneuver, Stone joins various former Trump aides and boosters, and Trump himself, in suing the January 6 committee. So far none have had any success, beyond delaying the enforcement of subpoenas, and, perhaps, raising money.
This article has been updated.
