Top Senate Democrats charged Thursday that the criminal charges against Roger Stone that led to his arrest early Friday morning implicate President Trump’s campaign and its alleged plot with Russia to defeat Hillary Clinton in 2016.
“It is clear from this indictment that those contacts happened at least with the full knowledge of, and appear to have been encouraged by, the highest levels of the Trump campaign,” Sen. Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said in a statement Friday.
The FBI arrested Stone Friday on charges of obstruction, witness tampering, and lying to investigators.
White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said the arrest has nothing to do with Trump.
But Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, said the charges against Stone back up the legitimacy of the special counsel probe into alleged collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia.
“The indictment and arrest of Roger Stone is the latest sign that the special counsel investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 elections is having real, tangible results,” Feinstein, of California, said in a statement. “The indictment of Roger Stone, a friend and adviser of then-candidate Trump, charges him with lying to Congress about the release of Democratic emails hacked by Russians. These are serious charges.”
Warner, of Virginia, said Stone “played a key role,” in the Trump campaign, making key important decisions and staying in close contact with Trump.
Warner said he thinks Congress will “learn more” about Stone’s role in the campaign an his contact with WikiLeaks, which is accused of acquiring stolen Clinton campaign emails from the Russians.
