GOP strategist and longtime Trump associate Roger StoneRoger Jason StoneRoger Stone attacks Mueller indictment, demands to see final report Does Mueller report anticipate campaign finance crimes related to Trump’s Russia contacts? Julian Assange: Five things to know about the legal case against him MORE is demanding the release of special counsel Robert MuellerRobert Swan MuellerSasse: US should applaud choice of Mueller to lead Russia probe MORE‘s full investigative report as part of his ongoing legal defense strategy.
Stone, who faces charges of lying to Congress and obstructing investigators related to his contacts with WikiLeaks during the 2016 presidential campaign, has pleaded not guilty. His lawyers argued in a filing late Friday that seeing Mueller’s full report is now “essential” to Stone’s defense, Bloomberg News reported.
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The lawyers further argue that Stone was unfairly singled out as a supporter of the president and that the case never should have been assigned to Judge Amy Berman Jackson to begin with, as prosecutors initially linked Stone’s case to the indictment of more than a dozen Russian nationals for election interference.
“Now that the Department of Justice has concluded that there was no conspiracy between Russian agents and any American citizen, including Roger Stone, this ‘connection’ is unsubstantiated,” Stone’s lawyers argued, according to Bloomberg.
His attorneys also argued that a number of claims would undercut the special counsel’s probe, including one argument that the investigation was funded improperly and was therefore unconstitutional.
Whether he or anyone else will be able to view Mueller’s full report is now up to Attorney General William BarrWilliam Pelham BarrRobert De Niro tears into Republicans: ‘We’re not going to forget’ about what you did under Trump Trump campaign falsely claims Barr revealed ‘unlawful spying’ in email to supporters Trolling of Bill Barr shows how language is twisted to politics MORE, who has said that a public version of the report will be ready for release within days.
Barr has already described Mueller’s bottom-line conclusions in a four-page letter, but lawmakers are seeking the special counsel’s detailed findings when the attorney general provides more information to Congress next week.
Stone remains under a gag order that prevents him from speaking about the trial or the broader Russia investigation, which was imposed earlier this year. His trial is currently set for Nov. 5.