Donald Trump did have a relationship with Vladimir Putin and then, when that relationship became uncomfortable, he didn’t. And somehow, that’s okay.
Following the same pattern, former Trump political adviser Roger Stone previously said “I actually have communicated with Assange,” then claimed that he had a “perfectly legal” back channel to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. He later deleted the tweet containing the second claim, but he didn’t back off his claimed pipeline into WikiLeaks. He also claimed to have direct communication with the hackers who dipped into the DNC servers and obtained personal emails of Democratic operatives.
But now, of course, Stone says there’s no there there. He was only talking about a friend of a friend kind of thing, and the idea that he was coordinating with the Russians in releasing documents to WikiLeaks is silly. That Podesta thing, in which Stone predicted what WikiLeaks was going to publish before they published it? Coincidence. The communications with the claimed front man for the hackers? Just a pat on the virtual back.
The tweet was just a hunch, he says, and the DMs never went anywhere, and only started because Stone had seen the hacker get banned from Twitter, didn't like it, and wanted to express support when he saw Twitter reverse its decision, to send "him a high-five saying, ‘Glad you're reinstated,’ because I'm against censorship.” …
But if he was communicating with Assange through an intermediary, I asked, why say in that Florida speech he was communicating with him himself — notably in the same week in August that he’d said on a separate conference call that he knew there more emails coming?
“I see no inconsistency there,” Stone said.
And you know Stone remains a serious threat to Democrats, because they’re trying to kill him …
He has also claimed that he may have been poisoned in December and targeted in a car accident two weeks ago in an effort to stop him from speaking out.
But the biggest thing offending Roger Stone these days isn’t secret Democratic hit men. It’s the sad denial he’s getting from the Trump regime.
A member of Trump’s circle for nearly 40 years, Stone officially departed the presidential campaign just a few months in, but remained close to the action and infighting. After those first few months, Stone says, he received no money, directly or indirectly, from Trump or the Trump campaign, despite running several supportive operations and continuing to talk to Trump throughout, continuing in the last few weeks (Trump has told him not to say “Mr. President,” he said, but to keep calling him “Donald”).
Stone also wants it known that he does have his limits.
“Technically, I wouldn't be a rat fucker. You see, rat fucker is sending 10 pizzas to the Democratic headquarters. That's stupid. That's puerile. That's not winning any votes. That's rat fucking,” Stone said. “And any serious political operative wouldn't waste their time with stuff like that.”
So, based on past actions, if you get a big pizza order—it’s probably Roger Stone.