In a tweet on Saturday night, it appeared that former Trump adviser Roger Stone admitted having a "back channel" to Julian Assange, the founder of Wikileaks. On Saturday night, Stone sent profane tweets to people who challenged him, many of which have by now been deleted. It was in one of these tweets that Stone wrote that he had "never denied perfectly legal back channel to Assange who indeed had the goods on #CrookedHillary."
The other tweets that Stone deleted included calls for Obama to be "charged, convicted and jailed" because of Trump's wiretapping allegations against him, as well as a reference to Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling as a "hypocrite. One directed toward a woman stated that Stone would "enjoy" the chance to "crush u in court and forcing you to eat s**t - you stupid ignorant ugly b***h ! [sic]"
While it's easy to get lost in the stream of anger Stone tweeted, the most relevant to current events is Stone's now-deleted tweet referencing communications with Assange. It is all the more noteworthy considering that Stone had implied (or stated) he had a connection with the controversial Wikileaks head before — and then backtracked.
As the Independent noted, Stone tweeted about Hillary Clinton's campaign manager, John Podesta, two months before WikiLeaks started leaking hacked emails linked to him. "Trust me, it will soon the Podesta's time in the barrel. #CrookedHillary," Stone tweeted last August.
Stone later refuted allegations that he knew about WikiLeaks' plans to publish Podesta's emails, telling CBS4 that his tweet had actually been referring to his plans to accuse Podesta of criminal wrongdoing.
Yet, in October, Stone also told CBS4 that he had "a back-channel communication with Assange, because we have a good mutual friend." He elaborated on the relationship, saying “That friend travels back and forth from the United States to London and we talk." He even added, "I had dinner with him last Monday.”
Last August, Stone was recorded on video addressing a group of Florida Republicans about his communication with Assange.
"I actually have communicated with Assange,” Stone said in a speech to the Southwest Broward Republican Organization. "I believe the next tranche of his documents pertain to the Clinton Foundation, but there's no telling what the October surprise may be.”
When CBS News correspondent Jeff Pegues pointed out to Stone in a recent interview that he was quoted on video about having communications with Assange, however, Stone denied ever communicating directly with the WikiLeaks founder.
“Communication takes many forms, never had any direct conversations with him, nor did I have advance knowledge of either the matter of his subsequent disclosures, or who he did or did not hack," Stone told Pegues.
WikiLeaks has also previously denied having any direct ties to Stone.
