ROGER STONE/RUSSIA/TRUMP PEOPLE: “Roger J. Stone Jr., a self-proclaimed political ‘dirty trickster’ and an informal adviser to the president, will strongly deny to congressional investigators on Tuesday [9-26-17] that he worked with Russians to aid President Trump’s campaign…
Mr. Stone is scheduled to be interviewed by the committee behind closed doors in its continuing investigation of Russian interference in last year’s presidential election.
His prepared remarks amount to a combative and meandering defense, complete with exhibits intended to bolster his case — a touch more fitting to a courtroom than a closed-door interview with investigators. Though the opening statement presents little new information from Mr. Stone, who has for months caustically denied any involvement in the election meddling, it comes with added weight: Lying to Congress is a crime….
The statement does not dispute that Mr. Stone communicated with Guccifer 2.0, an online persona who American officials believe was a front in the Russian hacking efforts. But it does say he believed that the interactions were entirely ‘benign,’ and it casts doubt on American intelligence concluding that the online account was a Russian intelligence front.”
-Nicholas Fandos, “Roger Stone to Tell House Panel He Pulled No Treasonous ‘Trick’,” The New York Times online, Sept. 25, 2017