CNN responds to Trump dig about being at Stone arrest: ‘That’s called journalism’

CNN fired back after President Trump suggested the network was tipped off about the arrest of his longtime associate Roger Stone on Friday, saying “determined reporting” led journalists to Stone’s home in Florida.

CNN producer David Shortell and photojournalist Gilbert De La Rosa were the only media members on scene to witness and record the pre-dawn FBI raid in Fort Lauderdale. The network said Shortell and De La Rosa were “staking out” Stone’s home because the special counsel’s activity over the past week suggested an indictment may have been approaching.

CNN’s ability to capture the arrest of Roger Stone was the result of determined reporting and interpreting clues revealed in the course of events. That’s called journalism. #FactsFirst https://t.co/71zu7RylxX

— CNN Communications (@CNNPR) January 25, 2019

Trump suggested in a tweet that CNN, an outlet he frequently targets, was tipped off by someone before the arrest took place.

{mosads}“Greatest Witch Hunt in the History of our Country! NO COLLUSION! Border Coyotes, Drug Dealers and Human Traffickers are treated better,” Trump tweeted. “Who alerted CNN to be there?”

CNN aired the dramatic footage of law enforcement vehicles pulling up in front of Stone’s dark home as roughly a dozen armed officers in heavy tactical gear spread out across the lawn.

“Stone’s possible indictment has been looming for months now, as Mueller has interviewed many of his associates and others connected to the longtime Trump confidante, whose political career dates back to President Richard Nixon,” CNN reported.

CNN said reporters spotted least two prosecutors, Andrew Goldstein and Aaron Zelinsky, visiting with Robert Mueller’s grand jury the day before the arrest. Zelinsky had been seen wheeling a suitcase with him to work, suggesting the possibility he was getting ready to travel.

CNN then sent a team to Florida to prepare for a possible indictment against Stone, although neither he nor his attorney Grant Smith said they believed an arrest was imminent.

They were convinced that he would be given an opportunity to turn himself in, the network reported.

Federal prosecutors have charged Stone with obstructing probes into Russia’s election interference by making false statements related to claims he made suggesting prior knowledge of WikiLeaks’s release of damaging Democratic emails ahead of the 2016 election. 

A federal magistrate judge ruled that Stone was not a flight risk and could be released on a $250,000 signature bond.