Stone takes shot at Mueller’s office in new filing

Roger Stone asked a federal judge Wednesday to examine if special counsel Robert Mueller’s office publicized his indictment last month before his court docket was unsealed.

Stone, a Trump associate who was indicted last month as part of Mueller’s investigation into possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Moscow in 2016, has repeatedly panned his dramatic arrest, which was caught on CNN cameras. Stone claims the network was tipped off about his arrest, while CNN said its reporting suggested he would soon be detained. 

In a court filing, Stone’s legal team says CNN offered up a copy of the indictment from the special counsel’s office without a time stamp from PACER, a federal courts database. Stone suggests the lack of a time stamp shows CNN had advance knowledge of his arrest.

“A person with privileged access to a ‘draft’ of Roger Stone’s Indictment, identical to that which had been filed under seal…had — in violation of the Court’s Order — publicly distributed the Indictment prior to its release from the sealing ordered by the Court,” the filing says.

But Peter Carr, a spokesperson for Mueller, sent out an email blast minutes before Stone’s arrest to inform the media of the indictment. The special counsel’s office is well-known for being tight-lipped and has made a point of clamping down on leaks to the press. 

But that timing, 6:22a, is consistent with when *everyone* in the media learned of the indictment. Peter Carr sent an email out at 6:16a (per my inbox) to let people know the indictment had been posted on the Special Counsel’s website. It doesn’t show CNN had special access. pic.twitter.com/e3rRHsvPW2

— southpaw (@nycsouthpaw) February 13, 2019

Stone pleaded not guilty to seven charges in January, including obstruction of a congressional inquiry, witness tampering and five counts of making false statements to Congress.

The Trump associate and self-proclaimed “dirty trickster” has cast himself as the victim of a political witch hunt, sending out fundraising emails for his defense that slammed his arrest as an excessive use of force, citing federal agents with assault rifles who raided his home.

President Trump called the incident “a very, very disappointing scene” last month, and Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker told Congress he was “deeply” concerned “as to how CNN found out about that,” though presented no evidence the news outlet was tipped off in advance.

Stone was released from detention on a $250,000 bond.