Trump’s former chief strategist Steve Bannon testified against political consultant Roger Stone Friday, telling a federal jury that he thought of Stone as the Trump campaign’s liaison to the anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks.
Bannon, once a high-profile figure in the Trump campaign in the early days of the Trump administration, arrived at the courtroom in the afternoon, wearing a black sport coat and black polo shirt. He told the jury the only reason he was testifying was that he’d been subpoenaed
While Bannon is one of the most anticipated witnesses at Stone’s trial for allegedly lying to Congress about his efforts to contact WikiLeaks in 2016, he was also one of the briefest, spending less than an hour under direct examination by prosecutors.
He told the court that he considered Stone to be the Trump campaign’s contact person for WikiLeaks, based on what Stone said publicly and their private conversation going back years claiming access to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.
At the time, Stone was trying to learn more about hacked emails from the Hillary Clinton campaign that might tank her run against then-candidate Donald Trump. The emails were stolen by Russian agents and shared with WikiLeaks, which released them at critical points in the 2016
“I was led to believe he had a relationship with WikiLeaks and Julian Assange,” Bannon testified. At another point, Bannon referred to Stone as the “access point” to Assange.
“He had a relationship, or told me he had a relationship with WikiLeaks,” Bannon said. “It was something I think he would frequently mention or talk about, when we talked about other things.”
At one point in October 2016, when an expected revelation from Assange about Clinton emails proved to be a dud, Bannon sent Stone an email asking, “What was that this morning?”
Bannon said he sent the message to ask why the much-hyped disclosures did not materialize, and also as “a little bit of a heckle — It was twofold.”
Stone replied that Assange was afraid for his safety, but would still end up releasing damaging documents every week.
Stone replied that Assange was afraid for his safety, but would still end up releasing damaging documents every week.
Stone and Bannon had already known each other for years before Bannon joined the Trump campaign, and they spoke between a half dozen and a dozen times during the campaign, Bannon testified.
After WikiLeaks began releasing hacked data in summer 2016, Stone emailed Bannon, writing that “Trump can still win, but time is running out,” according to a copy of the message shown to jurors. “I know how to win, but it ain’t pretty.”
Asked what Bannon understood Stone’s email to mean Bannon said, “Roger is an expert in the tougher side of politics. When you’re this far behind you’re going to have to use every tool in the tool box … Opposition research, dirty tricks, the kind of things campaigns use
Stone, 67, listened intently as he has throughout the trial, occasionally whispering to his lawyers. But he appeared a little weary, sighing and rubbing his eyes.
A longtime confidant of 🍊he has pleaded not guilty, and his attorneys have said any misstatements he made to Congress were unintentional.On cross examination by Stone’s lawyer Robert Buschel Bannon conceded that Stone never claimed to him that he had access to WikiLeaks emails
Buschel tried to ask Bannon, “As you sit here today, you don’t think Roger Stone had inside knowledge or predictions about WikiLeaks, do you?” but prosecutors objected as to the relevance of the question to Stone’s trial and the judge sustained it
Leaving the courthouse, Bannon reiterated that he was “forced to testify.”
Asked how he thought his testimony had gone, he told a phalanx of reporters, “You were in there, you tell me?” before jumping in a black SUV.
Asked how he thought his testimony had gone, he told a phalanx of reporters, “You were in there, you tell me?” before jumping in a black SUV.
