'I’m not going to do what Michael Cohen has done': Roger Stone says cooperation comment 'misconstrued'
Roger Stone – a longtime associate of President Donald Trump who faces federal charges of obstruction, witness tampering and lying – said Tuesday that his comments about cooperating with special counsel Robert Mueller "have been misconstrued."
Stone said Sunday on ABC's "This Week" that working with Mueller would be something he would have to "determine after my attorneys have some discussion."
"If there’s wrongdoing by other people in the campaign that I know about, which I know of none, but if there is, I would certainly testify honestly," Stone said on "This Week."
Tuesday – the same day he appeared in federal court to enter his not-guilty plea on seven criminal counts – he insisted he had to clarify his position.
"I think that my comments on ABC may have been misconstrued," Stone said during a Fox News interview. "What I meant was, I’m not going to bear false witness against anybody."
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He explained that he will "tell the truth under oath and to the investigators if they have questions," if his attorneys are OK with it.
"But I’m not going to do what Michael Cohen has done. I’m not going to make up lies or bear false witness against Donald Trump or anyone else," he said.
Cohen, Trump's former attorney and fixer, pleaded guilty to several felonies, including lying to Congress about efforts to build a Trump Tower in Moscow. He is cooperating with Mueller as part of his plea agreement. He is scheduled to speak to the House Intelligence Committee behind closed doors Feb. 8.
Mueller's team alleges Stone lied about his role in the Trump campaign efforts to communicate with WikiLeaks about the website's publication of emails from the Democratic National Committee and the Clinton campaign, which had been stolen by Russian operatives.
Stone said he is guilty only of "mistakes of memory" that are "inconsequential" and not "material under the law." He repeated his denial of any advance knowledge of WikiLeaks' plans.
Stone contested Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's characterization of WikiLeaks as a "nonstate hostile intelligence service."
"I don't believe it to be true," he said. "It's never been proved in a U.S. court of law."
Stone, who expressed doubts about the conclusion that Russia meddled in the 2016 election, said he is "afraid our intelligence services have been politicized."
He emphasized his anger at the manner of his arrest and the "over-the-top raid on my house, in which they sent in more men than were used to protect our compound in Benghazi."
His two Yorkshire terriers were terrified during the raid, he said, adding that he was wearing a "Roger Stone did nothing wrong" T-shirt when he was arrested.
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