From The New York Times:
Roger J. Stone Jr., an informal adviser to President Trump, has been asked by the Senate Intelligence Committee to preserve any records he may have in connection to a broader inquiry into Russian attempts to interfere with United States elections.
The letter sent to Mr. Stone, a copy of which was obtained by The New York Times, represents the first public indication of the scope of the committee’s inquiry, and possible connections to Mr. Trump’s campaign.
The Senate committee asked Mr. Stone, who is also under scrutiny from other federal investigators, to “preserve and retain all hard copies and electronically stored information as specified below in furtherance of the committee’s ongoing investigation into Russian actions targeting the 2016 U.S. elections and democratic processes globally.”
Mr. Stone confirmed the existence of the letter, which was dated Feb. 17. However, he said he had received it only on Friday, by email. Mr. Stone has acknowledged trading messages over Twitter with Guccifer 2.0, the online persona that officials believe was actually Russian intelligence officers.
www.nytimes.com/…
There still needs to be an independent and/or special prosecutor. Nevertheless, it is good to see both Republican and Democratic Senators zeroing in on the most likely suspects. It now seems likely that Stone was one of the principal operatives in the Trump campaign’s collusion with Russia.
In case you missed it, four days ago it came out that Stone talked 16 times with Guccifer 2.0 during the campaign. Guccifer 2.0 is an online user name widely considered to be a pseudonym for the Russian government. From CBS News’ Jeff Pegues:
Despite that claim, Roger Stone now admits that he was in contact with Guccifer 2.0, at least 16 times during the 2016 campaign. That Twitter handle released hacked information believed to be stolen from Democratic Party servers. It targeted Hillary Clinton and Democratic candidates in at least six states.
www.mediamatters.org/…
Let’s hope authorities are ready if Stone attempts a big data purge. It could well be crucial evidence in upcoming impeachment proceedings.