Former Trump campaign adviser Roger Stone met in May 2016 with a Russian who offered “dirt” on then-candidate Hillary Clinton in exchange for $2 million, Stone and former Trump campaign communications official Michael Caputo confirmed on Sunday.
The two also said the encounter was part of a larger effort by law enforcement to set up the Trump campaign, claiming the Russian who met with Stone was an FBI informant.
CNN has obtained letters to House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes which show that the meeting between Stone and the man who introduced himself as Henry Greenberg was arranged by Caputo. In the letters, a lawyer for Caputo says that his client set up the meeting through his Russian business partner. Greenberg told Caputo he “had information about Hillary Clinton he wanted to provide to the Trump campaign,” the letter adds.
Caputo and Stone, however, failed to inform congressional investigators of the meeting which has become a focus in special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe into President Donald Trump campaign. The two, nonetheless, maintain they were transparent in their testimony despite keeping the encounter secret.
According to ABC News, Stone is not concerned about his failure to disclose the meeting, saying that the letter his lawyer sent congressional investigators amends his testimony.
“I just didn’t remember. 2016 was a pretty busy year,” Stone said. “I don’t think a failure of memory constitutes a perjury.”
Representative Adam Schiff, the ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, disagreed on Sunday, saying that “the testimony of Roger Stone appears inaccurate or deliberately misleading.”
“The truthfulness of many of our witnesses has been difficult to ascertain, which is why I have urged the committee to make the transcripts available to Special Counsel [Robert] Mueller for a determination whether any witnesses committed perjury before our committee,” Schiff added.
He also said Caputo’s testimony presented a concern as he, too, failed to disclose his interaction with Greenberg.
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