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Longtime Trump political adviser expects to be indicted by Mueller for ‘extraneous crime’

From the team that brought you "alternative facts" comes "extraneous crime."

Roger Stone on NBC's Meet the Press
Roger Stone on NBC's Meet the Press on Sunday. CREDIT: Meet the Press screenshot

Roger Stone, a longtime adviser to Donald Trump and his former Washington lobbyist, expects he may be indicted by Special Counsel Robert Mueller. But, he cautioned, any such indictment would be for an “extraneous crime,” not for any involvement in Russian collusion in 2016.

On Sunday’s Meet the Press, Chuck Todd noted that two of Stone’s associates have been subpoenaed recently and asked Stone if he was preparing to be indicted.

“I don’t know if I’m an interesting person or a person of interest,” Stone replied, complaining of leaks and terrorizing of “at least eight of my current or former associates, mostly young people,” by Mueller’s investigation.

“It is not inconceivable now that Mr. Mueller and his team may seek to conjure up some extraneous crime pertaining to my business, or maybe not even pertaining to the 2016 election.” he added. “I would chalk this up to an effort to silence me.”

Stone said that he is “prepared, should that be the case,” and argued that such “extraneous” crimes should not be prosecuted because they were not part of the original scope of the investigation and merely constituted an effort to silence defenders of President Donald Trump.

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Robert Mueller’s appointment, a year ago, specifically ordered him to investigate both “any links and/or coordination between the Russian government and individuals associated with the campaign of President Donald Trump,” and “any matters that arose or may arise directly from the investigation.”

The order made clear that “the Special Counsel is authorized to prosecute federal crimes arising from the investigation of these matters” should it be necessary and appropriate. This would seem to include even crimes that Stone believes are “extraneous.”