Nancy Pelosi Took Aim At Trump In Her Response To The Roger Stone Indictment

You've gotta give it to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi: She doesn't back away from drama. So, it might not be surprising that she weighed in on the Roger Stone indictment. On Jan. 25, Stone, a longtime associate of Donald Trump, was hit with multiple charges brought by FBI Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into potential collusion between Russia and members of the 2016 Trump campaign, and Pelosi had a lot to say about it. Representatives for Stone and the White House did not respond to Elite Daily's request for comment on the indictment. The special counsel's office declined to comment. And, as you probably expect, Nancy Pelosi's response to the Roger Stone indictment took aim at the president.

No, seriously — in a statement shared on Jan. 26, she arguably wrote more about President Trump than she did Stone. After claiming that Stone's indictment shows a "deliberate, coordinated attempt" by top Trump officials to influence the 2016 election, she went on to say that it is "staggering" that Trump continues to surround himself with the people he does. Pelosi continued:

In the face of 37 indictments, the President’s continued actions to undermine the Special Counsel investigation raise the questions: what does Putin have on the President, politically, personally or financially? Why has the Trump Administration continued to discuss pulling the U.S. out of NATO, which would be a massive victory for Putin?

“Lying to Congress and witness tampering constitute grave crimes. All who commit these illegal acts should be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law," added Pelosi. "We cannot allow any effort to intimidate witnesses or prevent them from appearing before Congress."

She concluded her statement by declaring she would ensure Mueller's investigation can continue "free from interference from the White House.” Oof. You can read her full statement here. Elite Daily reached out to both Stone's lawyer and the White House for comment on Pelosi's claims in her Jan. 26 statement, but did not hear back at the time of publication.

After reading the statement, it appears that Pelosi has far more questions than answers regarding whether President Trump and his administration are fully cooperating with the Office of the Special Counsel's investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. Elite Daily reached out to Pelosi's representation for any further comment her Jan. 26 statement, but did not hear back at the time of publication.

For his part, Stone has denied the seven charges (including one count of witness tampering, one count of obstruction of justice, and five counts of making false statements) against him, saying on Jan. 25 that he has been falsely accused and plans on being "vindicated." The charges stem from alleged lies he told investigators about his contact with WikiLeaks, the organization that released a barrage of Democratic emails, stolen by Russia, ahead of the 2016 election and is referred to as "Organization 1" in his indictment filing. The document says he sought emails from the organization at the direction of "a senior Trump Campaign official." After those emails were released, the indictment says, "an associate of the high-ranking Trump campaign official" sent a text message to Stone which said "well done," suggesting that the campaign knew of Stone's transgressions.

But the president himself has strongly denied any wrongdoing. In addition to his press secretary maintaining that the arrest had "nothing to do with the president and certainly nothing to do with the White House," he sent a tweet on Jan. 25 suggesting that Stone has been targeted by what he called the "greatest witch hunt in the history of our country."

It looks like there is a long court process ahead, and something tells me Pelosi will be keeping a close eye on these two in the meantime. Stay tuned.