WASHINGTON (CN) — Unable to avoid testifying in the federal probe of Russia’s 2016 election meddling, longtime Roger Stone aide Andrew Miller suggested to reporters Friday that he is still loyal to the indicted Republican operative.
“I worked with him for over 13 years,” Miller said outside U.S. District Court this afternoon. “He’s like Uncle Roger to me — that’s the best way to put it.”
Miller’s months-long refusal to testify before a grand jury convened by special counsel Robert Mueller prompted a contempt order last summer by Chief U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell, but Miller’s attorney said today that a prosecutor found today’s testimony satisfactory and there are no plans for a repeat appearance.
“It’s just a matter of some cleanup of getting some documents, and then we will be all done,” said attorney Paul Kamenar.
A longtime adviser to President Donald Trump, Stone is charged with lobbying WikiLeaks on the 2016 campaign trail to divulge thousands of hacked emails that were hoped to damage Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton.
Kamenar emphasized today that Miller knew nothing of Stone’s alleged interactions with WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.
Citing the Mueller report, the lawyer also asserted that it was New York radio host and Stone acquaintance Randy Credico, not Stone, who met with Assange.
“That’s all in the Mueller report,” Kamenar said. “I don’t want to misstate what the facts are.”
Kamenar then went on to echo rhetoric that Stone’s attorneys used in court a day earlier, arguing that Stone’s indictment should be dismissed because the Mueller report invalidates the charges.
“The bottom line is from the Mueller report that there is no conspiracy no collusion,” Kamenar said.
Credico is slated to testify on Nov. 5, the date set for Stone’s trial, following an April subpoena, but Kamenar noted that Miller has not yet been called to act as witness. He said the court would likely not notify them until September at the earliest if Miller is asked to appear.
Giving his take on what the public can expect from ongoing proceedings stemming from the Mueller report, Kamenar said prosecutors may merely be looking to uncover peripheral evidence for charges brought against Stone or other individuals.
Late Friday, Stone’s attorneys demanded unredacted copies of records from CrowdStrike Reports, a private cybersecurity company that provided services to the Democratic National Committee (DNC).
Arguing the documents contain information the government and media relied on to make the case that the DNC was targeted by Russia in the 2016 election, they claim closer inspection of the records will provide evidence of Stone’s innocence.
Stone’s legal team was provided copies of three CrowdStrike Reports documents on Mar. 19 which they say were heavily redacted and impeded their ability to “mount a comprehensive defense” against the charges leveled against Stone.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office opposed the motion, saying there is no reason to believe the redacted information would prove Stone’s innocence.
In a second motion Friday, Stone argued search warrants used to enter his home this past January were invalid because they were based on inadequate evidence that Russia hacked the DNC and delivered the obtained information to WikiLeaks for public release. The government also filed an opposition to that motion.
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