On Tuesday, longtime Republican operative Roger Stone hit back at former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton , The Washington Times reported.
In an interview on Monday, Clinton suggested that President Donald Trump commuted Stone’s sentence because he was blackmailed.
“I think it’s pretty clear that Stone threatened him. He probably threatened him privately but he also threatened him publicly about what he would say if he had to go to prison,” she told MSNBC, arguing that Trump intervened in the Stone case to conceal details about Russian interference in the 2016 election.
In a statement, Stone rejected Clinton’s claims.
“At no time did I imply that I knew of misconduct on the President’s part or that I remained silent regarding misconduct in return for an act of clemency,” he said.
“Nearly four years after the election, Hillary Clinton needs to recognize that the American people figured out that she is a short-tempered, foul mouthed, self centered, entitled kleptocrat who would, like her husband, steal a hot stove.”
Stone — who served as an advisor on Trump’s campaign four years ago — was sentenced to more than three years in prison, after being found guilty of obstruction of justice, witness tampering and lying to the United States Congress during its investigations into Russia’s alleged election meddling.
Earlier this month, the president commuted his former advisor’s sentence. The decision prompted major backlash from Democratic politicians, but even some Republicans criticized the commander-in-chief.
Notably, Utah Sen. Mitt Romney — who was the only Republican to vote to convict Trump in the Senate’s impeachment trial earlier this year — described the commutation as “historic corruption,” while Pennsylvania Sen. Pat Toomey called it a “mistake.”
Some of those close to Trump — including Attorney General William Barr — were reportedly opposed to commuting Stone, but those who lobbied the White House on the operative’s behalf ultimately prevailed.
According to a Yahoo News / YouGov poll released last week, 43 percent of Americans disapprove of Trump’s decision to commute Stone’s sentence. In the survey, a strong majority of Democrats, 44 percent of Independents and 10 percent of Republicans disapproved of the move.
Trump intervened in the Stone case amid the coronavirus pandemic and as he continues to trail the Democratic Party’s presumptive presidential nominee, Joe Biden, in the polls.
In the latest Quinnipiac University survey, the Democrat finished 15 percentage points ahead of Trump. The poll found that voters trust Biden over Trump on a number of key issues, also establishing that the commander-in-chief’s approval ratings have declined.
