In a recent story in The Atlantic, Congressman Adam B. Schiff told reporter Natasha Bertrand that I failed to turn over my now famous “Dine with Assange” email to the House intelligence Committee. Schiff was referring to a Wall Street Journal article revealing that I — as The Atlantic characterizes it — “boasted” in an email to my “friend” Sam Nunberg about dining with WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange on August 3, 2016.
I was in it now, knee deep — in Schiff’s mind. Schiff, a Democrat, made it clear he believed [or wanted to] the email was gospel truth and, consequently, the Republicans ended their probe of Russian collusion too early. “Stone never gave that email to the committee,” a steaming hot Schiff said with, one imagines, a tremulous, all-knowing tone.
As a matter of fact, the House Committee request did not require me to turn over this email. The House Committee’s request was narrowly worded: It wanted only emails to Russian contacts or connections. Although Schiff might think — or want to think — that Assange is a Russian agent, nobody has proven it. It’s Deep State spin. And Nunberg, the recipient of the email, isn’t a Russian asset — as far as I know.
I fully complied with the House Committee document request as written.
As for the email itself, it was a joke. I did not dine with Assange — although even if I had, it would not be a crime and, as a matter of law, to write or say, “I dined with Julian Assange” is not probative of anything, since it never happened. The Atlantic therefore ought to get its Schiff together with those who know this is fake news meant to advance a false Russian collusion story.
How curious Schiff made his comments to the same Atlantic reporter whose earlier story featured a leaked screenshot of material I did in fact provide to the committee: Where did The Atlantic get the screenshot? It was not a true copy but a partial, photo-shopped image of documents I turned over to the Intelligence Committee. Despite the doctored image The Atlantic used, the message contained in it exonerates me of Russian collaboration with WikiLeaks.
But who leaked this piecemealed version of confidential document?
Natasha Bertrand just fingered Adam Schiff.
This is how fake news works. The Washington Post gleefully reports two un-corroborated hearsay conversations with two nameless, faceless sources who said I told him that I was going to have dinner with Julian Assange. This is reported as breakthrough news. The Wall Street Journal took it further when their reporter said she was shown an email — but did not have a copy of it — wherein I wrote I dined with Julian Assange. This is presented as Russian collusion on steroids. Next comes Nunberg’s reply to my prank email — obtained by One America — showing Nunberg believed my prank. Ironically, nowhere was there mention of another of Nunberg’s beliefs- equally untrue: Nunberg was positively giddy — in the same email — over Hillary Clinton’s 15-point lead.
I recommended Nunberg when Trump was looking for someone to provide research for speeches, write op-eds, do background memos and Republican outreach — essentially the job a young Pat Buchanan performed for Richard Nixon. Nunberg was fired when he gave too much access at Mar Lago to McKay Coppins, who then wrote a withering attack on Trump, assuring his readers that Trump would never run for president. And I was among those who argued for his rehiring, as he is sometimes quite capable of good work.
But Nunberg got fired a second time when Corey Lewandowski discovered racist Facebook screeds Nunberg had apparently written. In his posts, Nunberg made fun of Al Sharpton’s daughters. (I urged him to call Sharpton, apologize and ask forgiveness.)
After he was fired for racist and misogynist posts, Nunberg became bitterly anti-Trump. In typical Nunberg fashion — while pretending he owes me much as a mentor, and exclaiming he hopes “poor Roger” won’t be in trouble — he proceeds to try to create trouble for me. Perhaps Nunberg thinks I actually met with Assange. Perhaps he was not the one who went to at least two reporters who contacted me with this canard of my telling “an associate” I dined with Assange. Perhaps it was not he who leaked my prank email of “dining with Assange” to news outlets all inimical to Trump.
However, I doubt it.
I suspect this promotion of this fictitious narrative of meeting with Assange by Nunberg is more than a mere ploy to get attention and try to unravel my life. Happily, for Nunberg, it is right up Schiff’s creek. Unfortunately, it never happened. There is no paddle. Not only does my passport show I never left the US in 2016, and customs and airline records will show I did not go to London.
Let’s go a step further: Security cameras monitor the Embassy of Ecuador in London where Assange — one of the world’s most watched men — lives as a virtual prisoner. This would show if I was there. I wasn’t.
As for the period of August 1 to 3, 2016, I released my airline tickets, credit card receipts and other proof showing I was indisputably in Los Angeles and it was physically impossible for me to be in London to dine with Assange and fly back from Los Angeles to Miami on Delta on Aug 3, 2016.
It didn’t matter to the fake news media. The Hill, as an example, is among those who dropped their inclusion of any exculpatory information in their reporting, pretending the email leaked by Nunberg was a smoking gun. Their partisan bias is understandable. That’s their business. They are hoping, if they write it enough, that it will come true.
After Nunberg was fired the second time, he became virulently anti-Trump, predicting constantly that Hillary would win. The 30 to 40 phone calls and text messages I got from him daily finally culminated in my answering the phone whereupon a one-sided conversation ensued and wherein, trying to get in a word edgewise, I told Nunberg in straight deadpan, “I think I will fly to London and have dinner with Julian Assange.” I said it to get off the phone. The shock value for the gullible Nunberg made him catch his breath
Then, I got off the phone. But I did not call Assange.
Nunberg’s calls dropped off after Trump was elected and he aligned himself as an acolyte to Steve Bannon. After that I would hear rarely from him. He visited Bannon in the White House and palled around with members of Bannon’s staff. But soon a delusional Nunberg started speaking about a prospective Bannon presidential candidacy in 2020.
In fairness, I believe Bannon’s worldview is close to mine in terms of the globalists and those who left our borders open. But Bannon’s failure was to publicly declare that he elected Donald Trump. Bannon sat back and let Reince Prebius (the man who pushed Rod Rosenstein for Department of Justice) populate the Trump administration with swamp creatures and “Never Trumpers.”
When I wrote in The Daily Caller that it was time for Bannon to go (and the Drudge Report picked it up), Nunberg’s reaction was volcanic. He called late one night, clearly inebriated, and told me I was “a piece of shit” and “he would take me down”. He sounded like Tony Montana in Scarface.
So let’s say it again. There is no evidence I had advance notice of the content, source or timing of WikiLeaks disclosures regarding Hillary because I didn’t. I received nothing, including allegedly hacked emails, from anyone. Both WikiLeaks and Assange confirmed this publicly. I gave nothing, including allegedly hacked emails to Donald Trump or the Trump campaign.
I never passed any emails to Donald Trump or the Trump campaign. And, for the record, Trump’s public call for the Russians to release Hillary’s deleted emails does not refer to material obtained or published by WikiLeaks. Wikileaks did not release Hillary’s deleted emails, as any informed reader knows.
This entire fake news media cycle is egged on by a lynch mob of “news” outlets attacking me because of my support for Donald Trump for president and my limited role in his successful election. They despise me — I suspect — for my continued, relentless advocacy and defense of our president.
Roger Stone is a legendary Republican political consultant and a veteran of many national Republican presidential campaigns. He’s also the men’s fashion correspondent for The Daily Caller and editor of StoneColdTruth.com.
The views and opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and do not reflect the official position of The Daily Caller.