Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid sent a letter Saturday to the FBI to ask for an investigation into the Kremlin ties of Trump confidant Roger Stone and foreign policy adviser Carter Page.
“The evidence of a direct connection between the Russian government and Donald Trump’s presidential campaign continues to mount,” Democratic Nevada Sen. Reid wrote in the letter. He added, “The prospect of a hostile government actively seeking to undermine our free and fair elections represents one of the gravest threats to our democracy since the Cold War and it is critical for the Federal Bureau of Investigation to use every resource available to investigate this matter thoroughly and in a timely fashion.”
The Clinton campaign and allies have now for weeks been pushing a conspiracy theory that the Russian government is actively aiding Trump. This theory has been pushed ever since Wikileaks released nearly 20,000 emails from DNC officials.
In his letter, Reid goes on to imply the FBI investigate Roger Stone, without ever naming him. “It has come to my attention that last week, video evidence came to light of an individual with long ties to Donald Trump and his top campaign aides claiming to be in communication with WikiLeaks, the organization that posted online the 20,000 DNC documents illegally obtained by Russia,” Reid wrote. Stone has said before that he has communicated with Wikileaks founder Julian Assange.
Reid continued on to say, “The prospect of individuals tied to Trump, Wikileaks and the Russian government coordination to influence our election raises concerns of the utmost gravity and merits full examination.” The senate minority leader implies the FBI should investigate foreign policy adviser Carter Page, without naming Page. Reid points to a speech Page gave in Moscow in July.
“The Democrats would like to shift the question back to who was leaking,” Stone said to The Daily Caller. “If the emails and the other documents exposed to the American people show evidence of misdeeds and criminality that is the point.” He praised Assange as someone who is fighting “the deep state.” Stone called the letter a “publicity stunt” and added “there is no there there.”
Stone described himself as not being involved with the Trump campaign “formally or informally” and pointed to donations to the Clinton Foundation by Russian oligarchs.
