Speaker Nancy Pelosi
Nancy PelosiMerriam-Webster's partisanship is showing – again – with its latest definition GOP leader taking proxy voting fight to Supreme Court Majority in new poll backs Manchin 'pause' on .5T spending plan MORE (D-Calif.) said Friday that the arrest of Roger Stone
Roger Jason StoneLawyer for 17 Jan. 6 defendants says he's been released from hospital Democrats' Jan. 6 subpoena-palooza sets dangerous precedent The Hill's Morning Report - Presented by Facebook - Afghanistan chaos now a deadly crisis as US troops perish MORE, a longtime informal adviser to President Trump
Donald TrumpThe Memo: Biden comes out punching on COVID-19 Ex-Kansas state rep charged with fraud of more than 0K in COVID-19 relief money Medicare trustees sound alarm, but progressives press ahead with irresponsible Medicare expansion MORE, "makes clear that there was a deliberate, coordinated attempt by top Trump campaign officials to influence the 2016 election."
Stone was indicted late Thursday on seven charges, including false statements to Congress, obstruction of a congressional investigation and witness tampering in connection with special counsel Robert Mueller
Robert (Bob) MuellerSenate Democrats urge Garland not to fight court order to release Trump obstruction memo Why a special counsel is guaranteed if Biden chooses Yates, Cuomo or Jones as AG Barr taps attorney investigating Russia probe origins as special counsel MORE’s probe into Russia's election interference.
Pelosi responded to the indictment in a statement released late Friday that raised questions about Trump's ties to Russia and vowed to hold those who lie to Congress "accountable."
"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?” Pelosi said in the statement.
“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. We cannot allow any effort to intimidate witnesses or prevent them from appearing before Congress," she continued. “The Special Counsel investigation is working, and the House will continue to exercise our constitutional oversight responsibility and ensure that the Special Counsel investigation can continue free from interference from the White House.”
Pelosi released the statement hours after Trump agreed to a bipartisan deal to fully reopen the federal government without securing funding for his proposed border wall, which had been the main sticking point in negotiations since the partial shutdown began Dec. 22.
Trump had been locked in a stalemate with Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer
Chuck SchumerRetail group backs minimum corporate tax, increased IRS enforcement House Democrats outline plan for transition to clean electricity Capitol Police warning of potential for violence during rally backing rioters: report MORE (D-N.Y.) for weeks over his demand for more than $5 billion in border wall funding. The budgetary impasse saw heightened tensions between Trump and Pelosi, with the pair wrangling over the timing of Trump delivering his State of the Union address and other issues.
Her statement Friday is not the first time Pelosi has raised questions about Trump's ties to Russia and the country's president, Vladimir Putin. On multiple occasions since the start of the Russia investigation, Pelosi has suggested that Putin "has something" on Trump.
Stone is the sixth associate of Trump to be charged in connection with Mueller's sprawling probe into Russia's election interference and potential coordination between the Trump campaign and Moscow.
The longtime Republican strategist and former Trump campaign adviser has denied all of the charges.
