Roger Stone Makes Bold Move in Testimony to January 6th Committee
With the select committee investigating January 6th employing a wild and scattered approach to their probe, there will surely be a similarly varied response from their targets as well.
For many within former President Trump’s inner circle, there are concerns that the committee could be attempting to entrap them by forcing testimony from them ahead of a proper adjudication of the issue of executive privilege as it pertains to communications with Trump himself. The committee has falsely equated these precautions with insubordination, and subsequently issued referrals for contempt charges for a number of Trump confidantes.
Roger Stone isn’t falling for it, however.
Controversial political operative Roger Stone appeared Friday before the Democratic-led House Select Committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, saying he would assert his Fifth Amendment rights in questioning before the panel.
“I don’t like to see the criminalization of constitutionally protected political activity,” Stone said as he left the U.S. Capitol after pleading the Fifth. “I think it’s a slippery slope.”
And then, calling out the complex ensnaring of their political opponents directly…
“I will invoke my 5th Amendment right not to answer their loaded questions- not because I have done anything wrong–but because I recognize the whole thing as an elaborate trap,” Stone said in the statement.
Advertisement - story continues belowStone, through his attorney, had already said he would comply with the subpoena and respond to each question from the committee by asserting the Fifth Amendment.
While pleading the 5th does carry some untoward connotations, it is preferable both to a charge of contempt, and to the legal trouble that could arise from providing testimony that is later deemed inappropriate due to executive privilege.
