Questions are again being asked about Roger Stone after members of the Oath Keepers militia that he used as security on January 6 were charged with sedition over the Capitol riots.
The Department of Justice has announced that 11 people from the far-right group have been charged over allegations they plotted to violently stop the certification of President Joe Biden's election victory.
Those charged with seditious conspiracy include the group's leader Stewart Rhodes as well as members Joshua James and Roberto Minuta.
James and Minuta are said to have provided security for Stone while he attended the election protests in Washington, D.C. on January 5 and 6, shortly before the attack on the U.S. Capitol. Minuta was seen next to Stone on the morning of January 6 outside a hotel in D.C.
Another Oath Keeper, Jessica Watkins, has also claimed she was in Washington on January 6 to provide security for Stone before allegedly storming the Capitol. However, she was not pictured with the longtime ally of Donald Trump.
Stone has denied any involvement in the Capitol attack and has not been charged with or accused of any crime.
However, since the 11 Oath Keepers are facing some of the most serious charges relating to the riot, speculation is growing that Stone will be roped into the criminal investigation.
Jennifer Rogers, a former federal prosecutor and CNN legal analyst, said the DoJ appeared to have Roger Stone "in their sights, again."
She tweeted: "And this time without someone in the White House willing to" pardon him.
The Twitter account for left-wing blog The Palmer Report posted: "It's overwhelmingly likely that one or more of these [Oath Keepers] will flip, which in turn will take down the people on the next rung up."
In a follow-up tweet, it added: "But if Roger Stone really is the next rung up from here, then his lifelong friend Donald Trump is the next and final rung up after that. We're much closer to the end of this probe than the beginning."
John Aravosis, an attorney and editor of AMERICAblog, posted on Twitter alleging that "Roger Stone was palling around with at least six" of the charged Oath Keepers within hours of the riots but had "never once helped pass information to Team Trump about the impending attack. Okay then."
According to a New York Times article in February, five members of the Oath Keepers who were seen providing security for Stone on January 6 were later arrested in connection with the attack.
Stone, who also has ties to the far-right Proud Boys , has admitted that he used Oath Keepers as protection in D.C. just before the January 6 attack but said in a statement online that he had seen "no evidence whatsoever of illegal activity by any members."
In an interview with conspiracy theorist Alex Jones in March, Stone said he didn't know any of the militia members who had provided protection for him "on an intimate basis."
Stone added: "My interactions with them were entirely professional, efficient. They were very polite, and they helped protect me because I could not move in any direction without security."
Stone's lawyer, Grant Smith, has been contacted for comment.
Uncommon Knowledge
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About the writer
Ewan Palmer is a Newsweek News Reporter based in London, U.K. His focus is reporting on US politics, domestic policy ... Read more
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