Roger Stone, an ally of former President Donald Trump, claimed this week that former Trump aide Katrina Pierson was "deeply involved" with the violence of the January 6 attack targeting the U.S. Capitol.
Posting to Telegram early Thursday morning, Stone appeared to suggest that Pierson deserved a great deal of blame for the pro-Trump attack against the legislative branch of government. Stone also seemed to be unaware that Pierson—like himself—has been subpoenaed by the House select committee investigating the January 6 attack.
"Given what I know, I am perplexed as to why the January 6 committee has not issued a subpoena to Katrina Pierson, in other words, someone deeply involved in the violent and unlawful acts of January 6, rather than me, given that I was not there and have no advance knowledge or involvement whatsoever in the events at the Capitol That day #Jan6Cmte," Stone wrote in a message to his Telegram channel subscribers.
Despite Stone's claim, Pierson has been subpoenaed by the House select committee. In total, as of Monday, some 40 individuals from Trump's orbit have been subpoenaed by the committee. Stone, a political consultant, was subpoenaed in the latest batch of five subpoenas issued this week.
Pierson served as a national spokesperson for Trump's 2016 presidential campaign. The longtime Trump ally was brought in to arrange with the White House who would share the stage with the then-president during the January 6 rally event just ahead of the Capitol attack. FEC records show that the Trump campaign paid Pierson $10,000 every two weeks for her work from September 2019 to December 2020, the Associated Press previously reported.
Trump's former White House adviser Omarosa Manigault-Newman previously suggested that the January 6 committee was "on the right track" by probing Pierson's involvement.
"Not only was Katrina one of the organizers, but she was behind the money, you know, and every scandal, it's 'always follow the money,'" Manigault-Newman told MSNBC in early October. "And because she was so involved with raising money and organizing the events, I believe the committee is right in subpoenaing her. She's going to have a lot of information, and she had a lot of insight on what they knew and when, and I truly believe because of Donald Trump's violent instincts that he knew that things would probably get out of hand," she said. "So yes, Katrina should be very concerned, and we'll see what happens, but the committee is on the right track."
Manigault-Newman departed from the White House dramatically in late 2017. She went on to publish a tell-all book and publicly released audio she recorded of internal administration conversations.
In an earlier post on Telegram, Stone also appeared to place suspicion on Trump's former White House strategist Steve Bannon. "I can't discuss the January 6 committee subpoena other than to say they seem very interested in the relationship between Steve Bannon and Jeffrey Epstein #StoneColdTruth," he wrote. Epstein was a disgraced American financier and convicted sex offender who died in a jail cell in 2019 in a death that was ruled a suicide by the medical examiner.
Hundreds of Trump's supporters attacked the U.S. Capitol on January 6 after the then-president spoke at a nearby rally by the White House. Trump urged his supporters to march to the Capitol and "fight like hell." Many of his supporters went on to do just that, disrupting the formal certification of President Joe Biden's Electoral College win.
Although Trump and his allies continue to claim that the November 2020 election was "rigged" or "stolen" in favor of Biden, they have not brought forward evidence substantiating this extraordinary allegation. Dozens of election challenge lawsuits have failed in state and federal courts. Even judges appointed by Trump and other Republicans have rejected the claims. Meanwhile, audits and recounts across the country have consistently reaffirmed Biden's victory.
Newsweek attempted to contact Stone through his website for further comment but did not immediately receive a response.
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
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Jason Lemon is a Weekend Editor at Newsweek based in Brooklyn, New York. Prior to taking on the editor role, Jason's reporting focused on ... Read more
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