NEW YORK _ Longtime Trump adviser Roger Stone privately inquired about damaging information on Hillary Clinton from WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange before the 2016 election, raising questions about the candor of congressional testimony Stone gave last year, according to unearthed emails.
Stone asked New York radio host Randy Credico in a Sept. 18, 2016, email if he could reach out to Assange regarding "any" State Department emails pertaining to a failed 2011 Libyan peace deal, which Clinton has been widely blamed for derailing while serving as secretary of state.
"Please ask Assange for any State or HRC e-mail from August 10 to August 30 _ particularly on August 20, 2011," Stone wrote in the email, which was first reported by The Wall Street Journal on Thursday and independently verified by the New York Daily News.
Credico, who is known for serving as an intermediary between Stone and Assange during the campaign, responded that whatever emails the WikiLeaks founder had obtained were published on the anti-secrecy organization's website.
"Why do we assume WikiLeaks has released everything they have???" Stone wrote back.
Credico replied he suspected those emails would be released in "the next drop," adding he can't ask Assange for "favors every other day."
The exchange appears to contradict testimony Stone gave to the House Intelligence Committee in September, during which he said he had "merely wanted confirmation" from Credico that Assange had information on Clinton.
Stone, 65, said Wednesday he never received any emails from Credico or WikiLeaks following the exchange.
In light of the Journal report, Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., the House Intelligence Committee's ranking member, accused Stone of "deliberately" leaving his Sept. 18, 2016, exchange with Credico out of a batch of documents and emails submitted to the committee.
Stone denounced Schiff's claim, saying he didn't include the email exchange because it fell outside the "scope" of the committee's document request.
"Any claim to the contrary by the congressman from California is bullschiff," Stone said in a text message to the Daily News.
Stone and his lawyer, Grant Smith, declined to elaborate on why the email exchange with Credico fell outside the scope of the document request, citing confidentiality concerns.
The email revelations come as investigators working for special counsel Robert Mueller have shown signs they are interested in Stone's role in President Donald Trump's campaign.
The investigators, who are probing possible collusion between the campaign and the Russian government, have asked increasingly about Stone's contacts with WikiLeaks and other Kremlin-connected organizations, according to people familiar with the matter. One source recently told the Daily News that Mueller is "completely" focused on Stone.
U.S. intelligence agencies say hackers working for the Russian government gave thousands of stolen Clinton emails to WikiLeaks. The anti-secrecy organization subsequently published those emails shortly before the 2016 election, causing repeated embarrassments for the Clinton campaign, according to investigators.
Stone has not been interviewed by the Mueller team, but many of his associates have, including former Trump campaign aides Sam Nunberg and Michael Caputo.
Caputo downplayed the email exchange with Credico, saying it simply showcases Stone's hyperbolic way of speaking.
"Roger exaggerates and bluffs for politics," Caputo told the Daily News on Thursday afternoon. "He's been doing that for 40 years and that is news to no one except for the Mueller investigation."
