Over the weekend, the longtime Trump confidant tweeted that he had a \"back channel\" to WikiLeaks during the presidential campaign -- only to later delete it.<\/p>\n
\"[N]ever denied perfectly legal back channel to Assange who indeed had the goods on #CrookedHillary,\" Stone tweeted late Saturday night. The post was gone after almost 40 minutes.<\/p>\n
Last weekend's Twitter flare-up raised questions anew about Stone, who worked for the Trump campaign in 2015 and claims to have a connection to WikiLeaks and its leader, Julian Assange.<\/p>\n
WikiLeaks took to Twitter, saying it was unaware of communications between Stone and the organization or Assange. <\/p>\n
Stone said on Twitter more than a week later that it would soon be Hillary Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta's \"time in the barrel.\" <\/p>\n
The message proved prescient. In early October, WikiLeaks began posting Podesta's emails online for public consumption. <\/p>\n
WikiLeaks has denied that Russia was the source for its disclosures, and the Russian government has emphatically denied any connection with the theft as well. <\/p>\n
\"I do have a back-channel communication with Assange because we have a good mutual friend,\" he said in the October interview. <\/p>\n
Throughout these media appearances, Stone has also categorically denied any contact with Russia besides an affinity for its alcoholic beverages. <\/p>\n
And from the margins, Stone cheered on his friend and insulted his critics. <\/p>\n
With that nod toward victory, Stone has continued what he's done all along: making profane statements attacking his political opponents, stirring up fights and defending his longtime friend -- who now occupies the Oval Office. <\/p>\n
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