WASHINGTON – The Justice Department is examining communications between right-wing extremists who violated the Capitol and Roger J. Stone Jr., a close associate of former President Donald J. Trump, to determine whether Stone played any role in the extremists’ plans to interrupt President Biden’s election victory certification, a person familiar with the matter said on Saturday.
If investigators find messages showing that Mr. Stone knew or participated in these plans, they would have a factual basis to open a full criminal investigation against him, according to the person, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing investigation. While that is far from certain, the person said, prosecutors in the United States attorney general’s office in Washington are likely to do so if they find that connection.
Stone, who calls himself a Trump fixer, escaped a 40-month prison sentence when the former president commuted his sentence in July and pardoned him in late December. Stone was convicted of seven criminal charges, which included obstructing a House inquiry into possible links between the Trump campaign and Russia’s efforts to interfere in the 2016 elections, lying to Congress and tampering with witnesses. But that forgiveness does not protect Mr. Stone from future prosecutions.
Justice Department officials debated for weeks whether to open a full investigation into Stone, the person said. Although Stone spoke at an incendiary rally the day before the attack, with right-wing extremists acting as his bodyguards and staying outside the Capitol, these actions in themselves are not crimes.
But the FBI also has videos and other information that suggests that in the days leading up to and including the day of the attack, Stone partnered with men who eventually broke into the building and broke the law, said a person familiar with the investigation. This gave investigators a window to examine communications and see if Stone knew of any plans to breach the complex.
The Washington Post previously reported that the Justice Department was examining Stone’s possible ties to right-wing extremists on Capitol Hill.
The New York Times identified at least six members of the Oath Keepers, a far-right extremist group founded by ex-military and police, who protected Stone and were later seen inside the Capitol after a pro-Trump crowd took over building . Prosecutors accused two of these men of conspiracy to attack Congress.
A Justice Department spokesman declined to comment. Mr. Stone did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In a statement published online this month, Stone denied any role in the “lawless attack” and said Oath Keepers members “should be prosecuted” if there was evidence that they broke the law. He added that he “saw no evidence of illegal activity on the part of any member” of the group.
The day after the attack on the Capitol, Michael Sherwin, the United States attorney in Washington, told reporters he would not dismiss the charges against Trump or his associates for their possible role in inciting or encouraging the crowd.
“We are looking at all the actors, not just the people who entered the building,” said Sherwin. Asked whether such targets would include Trump, who urged his supporters during a rally near the White House on January 6, telling them that they could never “recover our country with weakness”, Sherwin maintained his statement. “We are looking at all the actors,” he said. “If the evidence fits the elements of a crime, it will be prosecuted.”
Another member of Sherwin’s office seemed to ignore these comments shortly afterwards, suggesting that people in Trump’s orbit were unlikely to be investigated. But Sherwin later said that he kept his original statement.