text: Photo: Courtesy of Twitter/AASchapiro 
   
   Trump adviser Roger Stone appeared on Infowars Monday to refute claims that he’d had inappropriate contact with Russian intelligence during the 2016 election. This wouldn’t necessarily be news (Stone has proclaimed his innocence before), except that he did it wearing this: 
   
   Roger Stone, live on Alex Jones, commenting on #ComeyHearing, dressed as a hot air ballon pilot. pic.twitter.com/b7gLpWBFwo — Avi Asher-Schapiro (@AASchapiro) March 20, 2017 
   
   Stone’s “Iris Apfel but wearing Samuel L. Jackson’s hat�? look comes just a few days after he was roasted on Twitter for his inauguration getup: 
   
   Perhaps this confusing new aesthetic can be coined “dirty trickster�? chic. ||||| Longtime GOP operative and Trump confidant Roger Stone on Tuesday doubled down on his assertion that he did not collude with Russia to meddle in the 2016 U.S. election. 
   
   “I have said that repeatedly and I say that again today,” Stone said in an interview on “CBS This Morning.” 
   
   Stone said he’s aware that he’s under investigation by the FBI, but that he has not spoken to the bureau. He said he is following the Senate Intelligence Committee’s request to preserve documents. 
   
   “I assume I have been under surveillance now for some time,” Stone said. “What probable cause there is, or what evidence that would dictate that, I don’t know.” 
   
   Stone’s name frequently popped up during a House Intelligence Committee hearing with FBI Director James Comey and NSA Director Admiral Mike Rogers that was focused on Russia’s interference in the election. He had been in contact with Guccifer 2.0, someone involved in hacked the Democratic National Committee during the 2016 race, though he says their exchange was “benign.” 
   
   “The inference that my now completely public exchange with a hacker Guccifer 2.0 -- who may or may not be a Russian agent -- somehow constitutes collusion is not true based either on the facts, on the actual text which I released or on the timing,” he told CBS. 
   
   U.S. officials have said they believe Guccifer 2.0 is linked to Russia. 
   
   Asked if President Trump should say he was wrong when he accused President Obama of ordering a wiretap of Trump Tower, Stone said, “No, actually, I don’t.” Comey said Tuesday neither the FBI nor the Justice Department has evidence to support that claim. 
   
   Stone said it’s “certainly possible” that Trump Tower was under surveillance. ||||| (CNN) In the final months of the 2016 campaign, longtime Donald Trump associate Roger Stone repeatedly discussed his backchannel communications with WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and claimed knowledge of forthcoming leaks from the group, a CNN KFile review of his public statements shows. 
   
   Stone's comments about WikiLeaks have come under increased scrutiny as the FBI and congressional committees investigate whether Trump associates were involved in Russian efforts to interfere in the 2016 election. 
   
   Stone has repeatedly and publicly denied that he had any contact with Russian officials during the campaign. Stone declined to answer questions from CNN for this story. After this story was published, WikiLeaks tweeted, "WikiLeaks & Assange have repeatedly confirmed that they have never communicated with Stone." 
   
   But Stone's many statements have fueled suspicions that figures in Trump's orbit played a role in releases of hacked emails from the Democratic National Committee and Hillary Clinton's campaign chairman, John Podesta. 
   
   On July 22 of last year, on the eve of the Democratic National Convention, WikiLeaks released nearly 20,000 internal DNC emails, which ultimately sparked the resignation of DNC chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz. 
   
   "Guccifer 2.0," the online persona US intelligence officials believe is a front for Russian intelligence, claimed responsibility for the hacks. 
   
   WikiLeaks began to serially release emails from Hillary Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta in October. The US intelligence community has attributed those hacks to Russian intelligence. 
   
   Stone began discussing WikiLeaks and Assange in August 2016. Stone told a local Republican Party group in Florida on August 10 that he had "communicated with Julian Assange." In an interview later in August, Stone suggested that Assange had material that included emails deleted by Clinton aides Huma Abedin and Cheryl Mills. At other times, Stone said the material released would be related to the Clinton Foundation. 
   
   On August 21, Stone tweeted that "it will soon the Podesta's time in the barrel." Stone claimed in an October 19 Breitbart post that he did not have advanced knowledge that Podesta's hacked emails would be leaked, claiming his tweet was about Podesta's business dealings. 
   
   In mid-September, Stone said on Boston Herald Radio that he expects, "Julian Assange and the Wikileaks people to drop a payload of new documents on a weekly basis fairly soon. And that of course will answer the question of exactly what was erased on that email server." 
   
   In late October, Stone told a local Florida television station he only knew of the material that would be released in "a broad sense" from a source who was a friend of Assange. 
   
   Here's a timeline of Stone's statements: 
   
   Stone tells a local Republican Party group in Florida "I've actually communicated with Julian Assange." 
   
   Stone says on the #MAGA podcast he believes Assange has emails deleted by Clinton aides Huma Abedin and Cheryl Mills. He adds that he knows he has them and they should be expected to drop in the next three months. 
   
   "In fact I know [Assange] has them," Stone said. "And I believe he will expose the American people to this information in the next 90 days." 
   
   Stone engages in direct messages with DNC hacker Guccifer 2.0, according to direct messages reported by the Washington Times and The Smoking Gun. Stone tells the hacker he was "delighted" Twitter reinstated his account. 
   
   Stone tells World Net Daily he communicated with Assange and forthcoming material will be related to the Clinton Foundation. 
   
   Stone tells radio host Alex Jones he has "backchannel communications" with Assange who has "political dynamite" on the Clintons. 
   
   Stone says in an interview on C-SPAN he's been in touch with Julian Assange "through an intermediary—somebody who is a mutual friend." WikiLeaks would later tweet in response to Stone's appearance, "We are happy to hear true information from everyone. But so far, we have not heard from Mr. Stone." 
   
   Stone says he is not "at liberty to discuss" information he received from Assange. Stone claims he was hacked after speaking with Assange. 
   
   Stone says on The Blaze radio that he had "communicated" with Assange through a "mutual acquaintance." 
   
   Stone tweets that "it will soon the Podesta's time in the barrel." Stone later says his tweet was about Podesta's business dealings. 
   
   Stone denies Guccifer 2.0 is connected to the Russians on local Maryland radio. 
   
   "The DNC leaks that nailed Deborah Wasserman Schultz in the heist against Bernie Sanders was not leaked by the Russians, it was leaked by Cruccifer [sic] 2, I should say hacked and leaked first by Cruccifer 2, well known hacker who is not in the employment of the Russians and then Wikileaks. So that whole claim is a canard." 
   
   In an interview with Breitbart Radio, Stone says, "I'm almost confident Mr. Assange has virtually every one of the emails that the Clinton henchwomen, Huma Abedin and Cheryl Mills, thought that they had deleted, and I suspect that he's going to drop them at strategic times in the run up to this race." 
   
   Stone says on local Florida radio of Assange and the Clinton Foundation, "Perhaps he has the smoking gun that will make this handcuff time." 
   
   Stone says on Boston Herald Radio that he expects Assange the WikiLeaks to "drop a payload of new documents on a weekly basis fairly soon. And that of course will answer the question of exactly what was erased on that email server." 
   
   Stone adds of Assange, "I am in touch with him through an intermediary." 
   
   Stone tweets, "Wednesday @HillaryClinton is done. #Wikileaks." 
   
   Stone tells a local Florida radio station that he has "a back-channel communication with Assange, because we have a good mutual friend." 
   
   "That friend travels back and forth from the United States to London and we talk. I had dinner with him last Monday," Stone said. 
   
   Stone writes on Breitbart: "I had no advance notice of WikiLeaks' hacking of Podesta's e-mails." 
   
   Stone says on local Florida television that he had no advanced knowledge of the forthcoming hack of Podesta's emails, but says he has a "backchannel contact" to Assange. 
   
   "We have a mutual friend," Stone says. 
   
   When asked about the content of the information shared, Stone said, "Broad information pertaining to the fact that Wikileaks has information pertaining to massive secret surveillance, war, oil, the U.S. election." 
   
   Stone says he only knew about emails being released "in the broad sense." He says he has never met or spoken to Assange and didn't pass any information about it to Trump. 
   
   Stone calls claims that he colluded with Assange "false" in a blog post and says he only knew of forthcoming material because, "Julian Assange of WikiLeaks on numerous occasions had signaled that he had unspecified political dynamite that would shake up the presidential race." 
   
   Stone explains his WikiLeaks contacts in a Reddit ask me anything. 
   
   "I have been forthright about the fact that Julian Assange of Wikileaks and I share a common friend who has communicated with both of us," he writes. "I was simply told Wikileaks was in possession of 'political dynamite' that would 'rock Hillary's campaign,' and they would release it in late October." 
   
   "I had no previous knowledge of the subject of the disclosures, although I've speculated that it would be related to the Clinton Foundation. I've had no advance knowledge of the hacking of Podesta or anyone else. Nor do I believe that Assange is an agent of the Russians, a charge which is yet undocumented with proof and which he denies." 
   
   Stone tweets -- then deletes -- about communicating with Assange, writing that he "never denied perfectly legal backchannel to Assange who indeed had the goods on #CrookedHillary." 
   
   Stone says charges he colluded with Russian hacker Guccifer are "demonstrably false." 
   
   Stone tweets in response to the House Intelligence Committee hearing on Russian interference in the 2016 election: "It's only fair that I have a chance to respond 2 any smears or half truths about alleged "Collusion with Russians" from 2day's Intel Hearing." ||||| Tweet with a location 
   
   You can add location information to your Tweets, such as your city or precise location, from the web and via third-party applications. You always have the option to delete your Tweet location history. Learn more ||||| Tweet with a location 
   
   You can add location information to your Tweets, such as your city or precise location, from the web and via third-party applications. You always have the option to delete your Tweet location history. Learn more ||||| Story highlights Stone said it's "naive" to think the intelligence community isn't politicized 
   
   Stone has long assumed that he's under surveillance 
   
   (CNN) A longtime Donald Trump associate who has became a recurring topic in conversations about the relationship between the Trump campaign and Russian officials said that the US intelligence community has become "politicized." 
   
   Political adviser Roger Stone was asked Tuesday if he thought Americans should stop trusting recommendations from the intelligence community. 
   
   "To think that our intelligence community has not been politicized would be naive," he said on CBS "This Morning." 
   
   Stone said he does not think Trump should apologize or admit that he was wrong for making unsubstantiated claims that former President Barack Obama wiretapped Trump Tower during the presidential election. FBI Director James Comey said Monday he had "no information" to support the President's accusations. 
   
   "The people you are referring to are the same people that said there were weapons of mass destruction and (Saddam) Hussein had them, who lied about rendition, who lied about torture at Abu Ghraib," Stone said. 
   
   Read More ||||| Roget Stone doubled down on the White House's claims that Obama wiretapped Trump Tower. | Getty Roger Stone: I haven’t talked to the FBI 
   
   Roger Stone, the longtime Republican strategist and confidant of President Donald Trump, doubled down on claims that former President Barack Obama had wiretapped Trump Tower, and said that he had not spoken to the FBI as part of an investigation into communications between Trump allies and Russians during the campaign. 
   
   In an appearance on CBS This Morning on Tuesday, Stone said he assumed he was under investigation, based on news reports. 
   
   Story Continued Below 
   
   “I have assumed that, because page one of the New York Times on Jan. 20 said that wiretapped information on Trump aides was being used in an inquiry,” Stone said, after being asked by CBS This Morning host Charlie Rose whether he was aware that was under investigation. “I assumed that I had been under surveillance now for some time. What probable cause there is or what evidence that would dictate that, I don’t know.” 
   
   Stone confirmed that the U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee had sent him a letter asking him to preserve documents in the case of an investigation. 
   
   Stone also dug in on the White House’s claims that Obama had wiretapped Trump Tower, even as FBI director James Comey shot down the allegations at a Senate hearing Monday. He suggested that Comey and the FBI “are the same people who said there were weapons of mass destruction,” and made claims about “the deep state.” 
   
   When asked directly whether he believed Trump Tower was under surveillance and was wiretapped at all, Stone said he thought it was “certainly possible.” 
   
   Stone, who has repeatedly denied contacts with Russians aiming to influence the presidential election, defended his communications with the hacker Guccifer 2.0. He suggested that his conversations with the hacker was linked to a story he wrote for Breitbart News, and characterized his conversations as “entirely benign.” Stone had previously bragged about having been in communication with WikiLeaks and its founder Julian Assange (something WikiLeaks and Assange have denied), and he suggested that Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta would “soon be in the barrel” prior to WikiLeaks’ publication of Podesta’s emails. 
   
   Stone asserted that he had not had any contact with Russians nor had he been involved in trying to tamper with the election, and he defended former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort and former national security adviser Michael Flynn. He declined defending the Trump campaign’s former foreign policy adviser Carter Page, who Trump advisers have denied was involved in the campaign, saying only that he “never heard of this guy.” 
   
   “When people say, when there’s smoke, there’s fire, in this particular case, you say what?” co-host Gayle King asked Stone. 
   
   “Let me have my day in court,” Stone said.
target: – With Monday's news the FBI is investigating the Trump campaign, it's a good time to get the know the man who stands a good chance of being at the center of the investigation. Roger Stone, a Republican strategist who's championed a Trump presidency for three decades, has been accused of colluding with Russian agents to make that happen. Here's what you need to know: To start with, the New York Times has a profile of the man who calls himself a "dirty trickster," has a massive Nixon back tattoo, claims he's survived a recent assassination attempt, and says he's playing a character. CBS News reports Stone denies any sort of collusion with Russia regarding the 2016 election. And Stone says he hasn't spoken to the FBI as part of its investigation into communication between Trump camp and Russians, though he's long assumed he himself has been under investigation, according to Politico. Heavy has a list of five facts about Stone, including that he acknowledges being in communication with Gufficer 2.0, the hacker who took credit for data breaches within the DNC ahead of the election. Stone also claims to have a direct line of communication with Julian Assange and has repeatedly said he knows about WikiLeaks releases before they happen, CNN reports. Also according to CNN, Stone accuses the US intelligence community of being "politicized" and says Americans shouldn't trust it, especially when it claims there's no evidence Barack Obama wiretapped Trump Tower. Finally, New York wonders what's up with Stone's bizarre sartorial choices—such as this outfit, or this one—that have been keeping Twitter busy in recent days.