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Trump advisers at heart of Russia probe celebrate Comey’s firing

“Somewhere Dick Nixon is smiling.”

CREDIT: AP Photo/Seth Wenig
CREDIT: AP Photo/Seth Wenig

Roger Stone, a longtime Trump adviser, admitted to communicating privately last summer with Guccifer 2.0, which the U.S. intelligence community says is an online persona of Russian hackers. He’s reported to be one of the numerous Trump advisers under investigation as part of a probe into Russian election meddling on Trump’s behalf.

Stone publicly celebrated Trump’s stunning decision to fire FBI Director James Comey.

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The former Nixon “dirty trickster” even invoked the name of President Nixon, who resigned from office amid an obstruction of justice scandal.

Moreover, according to Politico and CNN, Stone lobbied Trump to make the move.

One of Trump’s key defenses was knocked down during a Senate hearing on Monday, and CNN reported just after Comey’s firing that federal prosecutors have issued grand jury subpoenas as part of their probe.

“Several Stone allies and friends said Stone, who has been frequently mentioned in the investigation, encouraged the president to fire Comey in conversations in recent weeks,” Politico reports. “Stone declined to comment Tuesday night but said he was enjoying a fine cigar.”

Trump denied that Stone influenced his decision. Stone chimed in again as well:

Politico described the mood last night at Stone’s house in Florida as “elated.”

Another former Trump adviser under investigation as part of the Russia probe, former Trump foreign policy adviser Carter Page, also applauded the move.

While Stone was jubilant, Politico reports that “shock dominated much of the FBI and the White House.”

Politico’s report also links Trump’s decision to fire Comey to the Russia investigation, noting that the president “had grown enraged by the Russia investigation, two advisers said, frustrated by his inability to control the mushrooming narrative around Russia. He repeatedly asked aides why the Russia investigation wouldn’t disappear and demanded they speak out for him. He would sometimes scream at television clips about the probe, one adviser said.”