George Conway, a conservative attorney and the husband of Counselor to the President Kellyanne Conway, this week said that President Donald Trump committed “perjury” by lying to former special counsel Robert Mueller under oath about WikiLeaks.
Former Trump campaign aide Rick Gates told a court on Tuesday that Trump did discuss WikiLeaks with Roger Stone during his 2016 presidential campaign despite the president claiming in sworn written answers to Mueller that he doesn’t remember doing so.
“I do not recall discussing WikiLeaks with him,” Trump wrote to Mueller’s team. “Nor do I recall being aware of Mr. Stone having discussed WikiLeaks with individuals associated with my campaign.”
“Trump denied in writing and under oath to Mueller any recollection of ever discussing WikiLeaks with Stone or being aware of Stone discussing WikiLeaks with the campaign,” national security lawyer Bradley P. Moss wrote on Twitter after Gates’ testimony. “Gates testified he was in the car with Trump when he Trump talked to Stone about it.”
In response, Conway, one of Trump’s loudest critics online, tweeted later on Tuesday: “Perjury.”
Newsweek reached out to the Trump administration for comment, but did not hear back in time for publication.
Gates’ testimony at Stone’s trial diverges from what Trump asserted last November, however, it currently remains uncertain whose account is more credible.
According to Gates, Trump said that “more information would be coming” from WikiLeaks, an international non-profit organization that publishes leaks and classified information provided by anonymous sources, immediately after finishing a phone call with Stone in July 2016.
Although Trump told Mueller that he does not recall discussing WikiLeaks with Stone, the president did admit that he “was aware that WikiLeaks was the subject of media reporting and campaign-related discussion at the time.”
Gates also told the U.S. District Court in Washington D.C. on Tuesday that members of the Trump 2016 presidential campaign regarded Stone as the person who had information about what WikiLeaks was expected to release. He also said that Paul Manafort, who formerly chaired the Trump campaign, disclosed to him that he planned on sharing with Trump any information he received from Stone.
“The only person that had information at that time, that I’m aware of, was Mr. Stone,” he said, when asked by a prosecutor to name those in the campaign that had knowledge related to WikiLeaks.
Gates, who in 2018 pleaded guilty to conspiracy and giving false statements to the FBI, has not yet been sentenced for his crimes. Manafort is currently serving a seven and a half year sentence.
