Donald Trump associate Roger Stone to testify before House Intelligence Committee

Roger Stone, a long-time adviser to U.S. President Donald Trump, will appear before the House Intelligence Committee on July 24, reports say.

Stone’s lawyer, Robert Buschel, told Politico on Tuesday that Stone asked for a public hearing, but that the GOP-led committee was “done with public.”

In a statement to the Associated Press, Buschel said the political operative has been “much-maligned by innuendo and misinformation” regarding the investigations into possible collusion between Trump’s campaign and Russia. Buschel said Stone looks forward to providing “a timeline based only on the facts.”

For his part, Stone said he wanted to testify to counter John Podesta’s testimony from earlier in the day.

Podesta, Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign adviser, spoke with members of the House Intelligence Committee behind closed doors Tuesday. He told reporters afterward that he was “happy to co-operate” but couldn’t say what questions he’d been asked or detail his answers.

One of the focus’ of the committee’s investigation is the hacking of Podesta’s personal email account. Wikileaks released thousands of his emails near the end of the 2016 campaign.

“With John Podesta appearing before the committee I do feel it is essential that I have the opportunity to rebut his serial lies,” Stone told Politico. “I may not be able to sue a member of Congress but I sure as hell can sue the f*** out of Podesta.

“The claim that I had knowledge of the hacking of his email by WikiLeaks in advance is a demonstrable lie.”

Stone split with Trump’s campaign back in 2015, but warned the public about an October surprise about Hillary Clinton before Podesta’s emails were leaked, suggesting he had forewarning.

Stone has denied co-ordinating with Russia during the 2016 election, but he has acknowledged having a Twitter exchange with “Guccifer 2.0,” a hacker that U.S. officials believe has ties to Russia.

Stone said he was “unaware at the time of the brief exchange of allegations that the hacker in question is suspected of being a Russian asset.”

0:49 Stephen Colbert says he was followed by intelligence agents in Russia

With files from the Associated Press