Though the audio suggests otherwise, Mr. Stone said he did not use a slur in referring to his interviewer, who is Black. He also contended that the word was not offensive.
Roger Stone, the political operative who was spared a prison sentence this month by his friend President Trump, denied on Sunday that he had uttered a racial slur on a radio show the night before, calling the accusation a “smear” while also contending the word was not offensive.
During a live interview on “The Mo’Kelly Show” on Saturday night, the host, Morris W. O’Kelly, who is Black, questioned the role that Mr. Stone’s relationship and proximity to the president played in the commutation of his sentence.
Mr. O’Kelly said: “There are thousands of people treated unfairly daily. How your number just happened to come up in the lottery — I am guessing it was more than just luck, Roger, right?”
Mr. Stone, who was speaking by phone, responded by muttering words that sounded like “arguing with this Negro”; the beginning of his sentence was hard to hear. It sounded as if Mr. Stone was not speaking directly into the phone, but rather to himself or to someone in the room with him. Continue reading.
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) suggested Sunday that former special counsel Robert S. Mueller III may be invited to testify before his panel, although Graham did not give any details on the timing of any potential invitation.