Washington Free Beacon editor in chief Matthew Continetti said Thursday on MSNBC that if there is a conduit between the Trump campaign and Russia, it would not be longtime Republican strategist Roger Stone.
After "Meet the Press Daily" host Chuck Todd interviewed Stone, Todd brought on the show's panel, where Continetti said others have closer ties to Russia than Stone.
"If somebody in Trump world were to be a conduit, who would be the first suspect?" Todd asked.
"I don't think it would be Roger," Continetti responded.
"He wouldn't be suspect one?" Todd asked.
"No, as he said in his interview with you, Gen. [Michael] Flynn sat at a table next to Vladimir Putin," Continetti said. "Paul Manafort worked in Ukraine for politicians connected to pro-Russia parties."
"This guy, Carter Page, whoever he is, no one seems to know who he is, he never met with Donald Trump, but yet we know that actually the Russian spy agencies cased him out, right?" Continetti explained. "And what did they conclude? Carter Page was too stupid to spy for Russia. So those would be the people, though, that you look at first before you got to Roger Stone."
When the panel discussed the U.S. military dropping the so-called "Mother of All Bombs" on Islamic State fighters in Afghanistan earlier that day, Continetti said a foreign policy red line for Trump supporters would be regime change in the Middle East.
"I think the red line for Trump's base is regime change, and that's what made Roger Stone nervous," Continetti said.