Stone refuses Senate document request by pleading the Fifth

Dec. 4 (UPI) -- Roger Stone, a political ally of President Donald Trump, declined to share documents or testify before Senate judiciary committee members by invoking his Fifth Amendment protection, a letter from his attorney released Tuesday indicated.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the committee's ranking Democrat, released the letter dated Dec. 3 by Grant Smith.

The senator from California sought information from Stone about any links between Trump and Russia. Feinstein can't subpoena Stone to testify before lawmakers or deliver documents. Judiciary committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, can compel him to cooperate, though.

"This reply in response to the request by you, is written with the utmost respect for the committee and its staff," Smith wrote. "Mr. Stone's invocation of his Fifth Amendment privilege must be understood by all to be the assertion of a Constitutional right by an innocent citizen who denounces secrecy."

The attorney said responding "to the unreasonable broad scope of the imprecise, fishing expedition, request would unquestionably be a testimonial act protected by the U.S. Constitution. The United States Supreme Court has held that the production of documents is subject to Fifth Amendment protection."

Stone is concurrently being investigated in special counsel Robert Mueller's probe into alleged Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election and possible collusion with the Trump campaign.

Allegations include Stone had knowledge of WikiLeaks' plans to dump Hillary Clinton campaign emails in October 2016.

Stone denied he had advance knowledge about the information despite tweets foreshadowing the contents of the emails. He said they were educated guesses and indirect information from an intermediary with WikiLeaks.

In his letter, Smith wrote his client wants to disclose information in public rather than like the closed-door testimony he gave before the House Intelligence Committee last year. Smith also noted a transcript of that testimony is expected to be released.

Stone believes the Senate Democratic minority "leaks too much," another of his attorneys, Robert Buschel, told Politico.

"The decision by the House Intelligence Committee to proceed in private lent itself to a number of inaccurate leaks and speculation which disserved both my client and the public interest," Smith wrote.

Trump has praised Stone for declining to cooperate with Mueller.

The president tweeted Monday that Stone will "not be forced by a rogue and out of control prosecutor to make up lies and stories about 'President Trump.' Nice to know that some people still have 'guts!' "