“He Expected Indictments to Start Rolling In,” Man Who Booked Roger Stone to Speak at Oregon GOP’s Biggest Conference Last Year Says

A year ago, right-wing political operative and provocateur Roger Stone was preparing to give a keynote address at Oregon's longest-standing conservative event, the Dorchester Conference.

Related: Republican Conference Paying Right-Wing Provocateur Roger Stone a Pretty Penny To Speak in Oregon

Today, Stone was indicted by the FBI in special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia probe for allegedly attempting to get information about hacked Democratic emails from WikiLeaks to aid Donald Trump's bid for the presidency.

In a phone conversation with WW, Patrick Sheehan, a Dorchester Board member and the person responsible for booking Stone to speak last year, says that after the conference, Stone predicted Mueller would be "after blood."

"I had a cigar with Roger after the conference," Sheehan says, "and he said he expected the indictments to start rolling in. I don't know if he mentioned WikiLeaks specifically, but he said they were definitely after blood and they would get procedural things."

Stone was charged today with making false statements, witness tampering and obstruction of an official proceeding.

Sheehan says Stone's alleged contact with WikiLeaks "seems like normal campaign stuff."

"I'm really happy we had him last year," Sheehan says. "We wouldn't have been able to this year."

James Buchal, Multnomah County GOP chairman, says that he doesn't worry much about Stone's indictment hurting the Republican party's image.

As an early supporter of Trump, Buchal says Stone seemed "uniquely qualified" to speak at the conference last year.

"Republicans stand for the rule of law," he says, "and if the facts are as alleged in the indictment, then Mr. Mueller has caught Mr. Stone fair and square lying to Congress and trying to cover up his involvement in exposing the misdeeds of Democrats."

Molly Woon, a spokesperson for the Oregon Democratic Party, says last year her party found Dorchester's decision to book Stone "outrageous and offensive."

"Today, we see further evidence of alleged unsavory behavior," Woon says. "I wish I could say I was surprised, but I'm not. Hopefully Dorchester can do a better job this year of booking someone who's not in middle of the biggest political scandal of my lifetime."