UPDATE, Jan. 18, 2024: This article was updated to include Stone’s comments to The Western Journal.
Republican political operative Roger Stone may be in hot water.
According to a report from Mediaite, Stone — an ally and confidante of former President Donald Trump — is under investigation by the Capitol Police over comments he made concerning the assassination of two Democratic members of Congress.
Last week, the media outlet published what it said was audio of Stone talking to former New York police officer Sal Greco about Democratic Reps. Jerry Nadler of New York and Eric Swalwell of California ahead of the 2020 presidential election.
“It’s time to do it,” Stone is heard telling Greco, according to Mediaite. “Let’s go find Swalwell. It’s time to do it. Then we’ll see how brave the rest of them are. It’s time to do it.”
“It’s either Swalwell or Nadler has to die before the election,” he continued. “They need to get the message. Let’s go find Swalwell and get this over with. I’m just not putting up with this s*** anymore.”
The Capitol Police and FBI refused to comment on whether they were investigating the matter, but Mediaite cited sources it said confirmed the investigation was underway.
Swalwell, meanwhile, told Mediaite that the recordings may “seem like the ravings of a wannabe gangster” but instead were designed to intimidate him and his colleagues.
“This is what Trump and his real-life thugs do: They try to intimidate opponents and will always choose violence over voting,” the Democrat said.
Is the federal government being weaponized?
“Because I’m one of Trump’s loudest critics, Stone put a hit out on me,” he continued. “This threat, and other threats of violence by Trump and his supporters, must be taken seriously by not only law enforcement but also by my colleagues.”
“Both parties, not just Democrats, must condemn this violence. Unity will always be the best antidote against further violence.”
Stone has denied any wrongdoing and said the remarks were “fake AI generated audio.”
.@Mediaite MSNBC and CNN lie about fake AI generated audio in which they allege I threatened Democrats- it’s a fugazi !! https://t.co/PlyZb9KxLM
— Roger Stone (@RogerJStoneJr) January 17, 2024
He also addressed the claims in an interview with The Western Journal on Thursday.
“I never said it,” Stone said. “I never said the things attributed to me. This was allegedly, by the way, four years ago. And it’s just the latest witch hunt.
“What’s disturbing, but not surprising, is how all of the fake news media — the same people who insisted the Steele dossier was real when it wasn’t, the same people who insisted that Hunter Biden’s laptop had all the hallmarks of Russian disinformation and wasn’t real when it was, the same people who insisted that the COVID-19 vaccination was safe and effective, the same people who insisted Trump was guilty of treason in the Ukrainian matter — now insist, without any response from me, that I threatened two Democratic congressman, which I most definitely did not do.”
The 71-year-old political operative has been an influential figure within the Republican Party for decades.
His fame was solidified by the 2017 Netflix documentary “Get Me Roger Stone,” which followed his career working with Richard Nixon all the way through to Donald Trump.
In July 2020, Trump commuted Stone’s prison sentence just days before he was due to report to jail following his conviction for lying to Congress, witness tampering and obstruction of justice in relation to the Russia collusion hoax.
Trump later issued a full pardon to Stone weeks before leaving office, citing “prosecutorial misconduct by Special Counsel Mueller’s team” and “political bias at his jury trial.”
