In Video, Stone Calls Trump America's Worst Mistake

Longtime adviser was heated at the time over lack of a pardon: Washington Post
By Newser Editors,  Newser Staff
Posted Mar 4, 2022 1:45 PM CST
In Video, Stone Calls Trump America's Worst Mistake
A 2019 photo of Roger Stone.   (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta, File)

Roger Stone is a longtime adviser to Donald Trump and is pushing hard for Trump to run again in 2024. But some documentary film footage reviewed by the Washington Post shows Stone laying into Trump in particularly harsh fashion. This came on the day of Joe Biden's inauguration, when Stone received word that Trump had rejected the idea of issuing preemptive pardons to Stone and others over their efforts to overturn the election:

  • In a phone call with a friend, Stone is heard calling Trump the “greatest single mistake in American history" and a "disgrace." He added that Trump "betrayed everybody."
  • Stone also said Trump made a mistake by not pardoning himself preemptively. “A good, long sentence in prison will give him a chance to think about it, because the Southern District is coming for him, and he did nothing." The reference is to federal prosecutors in Manhattan.

  • “Obviously if you use any of that, I’ll murder you,” Stone said to the Danish film crew recording him after the call ended. The footage is from A Storm Foretold, a yet-to-be-released documentary on Stone. He allowed the filmmakers close access for about two years.
  • The full Post story has more details from the film, including Stone's communications with members of far-right groups such as the Oath Keepers and Proud Boys ahead of the Jan. 6 riot.
  • Stone's response: “Any claim, assertion or implication that I knew about, was involved in or condoned the illegal acts at the Capitol on Jan 6 is categorically false and there is no witness or document that proves otherwise,” he tells the Post. Video clips could be "deep fakes," he added.
(More Roger Stone stories.)

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