Filed this morning after agents raided Stone's home in Fort Lauderdale, it not only clearly lays out how the political provocateur whom New Times reporter Jerry Iannelli once wrote has "the moral compass of a hyena" lied to Congress, but also includes text messages in which his own friends confirm that deceit and say he should have just come clean.
There are Godfather references, Mafia words like "stoolie," and a lot of the Trump campaign. The indictment refers to WikiLeaks as "Organization 1" and to two people with whom Stone regularly corresponded, Person 1 and Person 2 (who's been identified as comedian and radio host Randy Credico), about congressional hearings where he planned to lie.
It's a damning document. Here are some of the best bits and pieces:
1. In urging Credico to lie, he refers to The Godfather: Part II's Frankie Five Angels.
On multiple occasions, including on or about December 1, 2017, STONE told Person 2 that Person 2 should do a “Frank Pentangeli” before HPSCI in order to avoid contradicting STONE’s testimony. Frank Pentangeli is a character in the film The Godfather: Part II, which both STONE and Person 2 had discussed, who testifies before a congressional committee and in that testimony claims not to know critical information that he does in fact know.2. In what the feds say was an effort to prevent testimony from Credico, he uses more Mafia language.
On or about April 9, 2018, STONE wrote in an email to Person 2, “You are a rat. A stoolie. You backstab your friends-run your mouth my lawyers are dying [to] Rip you to shreds.” STONE also said he would “take that dog away from you,” referring to Person 2’s dog. On or about the same day, STONE wrote to Person 2, “I am so ready. Let’s get it on. Prepare to die [expletive].”3. To Credico, Stone is maybe a bit too open about urging avoidance of testimony.
If you testify you’re a fool. Because of Trump, I could never get away with a certain [sic] my Fifth Amendment rights but you can. I guarantee you are the one who gets indicted for perjury if you’re stupid enough to testify.4. Then there's the part that shows Stone was communicating closely with the Trump campaign.
STONE received an email from the high-ranking Trump Campaign official asking about the status of future releases by Organization 1. STONE answered that the head of Organization 1 had a “[s]erious security concern” but that Organization 1 would release “a load every week going forward.”5. And there is this small threat, with the expletive deleted in almost exactly the same way as was done in the Richard Nixon tapes. Remember President Nixon? He resigned.
On or about May 21, 2018, Person 2 wrote in an email to STONE, “You should have just been honest with the house Intel committee... you’ve opened yourself up to perjury charges like an idiot.” STONE responded, “You are so full of [expletive]. You got nothing. Keep running your mouth and I’ll file a bar complaint against your friend [the attorney who had the ability to contact the head of Organization 1].”
