Hot mic captured Gaetz assuring Stone of pardon, discussing Mueller redactions

[Eugene]

Source: Washington Post

Hot mic captured Gaetz assuring Stone of pardon, discussing Mueller redactions

Congressman told longtime Trump adviser on eve of 2019 trial that he would not ‘do a day’ in prison

By Jon Swaine and Dalton Bennett
July 30, 2022 at 9:02 a.m. EDT

As Roger Stone prepared to stand trial in 2019, complaining he was under pressure from federal prosecutors to incriminate Donald Trump, a close ally of the president repeatedly assured Stone that “the boss” would likely grant him clemency if he were convicted, a recording shows.

At an event at a Trump property that October, Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) predicted that Stone would be found guilty at his trial in Washington the following month but would not “do a day” in prison. Gaetz was apparently unaware they were being recorded by documentary filmmakers following Stone, who special counsel Robert S. Mueller III had charged with obstruction of a congressional investigation.

“The boss still has a very favorable view of you,” said Gaetz, stressing that the president had “said it directly.” He also said, “I don’t think the big guy can let you go down for this.”

Gaetz at one point told Stone he was working on getting him a pardon but was hesitant to say more backstage at the event, in which speakers were being filmed for online broadcast. “Since there are many, many recording devices around right now, I do not feel in a position to speak freely about the work I’ve already done on that subject,” Gaetz said.

-snip-

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/2022/07/30/roger-stone-matt-gaetz-pardon-mueller/

Non-paywalled link: https://wapo.st/3vqM5bW

[tblue37]

1. Gaetz is a member of the House Judiciary Committee, which was investigating Trump's

dangling of pardons to obstruct justice.

Gaetz is a member of the House Judiciary Committee. At the time of the conversation, the committee was investigating whether Trump might have obstructed justice by floating possible pardons to Stone and other allies who were swept up in Mueller’s investigation of Russia’s interference in the 2016 election.

[Joinfortmill]

2. Gaetz is slime. I hope he ends up in the slammer.

[LessAspin]

3. Blackmail

Of course Stone was never really worried about that...

Link to tweet

[Bev54]

4. Thank you so much for getting us around the paywall to listen and read!!

[calimary]

5. WHEN are these assholes going to be held accountable?

That’s all I want to know at this point.

They’re walking free, freely associating and wheeling ‘n’ dealing, they’re sitting pretty in their influential jobs, they’re living the high life thanks to the generous donors they keep out of trouble…

WHEN are they going to be held accountable???????

[oldsoftie]

6. Hey! We just found out who "the big guy" is!