US

Star Witness At Roger Stone Trial Says He Feels ‘Horrible’ About Guilty Verdict

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The government’s star witness in the trial against Roger Stone said he feels “horrible” that the longtime Trump confidant was convicted in federal court Friday.

“I hate to see the guy go to jail because of me,” Randy Credico told Yahoo! News’s Michael Isikoff moments after a jury in Washington, D.C., convicted Stone on seven separate felony charges.

“I feel horrible that this happened. This is not a day to rejoice.”

Credico, a left-wing radio host, testified earlier in November about his interactions with Stone during the 2016 presidential campaign, as well as in 2017 and 2018 regarding the House Intelligence Committee’s investigation into Russian meddling in the election.

Stone was convicted on five counts of making false statements to the House panel in September 2017. He was also convicted on an obstruction charge, and a witness tampering related to Credico.

Prosecutors said Stone threatened Credico to prevent him from cooperating with House investigators as well as the special counsel’s team.

They pointed to text messages that Stone sent Credico pressuring him to plead the Fifth in order to avoid testifying to Congress. Prosecutors also cited a text message that Stone sent Credico on April 9, 2018, in which he said he would “take that dog away from you” — a reference to Credico’s 12-year-old therapy dog, Bianca.

Credico testified that he did not perceive Stone’s remarks about his dog as a threat, and that he knew Stone as a “dog lover.”

“I know he wouldn’t have ever touched that dog. It was hyperbole by him,” Credico testified. He also said Stone was one many associates, including his attorneys, who urged him to plead the Fifth.

Credico disputed Stone’s claims that he was a back-channel to WikiLeaks. Stone told House investigators that Credico was his source for tips about WikiLeaks’ plans to release information damaging to the Clinton campaign.

Credico vehemently denied the claim, but Stone released text messages Nov. 14, 2018, that showed that Credico indicated he had insight into WikiLeaks’ plans.

“Hillary’s campaign will die this week,” he wrote Oct. 1, 2017, days before WikiLeaks began releasing emails stolen from Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta.

Two days later, Credico provided other insight into WikiLeaks’ activities and asked Stone to “please leave my name out of it.”

“Off the Record Hillary and her people are doing a full-court press they keep Assange from making the next dump,” he wrote, adding, “That’s all I can tell you on this line.”

Credico also told Stone that he knew of the plans because “I’m best friends with [Assange’s] lawyer and leave it at that and leave it alone.”

Credico testified Nov. 8 that he is best friends with Margaret Kunstler, who served as a lawyer for WikiLeaks.

Credico has been reluctant to speak publicly about his links to Kunstler. He told Isikoff, the Yahoo! reporter, on April 13, 2018, that he did not know any of Assange’s U.S.-based lawyers. Credico has also acknowledged in interviews that he fed Isikoff with “disinformation” for a book he co-wrote about the Russia collusion investigation with David Corn, of Mother Jones.

“I put together phony emails, gave it to them. I did all this stuff, and he’s going to put it in his book. I can’t wait,” Credico said of Isikoff in an interview Feb. 13, 2018.