Capitol Police probing remarks allegedly made by Roger Stone calling for assassination of Democratic lawmakers
Mr Stone has denied making the remarks, and has called the recording of his alleged comments ‘poorly fabricated AI’
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.The Capitol Police are reportedly investigating alleged remarks made by Roger Stone calling for the assassination of a pair of Democratic lawmakers.
Mr Stone allegedly told a former NYPD police officer who worked for him, Sal Greco, that Congressmen Jerrold Nadler and Eric Swalwell needed to "die" before the 2020 election.
The conversation was captured in an audio recording, which Mediaite obtained and published last week.
“It’s time to do it,” Mr Stone allegedly says in the recording. “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. 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.”
Now, the Capitol Police and the FBI are investigating the remarks, Mediaite reported, citing an unnamed source.
The FBI does not confirm or deny any of its ongoing investigations, and the Capitol Police did not return a request for comment.
Both Mr Swalwell and Mr Nadler serve on the House Judiciary Committee. When the committee announced it would investigate Donald Trump's pardon for Mr Stone after the longtime political operative was convicted for lying to Congress during the Mueller investigation, Mr Stone allegedly called up Mr Greco for a sit-down.
Mr Stone denied the allegations, claiming that the recording was a "poorly fabricated AI-generated fraud all because I am loyal to [Mr Trump]".
He further denied the claims in a post on X/Twitter.
"I never spoke about assassinating anyone. Fake Mediaite can't produce the recording they claim to have and, contrary to their claim, Newsweek never contacted me for comment," Mr Stone said in response to a Newsweek story covering the alleged audio.
The Independent has reached out to Mr Stone for comment.
The source who provided Mediaite with the audio reportedly said Mr Stone's alleged remarks were not jokes.
Mr Swalwell offered a comment to Mediaite on the comments allegedly made by Mr Stone, saying that "this is what Trump and his real-life thugs do: they try to intimidate opponents and will always choose violence over voting".
He further said that threats made by Mr Trump and his allies "must be taken seriously" and that both parties needed to condemn the violent rhetoric.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments