Thread by @GonzoNewsNinja

Good Morning 🌞

We're back in federal court to tweet updates from Day 4 of Roger Stone's trial.

(Jury selection was Monday, today is 3rd day of evidence presented in the case.)

Stone is charged with making false statements to Congress, obstructing, & threatening a witness.

Today we'll hear part 2 of testimony from Randy Credico, the federal witness Roger Stone is accused of threatening. Stone allegedly threatened Credico with statements such as "prepare to die" and threatened to kidnap his service dog, Bianca.

Stone is wearing a gray suit jacket with a blue tie and a blue and white striped shirt. He's reading through documents.

The Judge opens the day's #StoneTrial proceedings by speaking sternly about "uniformed...and unfortunately false" reports about members of the jury that"puts safety of all those associated with this case....including possibly the jurors...at risk."

This is quite clearly a reference to Alex Jones of InfoWars, who has been threatening to identify and harass jurors in the #StoneTrial.

InfoWars is Roger Stone's former employer and also closely tied to Jerome Corsi, another key figure in the #StoneTrial & Russiagate intrigue.

Alex Jones and InfoWars have also heavily promoted the Proud Boys, the violent alt-right street gang that Roger Stone has been initiated into.

Proud Boys founder Gavin McInnes has been present in the gallery throughout the #StoneTrial.

Judge swears jurors in and reminds them there's no court on Monday due to a federal holiday. Randy Credico's testimony that began yesterday is resuming now.

#StoneTrial

Randy Credico is being asked about his Jan 16, 2017 email to Roger Stone's 'players02@hotmail' email address.

Credico says he was paid "around $1000 or $2000, I don't remember" to create promotional 'taglines' for Stone.

Credico denies saying that he was Roger Stone's "backchannel." He is also asked about an email with Margot Kunstler and claims Stone was trying to use his contact with Kunstler as a "lynchpin" in Stone's cover story.

Asked about why he was concerned about this, Credico pauses to take his glasses off and stroke his hair. He is silent for about ten seconds.

"I didn't want to drag her name through this...she didn't like the fanfare... I wanted to keep her out of it" -Credico on Kunstler

Credico asked by the govt about an Oct 17 2017 email to himself from Roger Stone in which Stone says he feels "reluctance to identify his source," referring to Credico.

Credico answers, "a little maybe", when asked if that assurance from Stone made him feel any better.

Credico appears a bit overwhelmed, repeatedly moving his head up and down to demonstrate his effort in reading the email on the court display monitor in front of him in the witness stand.

Questions exchanged between govt and Credico about a Stone email to Credico that mentions contact w Assange/Wikileaks.

"What did Mr. Stone tell you you should do?"

"Id have to look at the text messages. I'd have to go along with this, or I'd have to take the fifth amendment"

Govt: "Did you understand he wanted you to go along with something that's not true?"

Credico: "Basically [he wanted me] to go along with the narrative here."

Super brief sidebar as Judge asks to speak with counsel.

Credico is now telling the court about his text messages with Stone referencing seeing "Godfather 2" and "Frankie five angels"

Credico is not remembering a fair amount of the text exchanges the govt is asking about.

More questions about the now infamous Godfather references:

"Did Mr. Stone ever request that you do a Frank Pantangali?"

"A few times...Can I elaborate on this or do I have to say yes or no here?

Frank...is a guy who...says he doesn't remember"

Credico says "the problem w the Godfather is that it takes place in 1953 so there are no text messages or photos" for. "If I did a Frank Pantangali... and said I didn't know Roger Stone, it wouldn't make any sense."

Credico says he understands he was asked to "do a Frank Pantangali" "to throw them off"

Govt has him clarify that "them" was the House panel he appeared in front of.

Judge has Credico clarify he was asked "to not recall Roger Stone or any of the events that transpired."

Credico received messages from Stone saying "Stonewall it. Plead the fifth." These were just shown to him and the court. He said he responded "haha" to Stone but that it was "sarcastic" and "not a real laugh".

Asked if his convos with Roger Stone played a role in his decision to decline to be interviewed by House Intelligence Committee, Credico tells the court:

"A lot of people played a role, Mr. Stone amongst them."

Asked about more specific quotes in the emails, Credico is now speaking slowly and fidgeting with his glasses, appearing to again have difficulty reading off the monitor in the witness stand.

On November 21, Credico checked in with Roger Stone asking whether the House Intel Committee was bluffing about subpoenaing him.

Asking "how does it work", Credico appeared to be asking Roger Stone for legal advice(?) at the time

In the same Nov 21 2017 exchange, Stone told Credico "if they know you will take the fifth if subpoenaed it makes it less likely" that he would be forced to appear in front of the House committee.

On Nov 24, 2017, Credico told Roger Stone that he got a subpoena to appear in front of the House Intelligence Committee.

Govt asks Credico to read his exchanges w Stone from the same say (11/24/17) in which Credico assured the house wasn't interested in Stone, but in his own personal meetings with Julian Assange.

Credico goes on to explain how he traveled to London to meet with Assange 3 times.

Credico spells out the word fuck instead of reading it when asked to read one of Stone's messages to him: "So the f-u-c-k what"

11/24/17

Credico texts to Roger Stone

"I told you to watch his tweets in October not before that I knew nothing about the DNC stuff"

Stone:" You never said anything about the DNC but it was August"

Credico "It was not August bc I didn't interview him or meet him until Aug 20"

Credico and Stone's 11/24/17 exchange goes on for a bit disagreeing about the timing of Assange stuff.

Stone perceptively concluded, "Oh well I guess Schiff will try to get one of us indicted for perjury.

11/24/17 Credico-Stone exchange being read in court goes on with Credico telling Stone he would refuse to testify in the house and would cite his status as a journalist to justify doing so.

Credico also told Stone on 11/24/17 that he didn't remember any dates because he was "on heavy medication".

Govt: "Is that message true, sir?"

Credico: "No."

"Why did you write it?"

"I didn't want to discuss it."

Asked to look at another email, Credico sighs loudly into the mic.

Credico stops to ask "can I get a napkin to wipe these glasses off?"

Court mic pics up at least 4 loud breaths as Credico fogs up his glasses to wipe them off with a Kleenex to read a date on an email

More texts between Stone and Credico (11/28/17) are brought up.

Stone tells Credico "you will be accused of being the backchannel [whether] you like it or not. I will visit you in prison"

The prosecution is moving through the exhibits rather fast. The witness, Randy Credico, appears at least as overwhelmed as our court reporter who is trying to tweet these notes in real time.

Exhibit 69 (nice) is brought up - it's more texts between Stone and Randy Credico.

Govt focuses on a Stone text telling Credico "The whole thing will be worthless unless you find a place to do your Frank [Pantangale] imitation"

Credico also texted Stone:

"I don't know why you had to lie and say you had a back channel now I had to give all of my forensic evidence to the FBI what a headache"

Credico clarifies under questioning that he had previously lied to Stone about having evidence taken him from the FBI bc he was "frustrated" from dealing with Stone

Growing apparently more frustrated in his Nov 2017 texts to Stone, Credico told him "You want me to cover you for perjury now"

Credico asks for the court's permission to not have to say swear words out loud when reading texts from Roger Stone.

Stone to Credico (12/01/17):

"What the fuck is your problem...if you turned over anything to the FBI you're a fool..."

12/01/17:

Credico to Stone: "You need to amend your testimony before I testify..."

Stone to Credico: "If you testify you're a fool..."

Stone to Credico 12/01/17:

"Start practicing your Pantangale" (Another Godfather reference)

Asked if he wanted to testify to "clear it up", Credico says "I certainly did not want to be stuck as the guy who helped Trump win the election" & wanted to clarify he wasn't a "back channel"

Asked if Stone is why he took the 5th, Credico says Stone is "one of many reasons why"

Credico is now being asked about his 12/05/17 text to Roger Stone where he says he told @theintercept that "I was in the olive oil business with Roger Stone's father but that was a long time ago".

More talk about Godfather references....

@theintercept Govt asks Credico about his 12/12/17 letter notifying the house committee that he would be taking the fifth.

He discussed this with Roger Stone, and texts about it are being pulled up now.

@theintercept 12/14/2017 text from Randy Credico to Roger Stone:

"You should be honest w FBI, there was no back channel...be honest"

Stone replied: "I'm not talking to the FBI and if you are smart you aren't either"

@theintercept 01/11/18 text from Credico to Roger Stone refers to a "back channel" Stone had with Wikileaks. Credico clarifies he was not referring to himself as the back channel, but someone else (Jerome Corsi?)

@theintercept 01/25/18 Credico-Stone texts mention 'Mueller'.

Asked who Mueller is by the govt is, Credico stutters to answer:

"Mueller is the head of the Mueller uh investigation"

@theintercept "When you take the fifth about something, people assume you're hiding something...I'm now going to be connected with the guy who is, the, whatever" - Randy Credico complaining about his general circumstance in regards to Roger Stone and Trump

@theintercept The court pulls up text screenshots (as opposed to the spreadsheet format used til now) of Credico telling Stone he was lying about having contact with Assange, calling him a "weasel."

@theintercept Credico texts to Stone:

"I tried to warn you not to perjure yourself"

"Ive been around Warriors all my life and thats the one thing they tell you don't perjure yourself"

"I didn't you write your lucky I'm sure Trump will give you a pardon"

@theintercept Credico text to Stone: "I decided not to be your patsy again you are in trouble my friend"

Govt: Were you Roger Stone's 'Patsy' in the past?

Credico: Yes.

Govt: and you felt he was asking you to be his 'Patsy' again?

Credico: yes

@theintercept Govt is now having Credico read an article from Roger Stone's website. The paragraph in question details Credico's "talents as an impressionist" & describes an apparent fake call targeting former New York Democratic Governor Elliot Spitzer's father Bernard in 2007.

@theintercept Credico describes the call as a "vile, nasty, sordid, semi-threatening phone call to Old Man Spitzer." Stone claimed that Credico made the phone call while doing an impersonation of him.

@theintercept Credico seizes on this Q as an opportunity to tell an elaborate story about visiting an older woman while someone was calling him asking whether he was "spoofing the number, whatever spoofing is" while doing an imitation of Roger Stone and calling Elliot Spitzer's dad.

@theintercept Credico denies being the guy behind the call to Elliot Spitzer's father (which sounds an awful lot like Roger Stone)

"Who would wanna do something like that? I don't even know the guy." - Credico

@theintercept The Spitzer phone call incident "was one of many" times "over the years" in which Credico found himself being "a Patsy for Mr. Stone".

@theintercept Govt returns to article from Stone's website. After the article claims Credico was behind the Spitzer phone call, Stone goes on to suggest that Credico was the one who arranged his own contact with Wikileaks on behalf of the Trump campaign.

Reporters in court begin to salivate

@theintercept The article on 'Stone Cold Truth' goes on to describe how Credico took the 5th whereas "I on the other hand testified for 4 and half hours".

Govt points out how Stone had privately urged Credico not to testify and to take the 5th.

@theintercept From where we're sitting, this seems like a pretty clear picture of Stone setting Credico up by privately telling him one thing and then constructing a different public narrative to exonerate himself while blaming Credico.

@theintercept Govt asks Randy Credico about more emails (March 2018) between himself and Roger Stone.

Credico says he was considering "telling the truth" on various TV news programs at the time.

@theintercept Credico says an email Stone forwarded to him appeared to be an implied threat to drag Ms. Kunstler (mentioned earlier today) into the public sphere. Credico said he was concerned for Kunstler and tried to keep her out of it

@theintercept Credico drearily says "yes" in an Eeyore-like tone when asked if he "continued contact" with Roger Stone after things began to sour between them in early 2018. "I didn't want to escalate this..."

@theintercept 3/14/18 email from Randy Credico to Roger Stone:

Subject: Im being misquoted

"The asshole at Mother Jones I'm going to strangle for lying about what I said to him that's not what I said to him..."

"...I told them that you have plausible deniability"

@theintercept Asked by the govt to clarify, Credico says he told Roger Stone he didn't think Stone had committed perjury even though he personally believed that to be an untrue statement at the time.

" I didn't want him to get upset. I didn't want to be the victim of some kind of smear job"

@theintercept Credico had told Roger Stone he was considering he was considering doing an interview w CNN's Erin Burnett.

Roger Stone: "You should do a [Frank] Pantangale on Erin Burnett" (another Godfather reference)

@theintercept Credico's tone of voice becomes more comically morose when reading these Roger Stone email quotes. Getting some laughs in the press room

@theintercept Roger Stone email to Randy Credico 4/9/2018:

"You are a rat. A stoolie. You backstab your friends-run your month my lawyers are dying Rip you to shreds
I'm going to take that dog away from you. Not a fucking thing you can do about it either bc you are a weak broke piece of shit"

@theintercept Govt asks Credico about his dog. Credico says he has no wife or children and that he is very close to his dog.

@theintercept May 21, 2018 Credico email to Stone:

"You should have just been honest w the house intel committee... You've opened yourself up to perjury charges like an idiot... you have 5 different versions...maybe you need to get into rehab and get that memory straight"

@theintercept 5/21/18 Stone reply to Credico email:

"You are so full of shit" (Credico spells it out "s-h-i-t")

"You got nothing. Keep running your mouth and I'll file a bar complaint against your friend Margaret"

@theintercept "This is the crux of it, brining Margaret into it" - Credico in court just now.

Govt: "were you concerned he would make you his Patsy again?

Credico: "It had already happened. I was his Patsy again"

@theintercept Govt just wrapped up their questioning of Randy Credico.

The judge declares a 15 min mid-morning break.

Roger Stone's defense will cross examine Credico after the break.

Stay tuned!

@theintercept Standing to show respect for the Jury, Roger Stone is rapidly blinking and casting shifty gazes around the courtroom. He turned to look towards the gallery, and now appears to be looking at pink index cards with notes written on them.

@theintercept Stone left the pink index cards in apparent disarray on his counsel's table and has left the court for the recess period.

@theintercept Randy Credico loudly rubs up against his mic by accident as he unceremoniously plops himself back into the witness stand.

@theintercept #StoneTrial appears to be resuming in a minute here

@theintercept Robert Buschel, one of Roger Stone's defense attorneys, is about to cross-examine Randy Credico.

@theintercept Credico has been nervously polishing his glasses for a few minutes straight now. Uninterrupted glasses-polishing since he sat down.

@theintercept Credico takes off one pair of glasses, puts on another. Takes the 2nd pair of glasses off, shakes his head, polishes them some more, before pushing the glasses up onto the top of his forehead and briefly striking a "the thinker" type pose.

Now he's just staring blankly ahead

@theintercept Roger Stone is back at his counsel's table after the break. He's been massaging the bridge of his nose with his fingers.

@theintercept The Judge is back in the room, #StoneTrial is resuming, Jury coming back in.

@theintercept Standing for the jurors as they walk in, Roger Stone honestly looks pretty nervous, shifting his eyes from side to side. He sat down, then briefly stood back up like he wasn't sure if he should sit down or not.

@theintercept Robert Buschel, one of Roger Stone's defense attorneys, is now cross-examining Randy Credico.

Buschel has Credico confirm that he didn't pass messages between Stone and WikiLeaks.

Credico answers "yes" when asked by Buschel if he has "lied to Roger Stone"

@theintercept "There were exaggerations, there were lies, there were rebuffs, yes, fair enough" - Credico on his communications w Roger Stone, when asked by Stone's defense

@theintercept Stone's lawyer is having Credico go over his previous work with Roger Stone in activist campaigns against "racist, draconian" drug laws in New York State.

@theintercept Robert Buschel (Stone's lawyer) has Credico clarify that he helped introduce Roger Stone to Al Sharpton and that Stone went on to work for Sharpton's presidential campaign in the 2000s.

Buschel has Credico agree that he & Stone share a love of voice impressions & cigars.

@theintercept Buschel asks Credico about how "In 2008, you did voiceover work for Broward County Sheriffs race campaign"

Credico tries to tell a longer story about it - "Would you like me to explain?"

Buschel: "No."

@theintercept Credico says he was interviewed once by federal agents before he testified in the grand jury, and then several times after. (3 times?)

@theintercept Buschel: "You have lied to him throughout the years, yes?"

Credico: "We can go into lies, we can start in 2002 if you want"

Judge butts in to tell Buschel to "ask a specific question"

@theintercept Buschel asks Credico about his statements to Roger Stone that he did not talk to Julian Assange over the phone before October 2017.

Credico says he had texted Assange before that but never received a response.

@theintercept Buschel implies that Credico's statements about his own contact with Assange have been incorrect.

Credico launches into a motormouthed response saying Buschel is "splitting hairs" and that since Assange didn't respond to his first text, it wasn't a "conversation"

@theintercept Buschel is now asking Credico about his Twitter activity, including Tweets that appeared to be teasing the Wikileaks release of DNC emails.

Credico adds without being prompted that he was blocked by Roger Stone at the time.

@theintercept A lightning-fast argument ensues between Buschel and Credico about whether you can still see tweets from someone who has blocked you. Credico says "I know people with 50 accounts".

Judge interrupts and says they both have to talk slower so the court reporter can write it down.

@theintercept Buschel asks about other Credico tweets that mentioned Assange in 2017. Credico again says "let me see it" and has the Tweet shown to him

@theintercept Buschel asks if Margot Kunstler is a lawyer for Wikileaks. Credico says Wikileaks has a lot of lawyers and they would have to ask Kunstler herself. He says he doesn't consider Kunstler a Wikileaks lawyer and that he thought Sarah Harrison had that official role

@theintercept Buschel says Credico "bragged about" his friendly relationship with Kunstler and how he used her connection to Wikileaks circles to get Julian Assange to come on his radio show

@theintercept Judge again interrupts after Buschel asks Credico if he claimed he was friends with Assange's lawyer. Credico accused Buschel of paraphrasing.

Judge: " you don't get to argue with the lawyer"

@theintercept Buschel: "Did you say something to the effect of, you're friends with Julian Assange's lawyer, to Roger Stone?

Credico: something to that effect, yes

@theintercept Buschel is implying that Credico made false statements to Roger Stone about his communications with Assange. Credico is pushing back on this.

Buschel: "you wanted Roger Stone to believe that you had an in with Julian Assange and Wikileaks, didn't you?

@theintercept Credico: " I was one-upping him because he had his own back channel" to Wikileaks

@theintercept Credico meekly says "I got kicked out of that event" when asked about the National Correspondent's Dinner.

Said he was working for Jimmy Dore's radio show at the time.

@theintercept Credico again seems to be enthusiastically taking the chance to tell a long story about himself and his various media connections. The relevance isn't clear, but Credico's animated energy is.

@theintercept Credico says he told people that night that he wasn't "Roger Stone's backchannel" but that he also told people that he WAS "Roger Stone's backchannel". This is objectively confusing and Stone's defense team seems a bit frazzled

@theintercept Roger Stone has put on his glasses since court resumed after the mid morning break. He is mildly frowning and appears bored while slightly concerned.

@theintercept Buschel asks Credico if he ever lived with Margot Kunstler. Credico mentioned the name of a street where he had lived. Buschel asks if Kunstler lived there too. Judge interrupts to say, "we aren't saying where witnesses live."

@theintercept Buschel asks Credico "did you tell Roger Stone you had lunch with Julian Assange"

Credico: "I could have".

Credico becomes exasperated - "You gotta show me the date, please"

" I had lunch inside the embassy...in 2017."

"Was it just you and he?"

"yes"

@theintercept Buschel is now wagging his head and moving his hands in a taunting fashion while trying to contrast Credico's statements to Stone w his meeting Assange in 2017. Credico is frustrated about Buschel's interpretation of the timing and keeps blurting out "BUT THAT WAS IN 2017"

@theintercept Buschel pulls up Sept 19 2016 Credico email to Roger Stone that appears to discuss Wikileaks DNC email releases:

"That batch is probably coming out in the next drop... I can't ask them for favors every day..."

Credico states that he was just guessing as a spectator.

@theintercept Buschel zeros in on the apparent possibility that Credico had the ability to ask Wikileaks for favors.

Credico insists talk of "favors" was just about getting Assange to come on his show

@theintercept Pretty humorous exchange when Credico says Stone had been "pounding" him about Wikileaks stuff via emails.

Buschel then uttered the phrase ""When he's pounding you, sir..." when asking a question about the same emails

@theintercept Buschel (Stone defense lawyer) brings up a selfie that Credico took of himself outside the Ecuadorian Embassy in London where Julian Assange was living at the time.

@theintercept Credico is telling another somewhat long story about the picture he took of himself outside the embassy, and how he sent the pic to many people, including Roger Stone.

@theintercept Buschel brings up other texts from Credico to Stone, this time two texts reading

"big news Wednesday"
"now pretend you don't know me"

@theintercept Roger Stone's reply text : "U died 5 years ago"

@theintercept The court asks if Credico made statements to Stone implying that he personally had a relationship with Assange.

Buschel asks "you played him, didn't you?"

Prosecution objects, judge sustains the objection.

@theintercept Buschel is now asking Credico about his 2018 interview with Abby Martin where he discussed Wikileaks.

Buschel asks Credico if he told Martin that he "played" Stone.

Credico says "play the video if you want...I gave a history of Roger Stone, do you wanna play the whole video?"

@theintercept Judge: "Its your testimony that you were not a back channel to Julian Assange, correct?"

Credico: Yes

Buschel: But you talked to Assange about having contact w Rep. Adam Schiff, didn't you?

Credico: I spoke to someone but not Mr. Assange who was cut off from comms at the time

@theintercept Credico launches into another long story about the Correspondents' Dinner. Buschel mockingly nods along with an incredulous smile

@theintercept Judge interrupts Buschel's questioning: "can we get some timeframes here?"

Credico says Buschel's timeline is "a year off"

@theintercept Roger Stone appears more morose than earlier, sitting with his arms crossed, looking down, blinking every second or so, often leaving his eyes closed for several seconds at a time.

@theintercept Buschel is continuing to ask Credico about various media interviews and statements he has given. Courtroom observers and other counsel now appear to be deep in boredom, some rubbing their faces, others staring at the ceiling.

@theintercept Buschel is now asking the court's permission to play a video clip "to use as impeachment" apparently intending to try to impeach Credico as a witness.

Judge silences the audio feed as attorneys approach the bench for a sidebar

@theintercept Listening in court-provided headphones as his attorneys and prosecutors talk to the Judge at the bench, Roger Stone is massaging his forehead with his thumb and forefinger while gazing at the floor.

@theintercept Sidebar just ended after about 5 minutes.

@theintercept Judge launches into a long apology for/explanation of the "husher" white noise machine used to hide sidebar convos from ears of the jury.

@theintercept Buschel's cross-examination of prosecution witness Randy Credico is resuming.

Credico again says he didn't want to be seen as Roger Stone's back channel to Wikileaks.

@theintercept Buschel: Is it also because you didn't want to be associated with the Donald Trump campaign.

Credico: Of course not, would you?

Credico launches into denunciation of "kids in cages" before the Judge cuts him off

@theintercept Buschel asks Credico if he has friends who are Hilary supporters. Credico says he also has friends who support Bernie Sanders, who he mistakenly first referred to as "Bernie Carrot"

@theintercept "In 2017, they all thought that I had helped out Donald Trump" - Randy Credico

@theintercept Buschel is pulling up more 10/01/16 texts between Credico and Stone discussing Wikileaks releases of DNC emails.

Credico: big news Weds
Credico: now pretend u don't know me

Stone: U died 5 years ago

Credico: )great
Credico: ) Hilary's campaign will die this week

@theintercept A long pause as Credico reads the texts.

@theintercept Buschel now asks Credico about his motivations for choosing to plead the 5th when he was subpoenaed to testify in front of the House Intelligence Committee.

Judge asks counsel to approach the bench, another sidebar with the husher on.

@theintercept Buschel: You did authorize your lawyer to write a letter to House Intel Committee invoking your 5th Amendment right?

Credico: yes, I did

@theintercept Buschel asks if Credico was the first one to bring up "Frankie Five Angels" (Godfather II reference) in his conversations with Roger Stone.

Credico: I remember watching Godfather II on the plane

@theintercept Credico: Every Italian I know knows all the scenes from Godfather I & II. I'm one of em he's one of em.

Buschel asks Credico if he referred to Hilary Clinton by the name of a hit man from The Godfather. Credico asks for a citation of him saying that, Buschel just moves on.

@theintercept Buschel (from Roger Stone defense) pulls up another exhibit to cross-examine prosecution witness Randy Credico. This time it's a printout of AT&T phone records.

@theintercept Buschel is asking Credico about call records showing phone calls between Credico and Stone.

Buschel says that phone records show Credico called Stone 62 times on the day that Stone testified in front of the house.

"He wasn't asked to testify, he just shows up and testifies"

@theintercept Credico says he knew Roger Stone "was gonna put my name out there [but] I wasn't the guy".

@theintercept Credico answers in the affirmative when Buschel asks if he has done "dozens and dozens" of media interviews regarding topics close to the Roger Stone case

@theintercept "I can't play on his level, he plays hardball, he throws a lot of junk" - Randy Credico on Roger Stone

@theintercept "I'm trying to explain myself to extricate the perception that I was a back channel" - Randy Credico answering questions from Roger Stone defense about his media appearances

@theintercept "I'm not really a journalist, I'm a comedian who had a radio show" - Randy Credico

@theintercept Judge admonishes Buschel for "arguing with the witness"

@theintercept We're now quite down in the weeds in hostile back-and-forth questioning about minute details of Credico's media appearance.

"I mean, come on buddy" - Credico to Buschel

"Can you just ask him some specific questions with a date and time in it?" -Judge to Buschel

@theintercept Judge puts on the husher for another quick sidebar with counsel. She appears frustrated with Buschel's vague and often hostile questioning of Credico

@theintercept Buschel's line of questioning now leads to the claim that Credico imitated Roger Stone's voice in the menacing voicemail left for former NY governor Elliot Spitzer's dad.

"This is beyond theater of the absurd" - Credico

@theintercept (Buschel is likely implying that a YouTube video of Credico doing a Stone impression could prove that he was actually the one behind the voicemail to former NY Governor Spitzer's dad.)

@theintercept Buschel: "You'll agree that Roger Stone has dogs, likes dogs, loves dogs?"

Credico: yes.

Buschel: "And he likes your dog?"

Credico: dog lovers like dogs.

Buschel: You didn't think he would still your dog?

Credico: No, I think he got heated

@theintercept Credico: "I think he would have never [touched] my dog so it was hyperbole by him"

@theintercept A loud exasperated sigh from Credico into the mic in the witness stand.

@theintercept Buschel pulls up a 3/20/18 email from Credico to Stone:

"This whole back Channel nonsense is Much Ado About Nothing. I find it amazing that it gets any attention at all"

@theintercept Buschel abruptly ends his questioning of Credico after ending a question with his trademark semi-threatening mocking half-smile.

Govt is now doing re-direct on Credico

@theintercept Credico stretches and does a full mouth yawn as the prosecutor begins to ask him about a tweet

@theintercept Credico wipes his mouth with a napkin

@theintercept Court computers appear to be having delays loading twitter screenshots for the jury. everyone sits in a strange silence

@theintercept Govt is moving into evidence images of several tweets that Credico was asked about earlier.

All three tweets shown so far reference Wikileaks and were sent in June or July 2016. Roger Stone is not tagged or named in the tweets

@theintercept Govt asks if Credico provided any information from Wikileaks in summer 2016. He says no.

Govt asks Credico if he was a backchannel to Wikileaks and was the person referred to as such in his convos with Stone. Credico says no.

@theintercept Govt has Credico re-state "yes" to the fact that he told clearly told Roger Stone he was NOT a backchannel to Wikileaks both before and after Stone's testimony to the House.

Judge declares a lunch recess, another witness (we don't know who!) will be called after lunch.

@theintercept Fascist provocateur Milo Yiannapoulous and Proud Boys founder Gavin McInnes have both appeared at recent court dates to show support for Roger Stone.

Other far-right figures have as well, but none have showed up so far today.

@theintercept Roger Stone has actually been initiated as a first degree member of the Proud Boys, which McInnes has aptly described as "a gang."

@theintercept Two members of the Proud Boys were recently convicted and sentenced to several years in prison for violently assaulting protesters outside McInnes' speech at the Metropolitan Republican Club in NYC last year.

nytimes.com/2019/08/19/nyr…

@theintercept Today's lunch break hasn't quite yet ended in #StoneTrial but people are starting to filter back in. Roger Stone and some of his lawyers are now seated

@theintercept The next witness the government is expected to call is Margaret Kunstler. (Court has not resumed yet, this is based on other media reports)

@theintercept Roger Stone is quietly talking with one of his lawyers while his other lawyer is going over documents, apparently highlighting entire pages at a time with a highlighter.

@theintercept The Judge has entered the courtroom, #StoneTrial is now back in session for the afternoon.

@theintercept Govt discusses scheduling, say they expect direct examination of the first witness to take about 25 mins, the second to take 30. They request that court end around 4 PM today.

The Judge agrees

@theintercept Jury re-enters the courtroom now (1:54 PM)

@theintercept Margaret Kunstler has taken the stand and is being sworn in now.

#StoneTrial

@theintercept Margaret Kunstler lives in Brooklyn, is an attorney specializing in criminal law and constitutional law, "First Amendment, really" and says she has represented people associated with Wikileaks in the past.

@theintercept Asked to define Wikileaks, Kunstler calls it "an online publication and a library...materials are sent to it secretly"

She represented Sarah Harrison, who formerly worked for Wikileaks, for 4 years.

@theintercept Asked if she had ever represented Julian Assange, Kunstler says "technically, I don't know" and says if she did, it was only in the capacity she represented Wikileaks as an entity.

Says she has spoken to Assange less than ten times, total.

@theintercept Kunstler says she last spoke to Assange "in 1918."

Prosecution clarifies that she meant to say 2018.

@theintercept Her husband, William Kunstler, was friends with Randy Credico, and she also became friends with Credico "in passing".

@theintercept William Kunstler passed in 1995 and Margaret Kunstler has remained friends with Randy Credico since then. She says Credico helped her take care of William in his old age.

Govt asks how often she sees Randy Credico, she says "about once a week."

@theintercept Prosecution asks about August 2016 when Credico asked her to put him in touch w Julian Assange.

Margaret Kunstler says she helped Credico get Assange to come on his radio show on WBAI.

Prosecution asks if that was the 1st time she put him in touch w Assange, she says it was.

@theintercept Kunstler tells the court she has no knowledge of any contact between Randy Credico and Julian Assange before August 2016 when she arranged Assange's guest appearance on Credico's radio show.

@theintercept Govt asks Kunstler if she was ever asked to pass information to or from Assange on Credico's behalf apart from the August 2016 radio appearance. She says no.

#StoneTrial

@theintercept Prosecution pulls up a 9/20/16 email to Margaret Kunstler from Randy Credico, asking for specific Hilary Clinton emails.

"When you received this email did you read it?"

"No"

(She clarifies she only read the first line & wasn't going to ask Assange to do anything for Credico)

@theintercept Govt asks if/when she became aware of Roger Stone's claim that Randy Credico was Stone's "back channel" to Wikileaks. She says she read about it in an article "in 1917", govt clarifies that she means in 2017.

@theintercept Kunstler again states under prosecution questioning that she has never worked to confirm any information from Wikileaks on behalf of Randy Credico.

@theintercept The prosecution goes over specific Wikileaks releases of DNC emails in 2017 & having Kunstler confirm she had no advance knowledge of any of the materials and provided no advance material or info to Credico.

Govt ends direct examination, Roger Stone's lawyer begins cross exam

@theintercept Stone lawyer Bruce Rogow asked Kunstler if she knew Stone was BCC'd on an email from Credico in 2017. She said she didn't know Stone was on the email.

"I was so annoyed by the whole thing that I kind of just put it aside..I don't like to be told to ask a client by somebody else"

@theintercept Rogow asks if Kunstler has ever represented Credico, she says no. She says she was once in a meeting with other lawyers and Credico after Credico was first served with a subpoena to testify in the House.

@theintercept Rogow, speaking slowly & sleepily, asks Kunstler strange questions about Credico's "use of her name."

Rogow is oddly fixated on BCC (blind carbon copy) of the email including Roger Stone's email. The nature of BCC ("blind") means she wouldn't have seen his email address anyway.

@theintercept Rogow ends the Stone defense cross-examination of Margaret Kunstler. No re-direct exam by govt.

Next witness is called: It's Steve Bannon!

@theintercept The court is now doing its own production of 'Waiting For Godot', Steve Bannon has yet to show up and take the stand.

@theintercept Court staff appear to be attempting to locate Steve Bannon.

@theintercept Bannon has arrived in court and is being sworn in.

#StoneTrial

@theintercept Bannon says he has been "compelled to testify" by a subpoena and that he would not testify voluntarily. He is breathing extremely loudly into the microphone in between answering questions.

@theintercept Asked by the govt, Bannon says he worked as CEO of the Trump campaign starting in summer 2016. Prior to the Trump Campaign, he says he was Executive Chairman of Breitbart News (which he previously called the "platform for the alt-right")

@theintercept Govt asks Bannon if/when he met Roger Stone while working at Breitbart. Bannon says yes and he thinks he first met Stone in 2011 or 2012.

@theintercept Govt asks how often Bannon was in touch with Stone. He says "every couple weeks" and says they mostly spoke via email.

@theintercept Bannon says he knew Roger Stone "had a longstanding relationship with" Trump.

He also says he heard Roger Stone say publicly and privately that he had connections to people working for Wikileaks.

@theintercept Bannon says Stone "implied...he had a relationship" with Wikileaks

@theintercept Bannon is continuing to loudly breathe out his nostrils into the microphone in between his answers, creating a quite noticeable auditory effect in the court's sound system.

@theintercept Roger Stone currently appears somewhat bored and sleepy, rubbing his eyes, now taking his glasses off to chew and suck on them before putting them back on his face.

@theintercept Prosecutors are now asking Steve Bannon about his testimony to a grand jury in the Roger Stone case.

Roger Stone now appears more awake and is watching closely and frowning.

@theintercept Steve Bannon says "that's correct" when the govt asks that he knew he testified to the grand jury under penalty of perjury.

The prosecution is now directing him to page 7, line 15 of a transcript of his grand jury testimony.

@theintercept The portion of Bannon's grand jury testimony the prosecution is focusing on appears to have to do with the timing of Roger Stone's statements "boasting" about how he "had a relationship with Wikileaks and Julian Assange" that Bannon testified to hearing.

@theintercept Govt is now asking Bannon about his relationship with Eric Prince, infamous founder of private military firm formerly known as Blackwater.

@theintercept Bannon says he remembers discussing "national security types of things, defense" with Eric Prince.

@theintercept Govt asks Bannon about Ted Mailk, a professor in the UK who writes about the EU and politics.

@theintercept Asked if Roger Stone has any ties to Malik, Bannon says he doesn't know.

Asked if he himself had dealings w Malik while running the Trump campaign, Bannon says "I might have" and says "might have" had some emails exchanges w him.

@theintercept Malik was apparently trying to become US ambassador to EU, based on prosecution line of questioning(?)

@theintercept -How many times did you communicate w Mr. Stone before Election Day?

Bannon: half dozen, 10, maybe 12 times

#StoneTrial

@theintercept Govt: after you joined Trump campaign, did Stone tell you that Wikileaks had materials that could hurt Clinton and help Trump?

Bannon: in some of the emails he might have said that, yes

@theintercept Govt: while you were CEO of the Trump campaign, who was the campaign's access point to Wikileaks?

Bannon: The campaign? I don't think we had one.

@theintercept Govt pulls up Bannon's grand jury testimony again, has him turn to page 14, lines 4-8.

"I think it was generally believed... that the access point into Wikileaks was Roger Stone" - Bannon's grand jury transcript

@theintercept Stone has now taken off his glasses again and has been scratching his nose and ear.

@theintercept Govt pulls up an email from Aug 18 2016, right around when he was publicly announced as the CEO of the Trump campaign.

@theintercept The email is from Roger Stone and says

"Trump can still win but time is running out.

Early voting begins in 6 weeks.

I do know how to win this but it ain't pretty.

Campaign has never been good at playing the new media.

Lots to do--let me know when you can talk.

R"

@theintercept Bannon replied to the email the same day saying "Lets talk ASAP."

When asked more about the email, Bannon gives a vague answer saying he thought Roger Stone was just referring to "opposition research" in general, "using every tool in the toolbox" because the campaign was behind.

@theintercept Govt pulls up another 10/4/16 email from Bannon to Stone saying "What was that this morning?", which apparently referred to a Wikileaks press conference.

@theintercept "The Drudge website had a double siren, that means its of, like, national importance" - Bannon

@theintercept Bannon says he sent the email to Stone because Stone "had a relationship" with Wikileaks and wanted to see why nothing about the Clintons come out that day, as he had expected.

@theintercept Roger Stone reply to Bannon email reads:

"Fear. Serious security concern. He thinks they are going to kill him and the London police are standing done.

However --a load every week going forward.

Roger Stone"

@theintercept Bannon then replied to Stone's reply email saying:

"He didn't cut a deal w/ Clintons???"

Bannon goes on to clarify that he thought Stone's email indicated he had "knowledge" and "understanding" of what was happening behind the scenes at Wikileaks.

@theintercept Govt suddenly ends their direct examination of Steve Bannon - "Nothing further, your honor."

@theintercept Stone's lawyers are not cross-examining Steve Bannon. Starting to ask him the general overview of his history with Breitbart and his personal history w Roger Stone.

@theintercept Buschel (Stone's lawyer) asks Bannon about his litany of appearances in front of the grand jury, private DOJ panels, and house intelligence committee. Has Bannon confirm that "many hours" of his being questioned had to do with matters other than Roger Stone.

@theintercept Govt objects to a question by Buschel and approaches the bench. Husher on.

Bannon pours himself a glass of water, doesn't drink it, and purses his lips and looks around the courtroom.

@theintercept Buschel asks Steve Bannon to confirm that he "did not view Roger Stone as an access point" to Wikileaks for the Trump campaign.

"We did view him as an access point, yes" - Bannon

@theintercept Buschel claims Bannon previously stated Stone was NOT an access point to Wikileaks.

@theintercept Steve Bannon: "The campaign had no official access to Wikileaks or to Julian Assange, but Roger would be considered if we needed an access point bc he had implied or told me that he had a relationship with Wikileaks or Julian Assange"

@theintercept Bannon is continuing to loudly breathe in to the microphone despite having his mouth closed

@theintercept Buschel solicits Bannon's agreement with his statement that the Wikileaks releases weren't a significant topic of discussion in the Trump campaign in 2016.

@theintercept "In your mind at the time, you had important stuff to look, at, and Wikileaks wasn't it... You had the opinion that Assange was a non-event" - Buschel (Stone defense)

"that's correct...it was a big dud, yes" - Bannon

@theintercept Buschel seems to be trying to build up the implication that anything Stone said to Bannon abut Wikileaks was merely based on public statements by Assange hinting about future releases.

@theintercept Correct to earlier tweets: It's Ted Malloch (we misspelled as 'Malik')

@theintercept Buschel asks Steve Bannon to say that "as you sit here today, you don't think Roger Stone had advance knowledge of releases from Wikileaks"

Govt objects, Judge sustains the objection.

@theintercept -Did other people claim to you that you had a connection to Wikileaks (other than Stone)?

-Bannon: No....it was Roger

@theintercept Roger Stone is now crossing his arms and frowning in a more expressive way than his earlier frowns.

@theintercept Roger Stone's very deep frown can be seen creating other lines into his chin and cheeks.

Buschel ends his cross examination of Bannon. No other questions. Govt now does re-direct examination

@theintercept Govt pulls up 10/4/17 email in which Stone appears to have advance knowledge of Wikileaks releases of DNC emails.

-Why did you write to Stone in particular that morning?

Bannon: because he had said that he had personal knowledge about Wikileaks and Julian Assange

@theintercept Govt: You knew that Roger Stone took credit for predicting the release of DNC emails?

Bannon: when I heard that emails were released, I also believed that I had heard that Roger Stone was involved in the release of those emails.

Govt: no further questions.

@theintercept Judge appears to be ending court early for the day as the next witness is not present in the courthouse and cannot testify today. She tells jurors to not discuss the case and to avoid watching or reading news coverage of the #StoneTrial.

@theintercept Jurors have left. Judge says #StoneTrial will resume 9:30 EST on Tuesday morning.

@theintercept Except for jurors, who have left, everyone is basically still in court, prosecution and defense having a sidebar with the Judge.

@theintercept Some observers have left the courtroom gallery but the sidebar w judge, prosecutors, and defense is still going. Roger Stone and some of his other attorneys are listening in w court provided headsets.

@theintercept Roger Stone is still frowning, but not as hard as he was during Bannon's testimony.

@theintercept Court in the #StoneTrial has now officially been adjourned until Tuesday at 9:30 AM. Judge has left.

@theintercept Roger Stone put his glasses on and walked out of court immediately.

It's hard to imagine he is pleased after Steve Bannon appeared to directly implicate him today.

@theintercept The serious federal charges against Stone mean that he now faces decades in prison - potentially living the rest of his life in a cell.

@theintercept Stone is 67 years old.

While perhaps an unsympathetic figure, Stone is still an aging man facing the prospect of living out his remaining years in America's federal prison system, well known for violent abuse and extreme medical neglect.

@theintercept Many prisoners of Stone's age, or older, are suffering right now in prisons across the USA, cut off from their families and not receiving adequate care.

While Stone's wealth, privilege, and access may soften the harm of incarceration if convicted, prison isn't good for anybody.