In one of the latest developments in special counsel Robert Mueller‘s Russia investigations, a radio host-comedian acquaintance of former Trump advisor Roger Stone, who Stone reportedly asked to contact WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, has declined a request for a voluntary interview because he doesn’t want to be known as a “rat.”
The Daily Beast reported that New York-based Randy Credico has said he has no interest in being known as a squealer and has no plans of speaking to Mueller unless he is forced to do so by subpoena. He also said he was asked three weeks ago.
“The last thing that I would like to be known as is a rat,” Credico said. “I didn’t talk to the House committee and I’m not going to talk to the Senate committee.”
There are a few interesting nuggets in the report, nuggets that make it sound like Stone was pretty hands-on when it comes to information. First, Credico was described as a “frenemy” (portmanteau of friend and enemy) of Stone’s who was “pummeled” by Stone and others for “being a rat.”
In fact, Credico said that this was exactly why he didn’t want to do a Mueller interview.
“There was a reason why I didn’t submit to a voluntary interview, and that is because I had already been pummeled by Stone and his crew as being a rat,” he said.
Stone, on the other hand, admitted he “badgered” Credico, but only for the most upstanding reason.
“[I] badgered [Credico] to tell the truth,” he said. “I have never urged him not to cooperate with any official inquiry — only to tell the truth.”
Another notable is that Credico, despite not wanting to participate in the Mueller investigation unless forced, regards it as “professional” and “not political,” which is not something many, including President Donald Trump, seem to believe.
“The investigators for the Mueller team I take very seriously and it’s not political, it’s professional. You’ve got really professional investigators and prosecutors there and they’re not running for reelection, you know what I mean? So they’re not grandstanding,” he said.
Instead, Credico called Senate and House committee investigations “circuses.”
As recently as the end of May, Stone scoffed at the notion that he himself would have damaging information on Trump or his campaign. He said he’d have to commit perjury in order to harm Trump.
“There’s nothing I could tell them that could be damaging to the president. I’d have to make it up. That’d be perjury, and I’m not going to perjure myself,” he said, adding that Trump “has no reason to be afraid of me. I’m among his most loyal and steadfast supporters.”
As CNN noted, Stone said Credico served as an intermediary between him and Assange. In the past, Stone has called Credico a “good man” who “merely confirmed what Assange had said publicly.”
“He was correct. Wikileaks did have the goods on Hillary and they did release them,” he added.
[Image via Saul Loeb and AFP and Getty Images]