Longtime GOP operative Roger Stone said he had a few stones to cast at former President Donald Trump in the fallout after the 2020 election.
An unreleased documentary reported by the Washington Post on Friday shows a furious Stone privately fuming that Trump was the “greatest single mistake in American history” and telling a friend that he would support Trump’s impeachment due to his failure to pardon close allies.
“A good, long sentence in prison will give him a chance to think about it, because the Southern District is coming for him, and he did nothing,” Stone said. “I’m done with this president, I’m going to go public supporting his impeachment. I have no choice. He has to go. He has to go. Run again, you’ll get your f***ing brain beat in.”
The documentary, A Storm Foretold, which is set to be released later this year, was filmed by a Danish camera crew that followed Stone around for over two years. The Washington Post reviewed over 20 hours of footage the filmmakers shot of Stone. The documentary revealed new details about his involvement in efforts to overturn the 2020 election, his gloomy reaction to the Capitol Hill riot on Jan. 6, 2021, his adventures with the Oath Keepers, and his anger at Trump for failing to pardon his allies.
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“Obviously if you use any of that, I’ll murder you,” Stone said to the filmmakers who recorded his staggering comments, per the Washington Post. His comments came in January 2021 to a friend over the phone. He was enraged that Trump pardoned Steve Bannon for federal charges on allegations that he defrauded donors but not others.
Stone had hatched a plan dubbed the “Stone Plan” to procure blanket presidential pardons for himself and other key Trump allies for their efforts to topple the election results, the Washington Post reported. Unfortunately for him, Trump did not play ball. After lashing out over Trump with a friend and musing about supporting his impeachment, Stone eventually came back around when it came to Trump — at least publicly.
Trump was impeached by the House on a charge of inciting an insurrection on Capitol Hill. Stone never publicly supported the impeachment against him, and Trump was acquitted in the then-GOP-led Senate.
Trump commuted a 40-month sentencing against Stone in 2020 that stemmed from his alleged obstruction of congressional inquiries into Russia meddling in the 2016 election. He later bumped that up to a full pardon, nullifying Stone’s conviction entirely. But Stone wanted another pardon in anticipation of prosecution over the 2020 election. Stone never publicly backed Trump’s impeachment, and the following month, he told Fox News that he would support the president if he ran again in 2024.
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Stone has fended off attempts by Congress to get him to talk about his machinations following the 2020 election. After being subpoenaed by the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 riot, he pleaded the Fifth during a deposition. But the new documentary may shed light on key details about his efforts to thwart the 2020 election that the Jan. 6 committee has been seeking.
The filmmakers captured footage of Stone privately communicating with allies about resurrecting the “Stop the Steal” campaign after the 2020 election. This seemingly contradicted public statements he made attempting to distance himself from the movement. He was also filmed attending rallies in Washington, D.C., that encouraged then-Vice President Mike Pence to block certification of President Joe Biden’s victory.
Stone had direct communication with Trump on multiple occasions following the election, giving him advice on how he could remain in office despite his election defeat, according to the Washington Post.
On Jan. 6, 2021, Stone was at the Willard Hotel in Washington, which served as the “war room” for several Trump allies such as Rudy Giuliani, John Eastman, Boris Epshteyn, and Bannon, to contrive plots to upend the 2020 election. Events at the Willard Hotel have been a point of interest for the Jan. 6 committee. The news outlet noted Stone did not appear to be an active part of Giuliani’s efforts to overturn the election. The filmmakers captured Stone’s reaction to the riot as he watched it unfold on his hotel room TV.
“I think this is really bad for the movement. This hurts. It doesn’t help. I’m not sure what they thought they were going to achieve,” he told the filmmakers.
He did not allow them to film him during a 90-minute period after the riot, and filmmakers told the outlet they believed he was on the phone with at least one person during that time.
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The Danish filmmakers also filmed Stone meeting with members of the Oath Keepers and keeping in touch with some of them through an encrypted messaging app before and after the Jan. 6 riot. At one point, some members even transported and guarded him, according to the report. About a dozen members of the Oath Keepers are facing federal charges for a seditious conspiracy related to the Jan. 6 riot. Stone was filmed meeting and communicating with several members of the group. In a statement to the Washington Post, he emphasized that he had no involvement in illegal activity during the Jan. 6 riot.
“Any claim, assertion, or implication that I knew about, was involved in, or condoned the illegal acts at the Capitol on Jan. 6 is categorically false, and there is no witness or document that proves otherwise,” he said.
