A witness who helped get Roger Stone convicted fears for his own life if President Donald Trump's longtime associate ends up in prison.
Randy Credico, a left-wing comedian and activist, testified against Stone, but he wrote to the judge afterward asking for leniency, and now that Trump has gotten involved in the sentencing he's become increasingly anxious, reported the New York Times.
“I don’t want to see a guy go to prison because of me, it’s going to be on my conscience, plus it’s going to anger a lot of people out there who called me a rat,” Credico told the Times' Michelle Goldberg. “The guy goes to prison and I’m to blame, and you’re being called a rat, you’re worried about somebody with a red hat, a MAGA hat, doing a Jack Ruby on you."
Stone was convicted in November of making false statements and witness tampering as part of special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation, and one of the counts involved threats he made against Credico and his beloved dog.
"Prepare to die c*ck sucker," Stone texted Credico in warning.
Stone was seen by the Trump campaign as an intermediary to WikiLeaks, but he falsely told Congress that Credico was his sole backchannel contact to the hacking organization -- and his threats were a warning not to contradict that false testimony.
Prosecutors cited those threats to justify their recommendation for a seven- to nine-year prison term for Stone -- which Trump tweeted was "horrible and very unfair."
Attorney General William Barr then stepped in to override that recommended sentence for a more lenient one, and all four career prosecutors resigned in protest.
Trump then singled out the jury forewoman, who had identified herself on social media, and accused her of "significant bias" in the case because she was an outspoken Democrat -- and Credico fears how the president's followers might perceive those statements.
“I never thought Stone personally was going to do it himself,” Credico said.
Credico's memo to the judge claims he never felt Stone posed a direct threat to him, but he was -- and still is -- concerned that one of Trump's supporters might take action.
“I look like the guy that’s gonna be the guy that’s gonna force Stone to talk to the feds and say everything that he knows on the president,” Credico said. “So I’m expendable at that point. That’s what I’m thinking.”
