Stone's alleged Assange conduit expects to be subpoenaed

CNN/Stylemagazine.com Newswire | 6/25/2018, 1:13 p.m.
The man Roger Stone claimed was his back-channel to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange during the 2016 campaign declined an interview …
Roger Stone

By Sara Murray and Caroline Kelly, CNN

(CNN) -- The man Roger Stone claimed was his back-channel to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange during the 2016 campaign declined an interview request from the special counsel and said he expects to be subpoenaed.

Randy Credico, the chatty radio host and comedian, told CNN that special counsel Robert Mueller's team reached out in early June and requested a voluntary interview. After consulting with his lawyers -- who, according to Credico, are well-aware of "my wayward lips" -- he declined the request.

Credico said investigators from Mueller's team were professional and courteous. While he's hoping he doesn't hear from them again, he believes a subpoena could be coming.

"I don't have a subpoena. If I have a subpoena that means I've got to do it," Credico said. "I'm not going to go to jail for Roger Stone."

Investigators have been ramping up their inquiries surrounding Stone, one of President Donald Trump's longtime associates, and were hoping to speak with Credico about him. Stone still has not been contacted by the special counsel, Stone told CNN Monday.

A spokesman for the special counsel's office declined to comment.

Both Stone and Credico have faced scrutiny for their ties to WikiLeaks during the presidential campaign. The US intelligence community has concluded that Russian intelligence provided hacked materials to WikiLeaks as part of Russia's effort to bolster Trump and damage Hillary Clinton during the 2016 presidential campaign.

Stone previously told the House Intelligence Committee that Credico served as an intermediary between him and Assange. Credico disputed that characterization but described Assange as a "close friend of mine."

"I really don't know what they're looking for, but they said I am not a target," Credico said on fellow comedian Jimmy Dore's podcast Saturday, where he first divulged the Mueller team's interview request.

Credico said Stone has been on a "crusade" against him, accusing him of wearing a wire and cooperating with the special counsel's investigation.

"Stone has been calling me a rat. I've been maligned, I've been smeared," Credico said. He said that was another reason he did not want to participate in a voluntary interview. "You'll understand why I didn't want to throw fuel on the fire," he added.

Stone insisted he has no qualms with Credico cooperating with Mueller.

"I have consistently urged him to simply tell the truth," Stone said. "Our bickering can sometimes be sarcastic, but I have never urged him not to cooperate with any formal inquiry."

While Credico said he would comply with a subpoena from the special counsel, he has rebuffed other efforts to compel him to testify.

After receiving a subpoena from the House Intelligence Committee, Credico said he would assert his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination and would only testify if the panel offered him immunity.

"I don't mind pissing off the House intel committee, the Senate intel committee because everything's political with them," Credico said. "The Mueller thing, nobody's running for re-election there. They're all professional people. I treat that far more seriously."