Randy Credico, a radio host and comedian with ties to both WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange and President Trump’s former election campaign adviser Roger Stone, said he was contacted by special counsel Robert Mueller’s office and asked to appear before his investigators probing the 2016 presidential race.
Mr. Credico declined the invitation, he told new outlets Monday, but said he would comply if compelled to appear.
“With all due respect to the special prosecutor, who I certainly do not want to irritate, I will do an interview if I get a subpoena,” Mr. Credico said to NPR.
“I don’t have a subpoena. If I have a subpoena, that means I’ve got to do it,” Mr. Credico added to CNN. “I’m not going to go to jail for Roger Stone.”
The special counsel’s office is investigating potential collusion between Russia and Mr. Trump’s election campaign, including whether anyone close to the president was involved in the publication by WikiLeaks in 2016 of stolen Democratic Party emails allegedly sourced by Russian government hackers.
Mr. Stone claimed during the race to be in touch with Mr. Assange, and he correctly predicted WikiLeaks would release documents “devastating” to Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton’s campaign days prior to their publication. He subsequently claimed his communications with Mr. Assange were conducted through an intermediary implied to be Mr. Credico, an acquaintance who met personally with the WikiLeaks publisher in London and interviewed him on his radio program during the race.
Mr. Credico was subpoenaed last year to appear before the House Intelligence Committee’s investigation into the 2016 race, but was excused after asserting in advance his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination, his attorney said previously.
“I don’t mind pissing off the House intel committee, the Senate intel committee because everything’s political with them,” he told CNN on Monday. “The Mueller thing, nobody’s running for re-election there. They’re all professional people. I treat that far more seriously.”
“I really don’t know what they’re looking for, but they said I am not a target,” Mr. Credico said on comedian Jimmy Dore’s podcast Saturday, where he first discussed the potential subpoena.
The special counsel’s office declined to comment, CNN and NPR reported.
Mr. Stone has denied wrongdoing and previously said that he did have advance knowledge of any documents published by WikiLeaks during the 2016 race. Last month, meanwhile, The Wall Street Journal reported that Mr. Stone contacted Mr. Credico while he was in touch with Mr. Assange during the election seeking specific emails concerning Mrs. Clinton.
“I have consistently urged him to simply tell the truth,” Mr. Stone said Monday with respect to Mr. Credico. “Our bickering can sometimes be sarcastic, but I have never urged him not to cooperate with any formal inquiry,” he told CNN.
“Special Counsel Robert Mueller is seeking to frame me for some bogus offense to pressure me into testifying against @realdonaldtrump,” Mr. Stone said in a social media post Monday.
The documents published by WikiLeaks during the 2016 race were obtained by state-sponsored hackers who conducted an interference campaign against the election and Mrs. Clinton’s campaign in particular, according to U.S. intelligence officials. Russia has denied meddling in the 2016 race, and the White House has denied colluding with the Kremlin.
• Andrew Blake can be reached at ablake@washingtontimes.com.
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