Roger Stone accused fellow Republican allies of President Trump on Wednesday — Reps. Kevin McCarthy of California and Elise Stefanik of New York — of wanting him to die in prison.
Stone, Mr. Trump’s convicted former campaign adviser, claimed both GOP lawmakers unsuccessfully tried to convince the president not to pardon or commute his 40-month sentence.
Prior to Mr. Trump ultimately commuting the sentence last week, Stone argued he would likely contract the novel coronavirus in prison and die from the disease it causes, COVID-19.
“I know that Kevin McCarthy and Elise Stefanik were lobbying the president against any act of clemency. They, I guess, wanted me to die in a fetid, squalid hellhole in Georgia of coronavirus,” Stone, 67, told Fox News Radio.
In a separate interview released the same day, Stone told conservative activist Charlie Kirk that both lawmakers feared Mr. Trump “might cost the Republicans seats” by offering any sort of clemency.
Spokespeople for Mr. McCarthy, the House minority leader, and Ms. Stefanik did not immediately return messages requesting comment.
A jury found Stone guilty of seven counts brought by the Department of Justice as a result of the government’s investigation into Russian involvement in the 2016 U.S. elections. He was sentenced in February and set to begin serving time this week before Mr. Trump intervened Friday, days after Attorney General William P. Barr called the punishment “fair.”
• Andrew Blake can be reached at ablake@washingtontimes.com.
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