The New York Democratic congressman Jerry Nadler said he had been in communication with Capitol police and the FBI about a reported death threat from the far-right activist and Trump ally Roger Stone.
“It was a surprise to me. I just found out a few days ago … I saw it on Mediaite,” Nadler told reporters, naming the website which said it obtained audio of the threat and saying he had been in touch with authorities.
The reported threat also mentioned Eric Swalwell, a California Democrat who on Wednesday told CNN he also learned of the threat from the Mediaite report.
Speaking before the 2020 presidential election to an associate who was then a serving New York police officer, Stone reportedly said: “It’s time to do it.
“Let’s go find Swalwell. It’s time to do it. Then we’ll see how brave the rest of them are. It’s time to do it. It’s either Nadler or Swalwell has to die before the election. They need to get the message. Let’s go find Swalwell and get this over with. I’m just not putting up with this shit any more.”
Swalwell was a prominent critic of Donald Trump throughout Trump’s time in office. Nadler was chair of the House judiciary committee during Trump’s first impeachment, for seeking to blackmail Ukraine for dirt on political rivals.
In late 2020, Nadler said he would investigate Trump’s commutation of Stone’s prison sentence on seven counts related to obstruction of the investigation of Russian election interference and links between Trump and Moscow.
In late 2020 and early 2021, Stone was closely involved in attempts to overturn Trump’s election defeat by Joe Biden.
Stone adamantly denied making the alleged threat to Nadler and Swalwell, saying the conversation “never happened” and was a fake, generated by artificial intelligence, a claim he repeated on Wednesday. His associate, Sal Greco, has called the story “political fodder”.
Capitol police have not commented but this week, Mediaite said an investigation had begun with FBI assistance.
Responding to that report, Swalwell said in a statement that though Stone’s reported words “may seem like the ravings of a wannabe gangster”, they should be taken seriously.
“This is what Trump and his real-life thugs do,” Swalwell said. “They try to intimidate opponents and will always choose violence over voting.
“Because I’m one of Trump’s loudest critics, Stone put a hit out on me. This threat, and other threats of violence by Trump and his supporters, must be taken seriously by not only law enforcement but also by my colleagues.”
