Congressman Eric Swalwell said Thursday he wants Roger Stone prosecuted for death threats he allegedly made against Swalwell and other lawmakers.
"Yes, I absolutely do" want to see him prosecuted, Swalwell told Scripps News Thursday, adding, "I know its aim is to not just threaten and in this case take a specific action, but its aim is to silence Donald Trump's critics."
"The message I send to Roger Stone is 'I'm not going away,'" Swalwell said. "We're not going to be intimidated. We must be a country where we settle our scores not with violence, but with voting."
A recording originally published by Mediaite on Jan. 12 purports to show Stone calling for the assassination of Swalwell and other lawmakers.
"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 Swalwell or Nadler has to die before the election. They need to get the message. Let’s go find Swalwell and get this over with," Stone said, according to the recording.
The recording was reportedly made in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, before the 2020 election.
Stone has denied making the comments, and said they had been AI-generated.
Capitol police are investigating, and the FBI are in communication with lawmakers who were named in the recording.
"As you know, Roger Stone has said he never said those things, and that it's AI-generated. He's had two experts look at it. It's a 92% chance or higher that it's AI-generated," David Schoen, an attorney representing Stone, told Scripps News on Thursday. "I'm sure that if he said it, that he didn't mean literally those words. He doesn't speak that was. He's got zero history of violence, ever. I know him pretty well, and I think it's an absolutely crazy charge."
