- Jerome Corsi sued Roger Stone for $25 million, accusing the Trump confidant of defamation.
- Stone accused Corsi of lying to Robert Mueller’s grand jury and in interviews about interactions the pair had during the 2016 campaign.
- Corsi claims Stone is attempting to inflict him with “heart attacks and strokes” in order to prevent him from testifying against Stone.
Right-wing author Jerome Corsi filed a $25 million defamation lawsuit against Roger Stone on Thursday, accusing the longtime Trump confidant of attempting to give him a heart attack to prevent him from testifying in the special counsel’s case.
“Defendant Stone’s intentional infliction of emotional distress and coercion and threats are intended to try even cause [sic] Plaintiff Corsi to have heart attacks and strokes, in order that Plaintiff will be unable to testify at Stone’s criminal trial,” Corsi claims in the suit, which was filed by his attorney, Larry Klayman.
The lawsuit accuses Stone of mounting a “public relations campaign” to “smear, intimidate and threaten” Corsi, who is best known as the leading proponent of the anti-Obama “birther” conspiracy theory.
Stone was indicted by Mueller on Jan. 25 on seven charges related to the House Intelligence Committee’s Russia investigation. He is not accused of having contact with WikiLeaks or Russians. Corsi has not been charged in the investigation, though Mueller & Co. did offer him a plea deal Nov. 14, 2018.
Corsi claims Stone defamed him by accusing him of lying in TV interviews, in front of the special counsel’s grand jury, and in his new book about interactions the two political operatives had during the 2016 presidential campaign.
Corsi and Stone met for the first time in February 2016 and worked together on several projects aimed at helping the Trump campaign. Special counsel Robert Mueller has seemingly been investigating whether Stone or Corsi had contact with WikiLeaks or aided the release of Democrats’ emails.
Corsi also sued Mueller, several government agencies and The Washington Post for a total of $1.65 billion.
Differences between Stone and Corsi began to emerge in late November 2018, when Corsi began speaking publicly about his interactions with Mueller’s team. Corsi testified to Mueller’s grand jury twice, and has been interviewed by prosecutors for more than 40 hours.
FBI Director Robert Mueller III testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee during a oversight hearing on Capitol Hill December 14, 2011 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)
The dispute between the two Republican operatives centers on three major claims from Corsi that Stone disputes.
Corsi claimed he told Stone in August 2016 that WikiLeaks had possession of Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta’s emails, which were leaked in October 2016. Corsi also asserts Stone asked him to craft a cover story to explain a tweet that Stone published about John Podesta and his brother on Aug. 21, 2016.
Corsi has also claimed Stone asked him to contact WikiLeaks on Oct. 7, 2016, the day of the Podesta email dump, in order to distract from the publication of a video tape showing Donald Trump speaking crudely of women.
Stone has vehemently denied all of the allegations, noting Corsi does not have evidence backing up his claims. Corsi recently acknowledged his statements are based on his memory of interactions with Stone, and that he could be wrong. (RELATED: Jerome Corsi Tries To Clarify Comments About Roger Stone)
Corsi alleges in his lawsuit that Stone used several reporters as surrogates to smear him. He identifies this reporter as well as Cassandra Fairbanks, a freelance writer who has met with WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.
Corsi claimed in an interview Saturday that Fairbanks told him in 2018 she had sexual relations with Assange when she visited him at the Ecuadorian embassy in London.
Fairbanks shot back at Corsi’s statement, accusing him of lying, and threatening to sue him for defamation.
Stone referred a request for comment to his attorney, Grant Smith. Smith said he will have to meet with Stone before offering comment.
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