‘F–k the Voting, Get Right to Violence,’ Roger Stone Crowed Before Election: Video

The Jan. 6 committee returned from its summer hiatus and cast a spotlight on the actions of former Trump adviser Roger Stone. The committee laid out Stone’s connections with members of the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers, several members of which have been charged with seditious conspiracy in relation to the attack on the Capitol, as well as his thirst for violence should Trump lose.

“I said fuck the voting, get right to the violence,” Stone said in footage shot by a Danish film crew that was obtained by the committee.

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The committee played footage of Stone refusing answer questions about the violence on Jan. 6, including whether he believed it was justified, as well as whether he had any role in planning it.

The committee had been expected to key on Stone in its final hearing. It subpoenaed the Republican strategist and longtime Trump ally in Nov. 2021. Stone pleaded the Fifth Amendment in his interview with the panel. In footage of his testimony, the committee showed Stone declining to answer when asked if he believed “the violence on January 6th was justified?”

“Roger Stone’s communications, even Stone’s own social media posts acknowledge he spoke with Donald Trump on December 27th as preparations for January 6th were under way,” said Committee Member Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.). Lofgren read an excerpt of one of Stone’s written communications, where Stone revealed that he had instructed Trump on”how he can appoint a special counsel with full subpoena power to ensure those who are attempting to steal the 2020 election through voter fraud are charged and convicted and to ensure Donald Trump continues as our president.”

Stone’s ties to extremist groups have been a matter of interest to the committee throughout it’s investigation, including his association with the Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers. The FBI revealed in May that Stone had been in communication with members of the Oath Keepers in the days leading up to Jan. 6, and his ties to the Proud Boys date back years (the committee at one point played footage of stone reciting the groups “fraternity creed”). Stone was a close ally of Proud Boys chairman Enrique Tarrio, who is Stone was spotted around Washington, D.C., on Jan. 6 with a contingent of Oath Keepers acting as a personal security detail, footage of which was displayed by the committee at today’s hearing.

In June, former Mark Meadows aide Cassidy Hutchinson testified that Trump instructed Meadows to call Stone and Gen. Michael Flynn the day before the Capitol attack.

Days before the riot in the Capitol, Stone was on a call with Republican communications specialist Jason Sullivan and other Trump allies. In a leaked recording of the call, Stone can be heard encouraging the President’s supporters to “descend on the Capitol,” on Jan. 6.

Stone was pardoned by Trump days before Trump left office, after being found guilty on seven counts including witness tampering and lying to Congress in relation to the Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election. The former president issued a flurry of pardons to close advisors and allies in the final days of his administration, but notably did not issue a blanket pardon for participants in the Jan. 6 riot. Stone called the decision the “greatest single mistake in American history.”

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