Matt Gaetz and Roger Stone were caught on a hot mic talking about a possible pardon for Stone, who was indicted on charges of obstruction of justice and making false statements.
As Roger Stone prepared to go to trial on charges related to Russia's interference in the 2016 election, a conversation took place at one of Trump's properties. Gaetz can be heard telling Stone that he wouldn't go to prison if he was convicted.
Gaetz said that the president had said it directly and that the boss still had a very favorable view of you. He said that the big guy wouldn't allow him to go down for this.
A film crew was making a documentary about a long-time Republican political strategist when the recording was taken. The film is called "A Storm Foretold" and is expected to be released later this year.
Roger Stone is a Republican strategist.
Stone was sentenced to seven years in prison for his involvement in the investigation. Trump commuted Stone's sentence just before he was due to start his prison sentence. Trump pardoned Stone six months later.
Gaetz told Stone that he was trying to get him a pardon, but he wouldn't go into details because of the many recording devices around him.
According to the Post, the lawmaker from Florida told Stone that there were a lot of references to him in the report. The Post reported that Gaetz referred to some of the report that was shown to select members of Congress as confidential.
The testimony shows that at least five House Republicans sought pardons after January 6.
Gaetz' office told the Post that Gaetz was not speaking on Trump's behalf, and that his remarks on redacted parts of the report were not specific enough to violate the terms.
Stone and his lawyers have been contacted by USA TODAY.
This article was originally published by USA TODAY.
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