The scandal surrounding Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) took another wild turn Thursday evening when The Daily Beast released a report suggesting that Roger Stone –who has been a close friend and adviser to Donald Trump for decades — told Gaetz that he could convince the former president to grant him a presidential pardon if the congressman could round up a cool $250,000:
In late 2020, Greenberg was out of jail and in communication with Stone. A series of private messages between the two—also recently obtained by The Daily Beast—shows a number of exchanges between Greenberg and Stone conducted over the encrypted messaging app Signal, with communications set to disappear. However, Greenberg appears to have taken screenshots of a number of their conversations.
“’If I get you $250k in Bitcoin would that help or is this not a financial matter,’ Greenberg wrote to Stone.
“’I understand all of this and have taken it into consideration,’ Stone replied. ‘I will know more in the next 24 hours I cannot push too hard because of the nonsense surrounding pardons.’
“’I hope you are prepared to wire me $250,000 because I am feeling confident,’ Stone wrote to Greenberg on Jan. 13.”
Stone, you may recall, was pardoned by Trump in December of last year. Stone had been convicted of making false statements, obstruction, and witness tampering.
And now it seems that was also eager to help Gaetz and Greenberg get pardons for their alleged crimes, which include sexually trafficking a minor girl across state lines.
Once Stone received the 250K, he suggested that he’d be able to acquire a pardon for Gaetz and Greenberg, writing:
“Your thing is being looked at and I will have an answer by Saturday as to whether you have a viable shot for justice and how to go about it.”
Stone maintains he never tried to buy a pardon for Gaetz :
“I made no formal or informal effort in regard to a pardon for Mr. Greenberg. I recall requesting a document explaining his prosecution The [sic] details of which I was unfamiliar with.”
If it can be proven that Stone did try to use money to obtain a pardon from Trump, there are any number of federal crimes that he, Gaetz, Greenberg, and even Trump can be charged with.
Gaetz, in the meantime, has bigger worries, such as potentially being hit with a life sentence if he’s convicted of sexual trafficking.
