Randy Credico on Fred Dicker (12/15/2017)

Supplemental document for: "Theory that Roger Stone's back channel to Wikileaks was Randy Credico", link: https://wakelet.com/wake/2d352ae9-febe-44a1-a7bb-51674a2e4bf5

Transcript of relevant portions of "Focus on the State Capitol" with host Fred Dicker, broadcast date: December 15, 2017. First excerpt goes from 25:48 to 36:59, second excerpt goes from 42:41 to 44:09.

File link: http://www.mediafire.com/file/znbg274kaoakgjv/FSC121517.mp3

Excerpt one:

FRED DICKER
We're going to head down to Washington D.C., right now, where a guy has certainly emerged as something of a national figure, because of his involvement in Wikileaks, Julian Assange, with the...name of Roger Stone, he's the official comedian of this show, a longtime progressive political activist, he's of course, Randy Credico, the latest on the congressional subpoena he received, he's refusing to respond to it, unless apparently granted immunity, he'll tell us about that. He's in D.C. for a press conference I understand [this press conference never took place]. Good morning, Randy. Good to have you with us again.

RANDY CREDICO
Hey Fred.

DICKER
You're all over the place, Randy. I see your name in stories around the country these days.

CREDICO
Yes. I know. And sometimes they even call me up for a comment. Including Chris Hayes. I don't know if you say the Chris Hayes interview.

DICKER
No, I missed it. Tell us about it.

CREDICO
Chris Hayes did not- Chris Hayes did- Chris Hayes, of MSNBC, uuuuuuh, says "Well, we now know who the missing link was! It's this guy! Blah blah blah a _sortof_ lefty, Randy Credico, who's run for office-" and it's got a huge picture of me. Next to, to the right of me is a picture of Trump. And below that, is a picture of Roger Stone. And emblazoned on the screen is: "MISSING LINK".

DICKER
Well, was that a Darwinian reference, between Cro-Magnon and Homo Sapien? Between something? Do you think?

CREDICO
Yeah. [laughs] Very funny. Yes. I'm the ape. Yes. So uh, I'm from the ice age. All you have to do is watch my act. And see how dated it is. So, I was- I was not...on, and he had like, two panelists, the rubber stamp Russia-gate panelists, that they have now. MSNBC is the home of the Russia-gate infomercial-

DICKER
No question.

CREDICO
-around the clock-

DICKER
Right.

CREDICO
When it's not on, there's a show called "Lock Up". And that's where they make all their money. "Lock Up". This guy's telling me I'm kindof a progressive? Well, he's getting his money from a show that exploits prisoners, called "Lock Up". And Howard Fineman once told me, "It's a horrible show! And it exploits prisoners, but it makes a lot of money. It's a cash cow, and it pays...the two infomercial hosts-"

DICKER
[cuts him off] Randy, you're off on a tangent. What's going on with you in Washington right now?

CREDICO
Yes. So, I'm close. I'm just arriving, but first I'm doing an hour interview uuuh with John Kiriakou [interview was on Sputnik Radio's "Loud and Clear", hosted by Brian Becker and Kiriakou link: https://sputniknews.com/radio_loud_and_clear/201712161060047186-hauled-before-congress/ Transcript link: https://pastebin.com/vn12veNB ], who is a former CIA agent, he's done time in prison for exposing torture. And then, I am going to the Capitol, I have a statement that I'm going to read, because my name is being bounced around there, in a negative light. You know? As if I was the...I- I put Trump in office, [DICKER laughs] and I'm responsible- Roger Stone, man of [inaudible] my friend [inaudible]

DICKER
I just think it's funny that the left is biting you right now, for your association with- We've known you've been associated with Stone for ten years or more. But now, [CREDICO: Right.] because of Trump, and the Trump Derangement Syndrome, you're getting- or you're getting some of the blame.

CREDICO
Yes, so, worst is David Corn. From- Used to be with- He is. He's like national editor for Mother Jones, and the Washington bureau chief-

DICKER
Very leftist.

CREDICO
He's the guy that outed- Glenn Greenwald had to correct him yesterday, because he says, he wrote the banner of a story, this guy Dan Friedman, wrote a story, for Mother Jones ["Roger Stone’s Go-Between With WikiLeaks Takes the Fifth" http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2017/12/roger-stones-go-between-with-wikileaks-takes-the-fifth/ ], it says the alleged, who Roger Stone, _claims_ was the in-between person, this guy says "Roger Stone's in-between person", he wrote the banner, this is the editor, not the writer - "Roger Stone's In-between Man Takes the Fifth" [sic]. And that's it.

DICKER
Randy Credico. [laughs]

CREDICO
Yeah! Without- Without using the word "alleged", and this guy's supposedly works for this progressive magazine called uh-

DICKER
You're learning a lot. You're learning a lot about your pals on the left. {CREDICO inaudible underneath this] Because you oppose discrimination and prejudice, doesn't mean that you don't discriminate and that you engage in prejudice. Just because [CREDICO: Yes.] you oppose oppression of certain peoples' speech, doesn't mean you support free speech.

CREDICO
It's Russia-baiting. It's really a modern version...just, it's...disillusioning, to see this happening among people, who claim to be progressives, or on the left. Who are so upset with Trump, being elected, that they're looking for some kind of excuse, other than the fact that Hillary Clinton was a horrible candidate, you know, as I've said a million times-

DICKER
I know. There are a lot of Americans that are hurting out there. Notwithstanding the claims the Obama forces of how much good they did. Can you read us your statement?

CREDICO
Uuuuuh no, I can't- I actually can't read it right now, because it's on a computer, and I haven't printed it out. But, I'm basically just going to lay out that I am a- I am a- I am a...Randy Credico, grandson of immigrants, from Italy, uuuuuuuh I'm a political satirist, and I'm an activist, spent the last fifteen years of my life working, going into prisons, and now, I'm being pilloried by people on the left, and by Democrats, in the House. Leaking information, the mainstream media, both CNN and this guy- You ever see this guy, Manu Raju? [Raju broke the story for CNN on Stone naming Credico as his back channel, and shared the by-line with Jeremy Herb: "Randy Credico, New York radio personality, was Roger Stone's WikiLeaks contact" http://www.cnn.com/2017/11/29/politics/randy-credico-roger-stone-wikileaks/index.html ] Or Raju Man- Whatever his name is, he's the guy that Adam Schiff always gives information to. He may as well be getting his paycheck from- from-

DICKER
Democratic National Committee.

CREDICO
-House Intel Committee. Rather than from CNN. Because they just give it to him. He's their mouthpiece. He's the go-between person on this phony Russia-gate thing. Or at least, I've been told to start calling it overreach, rather than a uh complete charade. But [inaudible]- [DICKER: So, Randy-] Yeah?

DICKER
I was going to say, the status now, is you were subpoenaed, your lawyer, by the House Intelligence Committee, your lawyer said you wouldn't appear, unless- that you would appear, but you were going to invoke your Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination. They then said they don't want you to even bother showing up. And now I see-

CREDICO
No no [inaudible]-

DICKER
I just said, finally, there was a proffer, by your lawyer, that you would show up, if you were granted immunity, is that right?

CREDICO
Yes. I would have to show up, they would grant me immunity, I'd have to go. What they did was, since...you know...you know, I'm going to take the Fifth, and spend the whole time taking the Fifth, I said- that letter was good enough- since they weren't going to get anything out of me, taking the Fifth, which was my right, they were going to be spinning their wheels, asking me questions, then the next step is...is to grant me immunity. And...I would have to come in, and at that time, would I answer questions, would I invoke the First Amendment, do I have any kind of privilege with my sources, which are Roger Stone, and- This is the most uncomfortable part of this, Fred. Because the fact is, I know what I did here. I know, nobody else knows. Everyone makes assumptions. I can't talk about it. I've been embargoed, because I have a big mouth, you know, it's got me into trouble. Many times. To not talk about any of my conversations with- outside of my...radio shows, which were on the air, and archived, with Roger Stone or with Julian Assange.

DICKER
Right.

CREDICO
I can't- I can't even- I don't have the permission to say anything, because then they can call me in. And then start asking me questions, saying that I basically waive that, by publicly talking about it. So that's the- My big mouth, big lips. You know.

DICKER
I'll tell you what, Randy, how about this? With all the power vested in me, as a longtime host of the- "Focus on the State Capitol" show, it used to be "Live from the State Capitol", I hereby grant you immunity right now. And allow you, I promise not to retaliate in any way, to bring any charges against you, if you'll tell us what the truth of the situation is. Would you go ahead and do it?

CREDICO
[pause] I can't. [inaudible]

DICKER
I just gave you immunity.

CREDICO
I know, I know, but they won't do that. And I don't wanna go and have-

DICKER
They're not listening to the show, they won't hear about-

CREDICO
[inaudible cross talk] conversations- There are only two things I won't answer: conversations with Assange, conversations with Roger Stone, and in the meantime, I'm like, Quasimodo. Alright? I may as well be inside of a church bell tower. Because people see me, look at me, people- You cannot believe the comments, _the comments_, from- These Hillary Clinton supporters, look at-

DICKER
What do they say?

CREDICO
Tell her to go to Michi- [answering DICKER's question] I'm going to jail, I'm going to hell. Those are the nice things.

DICKER
How are you getting these? Through emails that are sent you?

CREDICO
No no, it just goes to Mother Jones, or David Corn, it's pinned on his twitter feed [sic - it isn't; pinned tweet is: "Waking up to a world in which Donald Trump is president and Tom Petty is gone is a bitch." ], and it says "Suspicious?" and it's a banner that he wrote [Corn commented on a tweet of a link to the Mother Jones article headline, "Suspicious?"]. Acting like he- like he got somebody else's story [sic - it's an editor tweeting out the work of one of his writers], he wrote the banner, which is more significant than the story itself, because it overrides the story. It makes that assumption. Glenn Greenwald had to say...I have the right, a lot of people _including_ three or four Hillary's aides, they pleaded the Fifth [they did so during a civil suit brought by the hardline right-wing group Judicial Watch]. How come Mother Jones isn't going after them, when they plead the Fifth?

DICKER
So, you're getting- I mean, you did spend a couple of decades on the left, you were close with William Kunstler, you were involved with very serious efforts to help a lot of prisoners, you worked on Rockefeller drug reform, very seriously. But now you're being pilloried [laughs] as a guy on the right, or associated with Roger Stone, I mean, it really seems very unfair.

CREDICO
Yeah. Well listen, I've known Roger Stone...I can tell you this, as you know, I met him during the Golisano campaign, and it was a maverick campaign, even though he raised a lot of money per vote, he didn't do that well, I think at fifteen, sixteen percent of the vote - but, he did raise some issues there. It was a bold campaign, the only guy who actually spent a million dollars, attacking the Rockefeller drug laws, so, I've known Roger...you know, he is a...[DICKER laughs] he is not...Roy Cohn. He's not...you know, we know-

DICKER
He was close to Roy Cohn, though.

CREDICO
Yeah, he was Roy Cohn's [inaudible]

DICKER
I'm sure you'll agree with that.

CREDICO
[inaudible] Let me just say, he's a socially liberal guy, he likes martinis, I like martinis. I smoke cigars with him. Back then. Because he likes cigars. And he likes Jolson. I mean, I grew up listening to Jolson. My father...fed me Jolson as a kid, all of those records with Bing Crosby. So those are the three things that we have in common. And I have some friends...on the right. You're one of them! You're libertarian right, but I have a lot of friends- I'm not putting you in the same basket with Roger Stone [DICKER: Please.], but I have a lot- I have certain friends- And I also listen to Michael Savage, when I'm driving up the coast of California, because it keeps me awake.

DICKER
[laughs] Paul Vandenburgh ["Focus on the State Capitol" producer] will be happy to hear about that.

CREDICO
Huh?

DICKER
Paul Vandenburgh will be happy to hear-

CREDICO
[inaudible] I do. When I'm driving from Albany, I gotta listen to Michael Savage, because he's interesting radio. You're interesting radio. You're an iconoclast, kind of gadfly yourself.

DICKER
I try to be, that's appropriate.

CREDICO
Uh, well-

DICKER
Especially if you think you're right, in being iconoclastic. And the icons deserve to be smashed.

Excerpt two:

DICKER
What time is the press conference today, Randy? Is there- How's-

CREDICO
Some time, as- Like three o'clock, it's going to be something- I don't even know where I'm going to do it yet. I have people in D.C. working on it [this press conference, as said, never took place]. Alright?

DICKER
They should get you a room at the National Press Club, sure. Seriously, do it there.

CREDICO
I'm hoping- I'm hoping that Maggie Haberman [top domestic political reporter for the New York Times] shows up [DICKER laughs], but she's probably in New York today. Alright? So now she can actually ask me a question about all this.

DICKER
Randy-

CREDICO
Alright?

DICKER
As opposed to writing a story without having you quoted in it, I understand. Randy, listen, thank you so much for joining us, we appreciate all you do...if I don't speak to you, on the air, before Christmas, I wish you a very merry Christmas, I know a lot of listeners out there really appreciate your joining us, and it's good for a laugh, and it's very serious as well. Thank you so much for being with us.

CREDICO
I thank you and thank you to all your listeners, and happy new year, and- In case I go to jail, Fred, and a wonderful christmas, ramadan, whatever you celebrate-

DICKER
Chanukah.

CREDICO
Chanukah. All of- Any- Yes.

DICKER
Kwanzai [sic].

CREDICO
Kwanzaa. Whatever it is, Fred. That you're buddhist, whatever it is.

DICKER
[starting to lose patience] Okay, Randy.

CREDICO
But we know the harvest day is the twenty-fifth- I hope you have a nice harvest there. In your front yard. And it isn't a bunch of signs planted there, by the uuuuh by those guys out- that work in the Paladino campaign.

DICKER
[laughs] You remember that? Roger Stone [reference to mailer smearing, without basis, libertarian candidate as a pedophile; Stone was strongly connected to this campaign tactic, and did not disavow or condemn it]. Randy Credico, thanks so much for being with us. And good luck today at your press conference, or whatever the event will be. Should be pretty interesting and I hope you get people turning out.