Exactly two weeks ago it was reported that Special Counsel Robert Mueller was going to indict conservative author and conspiracy theorist Jerome Corsi for perjury. Mueller was apparently not satisfied with Corsi’s answers about what he knew ahead of the 2016 hack of the DNC and the ensuing WikiLeaks email dump.
Corsi on Monday claimed he has rejected a plea deal on a count of perjury. The Atlantic‘s Natasha Bertrand reports that Corsi is turning down this offer because he says he did not lie.
Jerome Corsi tells me that Mueller has offered him a plea deal on one count of perjury, but that he's not going to take it because it would require him to sign a statement saying he knowingly and willfully lied, which he still denies. And much more. Story to come.
— Natasha Bertrand (@NatashaBertrand) November 26, 2018
“They can put me in prison the rest of my life,” he would add. “I am not going to sign a lie.”
Jerome Corsi tells CNN that he was offered a plea deal by the Special Counsel for one count of perjury, but says he won't accept: “They can put me in prison the rest of my life. I am not going to sign a lie."
— Oliver Darcy (@oliverdarcy) November 26, 2018
When news of the Corsi indictment first broke, Corsi quickly responded to multiple news organizations by accusing the special counsel of setting a “perjury trap.”
“When they have your emails and phone records … they’re very good at the perjury trap,” he said.
He also told ABC News, for instance, that he thought his “only crime was that I support Donald Trump. That’s my crime, and now I’m going to go to prison for the rest of my life for cooperating with them.”
Corsi also claimed that his being an opponent of the “deep state” explains why he faces criminal charges.
It was thought that the special counsel would be interested in cutting a deal with Corsi in exchange for witness cooperation in the ongoing Russia investigation. Former Southern District of New York prosecutor Daniel S. Goldman, however, seems to think that Corsi reacted to the imminent indictment by attempting to cooperate with Mueller. Goldman speculates that Corsi didn’t get a cooperation plea deal he thought he would get and is instead attempting to fight the perjury charge.
what's likely going on: Corsi tried to cooperate with Mueller after being told he would be indicted for making false statements; ultimately Mueller decided Corsi wasn't truthful and did not offer him coop plea deal; w/out benefits of coop agmt, Corsi wants to fight the charge. https://t.co/aWRRgTxSpD
— Daniel Goldman (@danielsgoldman) November 26, 2018
If that’s true, then that is a really interesting development for Roger Stone, an associate of Corsi’s. When we first learned of a Corsi subpoena, Corsi’s lawyer David Gray said that he believed Mueller was going to ask about “communications with Roger Stone.” That communication is reportedly related to WikiLeaks and its founder Julian Assange.
Corsi has denied having any direct advance knowledge of the email release from WikiLeaks, and claimed he just figured out that emails such as those belonging to Hillary Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta were going to get out.
[Image via Newsmax screengrab]
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