WASHIGNTON — Conservative author Jerome Corsi said Monday that he has rejected a deal offered by special counsel Robert Mueller to plead guilty to one count of perjury, saying he would have been forced to say untruthfully that he intentionally lied to investigators.
In fact, Corsi said he was merely forgetful in his initial answers to Mueller’s team about his interest in the activities of WikiLeaks, which released hacked Democratic emails during the 2016 campaign.
His apparent rejection of a plea offer is the latest twist in a monthslong effort by Mueller’s team to secure the cooperation of the author and conspiracy theorist.
Corsi provided research during the 2016 White House race to Roger Stone, a longtime adviser to Donald Trump. For months, the special counsel has been scrutinizing Stone’s activities to determine whether he coordinated with WikiLeaks or its founder, Julian Assange, in the release of Democratic emails. Stone and WikiLeaks have repeatedly denied any such coordination.
In several interviews Monday, Corsi alleged that Mueller is trying to use him to build a case that a Trump associate coordinated with WikiLeaks.
“They’re trying to fit facts into their predetermined narrative,” he told the conservative cable channel One America News Network. “What they wanted me to testify was that I was the conduit to WikiLeaks and Assange for Roger Stone, who in turn had a conduit to the campaign. And it just isn’t so.”
A spokesman for the special counsel declined to comment, as did David Gray, an attorney for Corsi.
In his sessions with Mueller’s team, prosecutors seized on inconsistencies between his statements and emails, Corsi told The Washington Post.
He said he first told investigators that he never encouraged anyone to go see Assange in the summer of 2016. However, Corsi told The Post, he amended his testimony after Mueller’s investigators allowed him to refresh his memory and review his emails, which were housed on a laptop he had provided under a subpoena.
Corsi said he doesn’t understand why he should plead guilty to lying when he voluntarily turned over his records and spoke based on poor memory.
“I am not going to lie to avoid going to prison,” Corsi said, adding: “I found my recollection was horrible. But I am not swearing to a federal judge that I intentionally lied to the special counsel.”
Send questions/comments to the editors.
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Hi, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have a commenting profile? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.