The American presidential contest is heating up, but the new book about Democratic co-frontrunner Hillary Clinton may have some wide consequences. It alleges that the Clinton family has been involved in abuse, rape and fraud, not having any qualms with using the privileged position and money to shut the mouths of victims. What's the basis of these claims? Can it change the flow of the election campaign? We speak to the author of the book, a former advisor to Nixon and Reagan. Roger Stone is on Sophie&Co today.
Sophie Shevardnadze: Roger Stone, political strategist, former advisor to presidents Nixon, Reagan, to candidate Donald Trump.. Now, you've just pen a book, called "Clinton's war on women", where you alleged that a lot of, frankly, sensational things about the personal lives of Bill and HIllary Clinton. For instance, you claim that Clintons systematically abused women, sexually and physically. Do you mean to say they rape and beat them? I mean, is that what you're saying?
Roger Stone: Well, Hillary Clinton's running for president of the U.S., claiming to be an advocate for women and that's true - unless you're one of those women unlucky enough to have been sexually assaulted by her husband. Eileen Wellstone, Juanita Broaddrick, Carolyn Moffet, Liz Ward, Becky Brown, Helen Dowdy, Polly Jones, Cathy Ferguson, Christy Zercher, Kathy Willey - I could go on, because they are in the hundreds. These women have been sexually assaulted by Bill and then it is Hillary Clinton, as I establish in my book, who hires the heavy-handed private detectives to then threaten those women, to intimidate them into silence, so they don't get in the way of the Clinton's rise to power and wealth.
SS: Okay, so, mr. Stone, I guess the important question here is where do you get this information from?
RS: From the women themselves. They've all been interviewed, extensively. Unfortunately here, in the mainstream media in the U.S., through most of the 90s you had a very substantial media blackout, but Juanita Broaddrick, for example, spoke about her horrific rape at the hands of Bill Clinton. Bill Clinton not only raped her but he bit her upper lip, almost bit it through as a bid to be silenced. She said this on NBC in an interview with Lisa Myers. She said it with Sean Hannity on Fox News network. Unfortunately, many in the mainstream media, in the thrall of the Clintons, didn't cover it. But, it happened, and no one has been able to disprove it. One of the great canards that comes from the Clinton's supporters is that they say: "Oh, that's all been discredited and has been disproved" - actually, none of it has been discredited, none of it has been disproved. We also reveal in the book that Hillary has been physically abusive of her husband.
SS: Hold on, hold on, before we get to that point, I want to ask you, because, you know, these are very serious allegations, okay? So, why are we only hearing about them now, and, honestly, where is the guarantee that, you know, these women telling these stories, they are true? How can you trust them?
RS: It's kinda like Bill Cosby: if there were one or two women, you might guess. I interviewed 27 women who tell an identical story. These women have not even spoke to each other in many cases. Here, in the U.S., when you publish a book like this, you can be sued. My lawyers, for the publisher, have gone through every word, my book is carefully documented with footnotes and sources. I stand behind my book and let the book speak for itself. Last week, Hillary Clinton put out a video designed for college rape victims and she said, and I quote: "You deserve to be believed". Why are those women different from these women who have been sexually assaulted by her husband? Why are we just hearing about it now? Because the mainstream media in this country has blocked this information. It's a very sad thing, but it's true. These women are available, they talk to other reporters, all these things have been reported elsewhere, but they don't get picked up by CBS.
SS: How come they didn't block Monica Lewinsky but they block all these other women from telling their story?
RS: Because Monica Lewinsky's relationship with Bill Clinton was a consensual relationship. My book is not about consensual sex. I am libertine, I understand consensual sex between adults...
SS: No, no, hold on, that's not the point of my question. The point of my question is, if a woman wants to talk about having sex with a President, whether it's rape or consensual, media definitely grabs that story and then you have a President who is almost impeached, so why wouldn't they talk about these other 27 women that you allege were abused by Bill Clinton?
RS: In many cases it took a lawsuit. Bill Clinton denied, for example, that he ever met Paula Jones. Then, in the House impeachment inquiry, when he was under oath, he reluctantly admitted that he had assaulted her and her paid her $850,000 in a legal settlement. So, these women have spoken out in many cases. Let me say this: when you have your children threatened, your pets killed, you home ransacked and broken into, your car windows shattered, when you have late-night phone calls saying "We know where your children go to school".... many of these women were very reticent to talk because they are poor women. They are not women who can afford lawyers. They are not women who can afford to fight back. By the way, Michael Isikoff from NBC, he has reported this, Roger Morris, Pulitzer prize-winning author of Washington Post, he has reported this. So, it's not just Roger Stone who has made these allegations.
SS: Now, you say, Hillary "psychologically raped" her or Bill's victims. Why do you refer to it like that? Aren't you just being inflammatory?
RS: No, not at all. Well, you're a woman, how would you feel if your pet was killed, if you cat was killed and left at the front door? If a man called your home late at night and said: "We know where your kids go to school"? If your home was broken into? In my book, I establish the actual names and, in many cases, the reports by other journalists that Jack Palladino, private detective, Anthony Pellicano, private detective, now in prison for illegal wiretapping, Ivan Duda, private detective - these men all said the same thing, they were retained by Hillary Clinton to keep tabs on and conduct a terror campaign to silence Bill's sexual assault victims. No, I'm not being inflammatory, I deal in facts, not rumors, not conspiracy, facts. By the way, I'm open to lawsuits, here in the U.S., the Clinton's won't sue me, because they know that I can then depose them, under oath, about anything in this book.
SS: Do you think they'll sue you or they're too busy running the campaign?
RS: No, they're too busy being afraid that this is the issue that can bring them down. Now, I should also say, my book also includes the two billion dollar financial frauds at the Clinton Foundation, includes Bill Clinton's involvement with trafficking cocaine during the time when he was the governor, his association with Dan Lasater and others. This book is a complete and total expose of Bill, Hillary and Chelsea Clinton.
SS: So you also say that... you allege that Hillary physically abused her husband, Bill. I mean, this sounds like a lot of passion. Here, in Russia, by the way, we have this tongue-in-cheek proverb, "to beat is to love". I don't like domestic violence, but that's how the proverb goes. So, perhaps, she just loves him too much?
RS: I don't believe the Secret Service agents who have told that to multiple reporters in the U.S. are lying, I don't think the former campaign associates of Bill Clinton who have spoken too, it was published in the last weeks in the New York Post... We know, Dee Dee Myers, President's Press-Secretary, ultimately admitted it, when she said that after Barbra Streisand's stayed overnight in the White House, at the time when Hillary was out of town, she said that the scratch on the President's face was caused by a "shaving accident". She later admitted that that was a lie. No, I think I put forward the evidence, hard evidence, documented evidence, that Hillary Clinton has beaten, kicked, punched, scratched and thrown hard objects at her husband. At the same time, she says in her gun control proposal: "Those involved in domestic abuse should not have a gun", it's hypocrisy, that's what this is about.
SS: But is their marriage really much fairer than many other people's intense relationships, seriously?
RS: Their marriage is dysfunctional. It is a marriage of convenience, and the instance of a lust for power. Even if I'm wrong, even if Bill's sexual conquests are all consensual, how many times Hillary has to be humiliated by her husband before she does something about it?
SS: Now, your co-author is known for his obsession with the Clinton family, which, sometimes, to be quite honest, takes sexual, really disturbing forms, which are not suitable, appropriate for us to broadcast on TV. Doesn't that take away from the credibility of your book? Especially if you're relying on the research of this pretty extreme person?
RS: I actually find your questions disturbing, because you'd like to give a pass to the Clintons. You know what? Robert Moreau is a supreme researcher, and there's no question: what he has learned about the Clinton's abuse of people, men, women and children, has made him very, very angry. He should be angry. Anybody who reads this book will be angry, because it is the unvarnished, ugly truth about the privileged elite in this country. There are certain people, like the Clintons, like the Bushes, for whom the laws do not matter, they can traffic drugs, they can assault and abuse other people - again, I ask people: read the book, make your own judgement. Don't let the media decide for you, don't let the twisted freaks in Media Matters for America who are being paid to peddle this information, don't let them decide for you. Read the book, make your own decisions.
SS: Now, you recently quit your post as an aide to Donald Trump, arguably the biggest Presidential rival to Hillary Clinton at the moment. Aren't you still helping his cause with this book, or do you just really hate the Clintons that much?
RS: Well, I don't "hate" anybody, but I do think that our leaders should be improved. Look, I am not still working for Donald Trump, but I am still supporting him. He has been a friend of mine for 40 years, he attended my wedding, I attended to of his, I went to the funerals of both of his parents, I helped his sister become a very respected federal judge. Donald Trump is the greatest entrepreneur and businessman in the U.S.. Frankly, I think it's time for the U.S. to have a leader, to have a President kinda like comrade Putin.
SS: We're gonna get to Donald Trump, we're going to get to his campaign, but I am asking, precisely, about this book: don't you think that people will see this as predictable muckraking from the Republican camp?
RS: No, because I have written book, actually, about Jeb Bush and the Bush crime family. I am not even a Republican! I am a member of the Libertarian party. The Republican and the Democratic party in this country have become one party. It's the Endless War party. It's the party of the erosion of our civil liberties. It's the Big Debt and Big Borrowing party. It's the party of high taxes, it's the party of Wall St.. Both parties are infected with Wall St. money. This is why I am for Trump! He doesn't need Wall St. money, he doesn't need special interest money. The book stands on its own. I've began writing this book before I knew Donald Trump was going to run for President.
SS: Now, you blame Hillary Clinton for having a temper, for behaving abusively. Yet, you support Donald Trump who has offended just about everyone along the way, and has been especially derogatory to women. I mean, he seriously speaks about women like, about domestic appliances, pretty much. Don't you see a contradiction here? Aren't you being a little two-faced?
RS: Why would you acquaint words with physicality? They are not the same. You know, free speech is a big item here in the U.S., we have something called The First Amendment. If Trump has offended so many people, why is he doing so well in the polls? No, my problem with Hillary Clinton is her physical abuse of people, and that is the case I make in the book. I don't think you can acquaint one with the other.
SS: You call yourself the "Ultimate Trump loyalist", but you gave up your role as his top advisor. You said it's because of controversy and provocative media fights but you're no stranger to that. Why did you give up your chance to influence a campaign, help it stay "on tracks" as you say?
RS: I think, I'm influencing the campaign more from the outside, that I was from the inside. Politics is about ideas, big, sweeping, important ideas. Yes, I think picking on reporters, attacking reporters is counter-productive. I would have to tell you, no my place in my career, generally speaking, have I attacked honest reporters. Most of the time, I don't even bother with an exchange. Reporters are, generally speaking, doing their job, but I was not happy, at that time, that Trump campaign was not laying out his vision. Since that time he has put forward a very comprehensive economic and jobs plan that I think would lift our economy and create millions of jobs and make this country more competitive in the world marketplace. That's the Donald Trump that I respect. He's an entrepreneur, he's a businessman, he's got the financial independence to be president. Just because I have left his employ does not mean that I'm having no impact on the election, and, frankly, I have been on television, on radio, I have written far more about the Presidential election than I have about Hillary Clinton and this book.
SS: Now, the Clintons aren't the only heavyweight political clan that you're not big fan of. As you've mentioned, there's a book on Jeb Bush in the works, right?
RS: Yes, that's correct.
SS: Do you have a general dislike of powerful families, or it's just the Clintons and the Bushes?
RS: I have a general dislike of dynasties and families for whom the rule of law means nothing. Yes, when an American politician, regardless of the party, can break the law, can traffic drugs, can hide evidence from the American people, can tamper with witnesses, can threaten people, in some cases, maybe, even be involved with assassination - yes, I am most definitely opposed. Look, the Clintons and the Bushes are the same. They actually work together. They raised $138 mn dollars through a non-profit for Haitian earthquake relief. They spent $10 million ,the pocketed a $128 million. It's in this book. It will also be in my book, written from a different point of view, on the Bushes. I just give that as one example of these two families working together to line their own pockets.
SS: But surely, anyone who gets to be the President of the U.S. is part of an elite, to an extent, seeing how expensive it is to be elected, right? When was your last blue collar President?
RS: Well, let's see... Lyndon Johnson was a blue color President, Richard Nixon was a blue collar President, Bill Clinton went to Oxford...
SS: But that was a really long time ago.
RS: Yes, it was, because under our system, the special interests pick and fund our Presidents. That's precisely why I am for Trump, he doesn't need anybody's money, he can't be bought, he can't be bullied.
SS: And it's not like Donald Trump is going to be a blue collar President if he wins, right?
RS: But he'll be an independent President. He will be independent of the financial elite. He is not the candidate of Wall St. He is not the candidate of big business. His only loyalty will be to the American people. He isn't taking contributions from anyone. He is self-funded. The last candidate for President for whom this was true, would have been billionaire Ross Perot, in the 1990s. So, yes, I think we have had elitist Presidents, that's precisely what I'm trying to change.
SS: Do you really think that Trump's outspoken, show-business style will stop him taking the Presidency, or at least, the nomination, in the end?
RS: It remains to be seen. In politics, a day, a night, is a lifetime. But, so far - so good. He's not just leading the Republican field. In some cases, like in South Carolina, which has an early, pivotal, primary, he's leading by significant double digits: sometimes 20%, 22%, 23%. So, look, all those people who said, and this was very common in the media and in financial elite: "He's not running, he's never gonna run, this is a publicity stunt to boost his brand and get his name on television and the newspapers" - then those same people said: "He'll never file his financial disclosures, he'll never tell the American people how much he's really worth." Well, he filed on the deadline, it was Jeb Bush, who asked for multiple extensions... and guess what? Donald Trump is worth ten billion dollars! Now they say: "Well, he'll never stay in the race, he's gonna flop, he'll drop out, he'll never show up on the debate stage" - and because he was there, the debate audiences were almost four times the size they were three years ago. The more people have watched the debates, the healthier it is for our democracy.
SS: From your point of view, do the less famous candidates have any real chance of being nominated?
RS: Yeah, they really do, for two reasons: on the Republican side, all of the early delegate contests are proportional, none of them are "winner-take-all", so the early contest, even though Trump could win, let's say, the other minor candidates will begin accumulating delegates. Then, secondarily, because of the Citizens United decision, and the rise of the super PACs, the reason that the little-known candidates used to drop out was because we're out of money. Now, that will not happen, because if you have a billionaire in your corner, or two or three, you can stay in the race as long as you want, and have plenty of money out there, pushing your name and your agenda, and so on. So, I think you could be looking for a contest that could go on, at least on the Republican side, as late as June.
SS: Now, does having a guy like Trump as a leading contender, you know, someone who doesn't necessarily behave like your regular run-of-the-mill politician, mean that regular politics, in general, is not interesting anymore? Or, is his behaviour just a gimmick?
RS: I think, you put your finger on it. It's not that it's not interesting, it's that people are fed up with it. They are tired of career politicians, they are tired of candidates for President offering the 10-point plan and going to back to Washington, loading up on a special interest money, eating and drinking and pocketing contributions from the special interests and nothing changes. I saw the Democratic debate, they talked about the horrific black unemployment, about the fact that our infrastructure is falling apart, the fact that our schools are terrible - Barack Obama has been President for almost 8 years, they've had their way and their policies for 8 years, and things haven't gotten better, particularly for African-americans in this country, who are economically and education-wise, and in terms of the incarceration rates, worse off than they were when Barack Obama started. So, I think, they're just fed up with the system. They believe this system is broken, they don't like either party, they distrust political institutions, they distrust the Congress, they distrust the big media, they distrust the system, which they believe, is rigged against the average person - and that's why Trump, and, to a certain extent, Ben Carson, for example, and maybe even Bernie Sanders, they are resonating, because voters see them as outsiders and different from the other career politicians. Bernie Sanders isn't taking special interest money, he's not taking PAC money. God bless him! I don't agree with him, he says he's a Democratic Socialist, that's like a "meat-eating vegetarian"; but, nonetheless, at least he has a courage in his convictions and he isn't bought and paid for.
SS: Mr. Stone, thank you so much for this interview, for your wonderful insight. We were talking to Roger Stone, political strategist, former advisor to Presidents Nixon and Reagan, as well as candidate Donald Trump, author of "Clinton's War on Women", talking about the newest sensational allegations of abusive behaviour of Clinton family, and what can that mean for the outcome of the U.S. Presidential election. That's it for this edition of Sophie&Co, I will see you next time.