#this is actually a near direct quote from a witness i was cross examining in court btw

[slythereen]

he's such a piece of shit,there's no reason for charles to have lied, they never push too much in the beginning of the race AND if it was for him to push bryan would tell him to push

¯\_(ツ)_/¯ now why would you apply logic to an illogical argument

[emybain]

Renegades Titanic AU Part 7

much shorter than the last update (and written on 4 hours of sleep at midnight), but I felt like the ending was a good stopping point for the part. the next update (which will hopefully be out by the end of the weekend!) should be a lot more interesting;). also the part title is a direct quote from the movie, and its only there because I couldn't find a spot for it here:(((

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6

Part 7: “We’re Women. Our choices are never easy.”

Nova leaned over the tiny sink in her cabin and splashed water onto her face. Judging from the light streaming into the window over the sink, she guessed it was mid morning. She had just woken up after a sleepless night, and found the room to be empty; she guessed the others were still at breakfast. 

Her head was pounding, throat on fire. When she had returned to the cabin the night before, exhausted and cold, she all but tore her dress off (with difficulty, of course) and fell into bed. While she was asleep nearly instantly, she woke up in the middle of the night drenched in sweat after dreaming of her family again. This was nothing new; she had been having nightmares about them and their deaths since the night she witnessed their murders over ten years ago. She had hated sleeping since, and rarely got any to begin with. It was a miracle that she hadn’t dropped dead yet of exhaustion, but she had gotten used to a two-to-four-hour-at-most sleep schedule, and was more than fine with it. Anything to keep from seeing her mother and father and sister being shot again. 

Her dress from the night before, which she vaguely remember throwing onto the floor before passing out, was now neatly laid out and smoothed over on Honey’s well made bed. Nova rolled her eyes. She was sure Honey had gushed over it upon waking up and seeing it at the foot of her bed. Adrian had said the night before that Ruby would probably let Nova keep the dress, but Nova had a feeling that Honey wouldn’t let her return it anyway. Nevermind that Honey wouldn’t be able to fit into the same small frame that both Nova and Ruby had. 

Nova was about to head out to find the others when the door opened, revealing Ingrid. She did a once over of Nova before reaching for her coat that rested on top of her bed, which was above Leroy’s. 

“Good. You’re up. Honey wants to take a walk around the deck and I’m not going alone. She should be back in a minute with Leroy so get your things.” 

Nova ran a hand through her hair, blinking. “Actually, I had other plans.” She didn’t, but she would rather not be around Honey or Ingrid, especially Ingrid, at the moment. 

Ingrid raised an eyebrow. “Like what? Go meet up with your little boyfriend? Didn’t you two get enough of one another last night at the party?” Upon seeing Nova’s confused face, Ingrid rolled her eyes. “I’m not an idiot, little Nightmare. I know you where you were last night, and it certainly wasn’t just the dinner in first class. How was that, by the way? I was expecting a bread roll when you returned, but you got back so late.” There was an uncomforting edge to Ingrid’s tone, close to a snap, yet disguised as attempting cheerful. 

Nova crossed her arms. “You followed me, is that what I’m hearing?” She let out a huff. “Can’t say I’m surprised.”

“You will not behave that way again, Nova. Do you understand?” Ingrid dropped her façade, lowering her voice and becoming serious. “We have one job, and we can’t have you willingly jumping into the beds of our enemies unless it is for information. Although I think it’s pretty obvious last night was a waste, correct?”

    “I’m not one of your explosives that you create and control, Ingrid.” Nova tilted her chin up, despite feeling her cheeks warm. She had not been in anyone’s bed last night other than her own, but she wasn’t about to tell Ingrid this; Ingrid was just trying to goad her into breaking. “I’m Ace Anarchy’s niece, and you can’t tell me what I can and cannot do.”

    “Ace Anarchy’s niece?” Ingrid huffed, then raised her voice, stepping closer to Nova. “Ace Anarchy’s niece? Yes you are, Nova Artino, and your job is to get him out of prison and put us in power again!” She pushed Nova back, causing her to stumble and fall over Leroy’s suitcase that was laying on the floor and wide open. Pain immediately erupted in her ankle, although Nova was too frozen to recognize it. Ingrid kicked the suitcase aside and got up in Nova’s face. “You may be his niece but I have followed him for a lot longer than you have, and I at least know where my loyalties lie!” She lowered her voice, although the anger didn’t leave her eyes. “I will not be made a fool, Nova. Is this in any way unclear?” When Nova shook her head quickly, unable to form a coherent word, Ingrid nodded and stepped away. “Good.”

    At that moment, Honey and Leroy walked in. Nova scurried up, ignoring the pain that shot through her ankle. Honey gasped in excitement and clapped her hands together. 

    “Oh, Nova, darling, you’re awake! Good, good! Come, tell us all about your handsome boy toy on our walk!” Nova took one glance at Honey, readjusted her button down, and glared at Ingrid. 

    “Actually, I was just heading out. Alone.” She pushed past the three of them, eyes trained on the ground. Ingrid’s cold hand closed around her wrist before she could open the door. 

    “You are not to see that boy again, unless we know of it. Do you understand?” When Nova didn’t respond, the grip on her wrist tightened. “Nova. I forbid it.”

    “Oh, stop it, Ingrid, before you give yourself a nosebleed.” Nova sneered up at the older woman. Not a second later, Nova’s hand was holding her cheek, tears brimming in her eyes. She barely registered that Ingrid had just slapped her. 

    “Ingrid Thompson!” Leroy snapped, reaching out to pull the woman back, but she pushed him away. Soft hands wrapped around Nova’s face and pried Nova’s hand away to examine the blow. Honey. 

    Only half aware of what she was doing, and how she was doing it, Nova managed to open the door and rush out into the hall. She took long strides, not daring to look back, even as Ingrid yelled at her. People sidestepped her, backing up against the wall to avoid being hit. 

    “This is not a game, Artino! Stop being so selfish!”

__________

Adrian wasn’t sure how he managed to slip away.

They had been given a private tour of the ship that morning by none other than Thomas Andrews, the architect in charge of the design of the Titanic, himself. They had even held a conversation with the captain of the ship, who had been in good spirits and held pride in commanding such a vessel. 

After the gym, however, Adrian was thoroughly bored. He could tell Oscar, Danna, and Ruby were as well, based on their expressions. 

His thoughts wandered to Nova, who he had undoubtedly tried to kiss not twenty-four hours ago and was undoubtedly rejected by her. He had been sure, so sure, in fact, that she felt the same hammering in her chest as he did whenever they were around one another. That perhaps being near him sent chills up her arms like it did with him. This attraction, especially to her, of all people, was foreign to Adrian. He was certain he had never felt so drawn to another person before in his life. It was unsettling yet comforting at the same time. If only she felt the same as he did. 

“You want to see her, don’t you.” Adrian looked over at Oscar at his side, who had his relaxed, crooked smile on his face. 

“It’s obvious he does,” Ruby said from in front of them. She and Danna were in front of the two boys, arm in arm. They slowed down to walk with the boys, but still stayed in front of them. They were on the deck of the ship beside the lifeboats, which took up the majority of the deck space on that part of the ship, forcing the touring group to walk no more than two wide. “He’s been distracted ever since breakfast.”

Oscar snorted. “Try since waking up. He’s been practically ignoring me all morning.” 

“I’m right here, you guys.” Adrian rolled his eyes, brushing off their teasing. “And no, Ruby. Would I want to see her? That’s ridiculous.”

“She never said a name,” Danna deadpanned, side-eyeing Adrian with the tiniest of smiles. “You’re hopeless, really. If you wanted to go smooch-up your new lover, you should’ve just said something.” With that she unwrapped her arm from Ruby’s and sped up. “Mr. Andrews!” she called out, in what she liked to refer to as her ‘I’m not up to anything’ voice. 

Adrian reached out to stop her, but she was too quick. Mr. Andrews turned, breaking off whatever topic he had been discussing with Evander Wade. The rest of the group turned to her as well. 

“Forgive me,” Danna smiled apologetically, “but I did the sum in my head, and with the number of lifeboats times the capacity you mentioned earlier,” she paused, pursing her lips, “forgive me, but it seems that there are not enough for everyone aboard.” Even Hugh, a nearly unimpressible man, blinked.

“About half, actually.” Mr. Andrews chuckled. It hadn’t been the first time that Danna had interrupted the tour to ask questions, and Adrian could tell Mr. Andrews was thrilled by her curiosity, seeing as she was the only person displaying any interest in his realm of expertise. “You miss nothing, do you, Miss Danna?” He then went into a long explanation as to why there were so little lifeboats on such a massive ship, Danna listening intently to every word. 

Adrian would have just stood there, watching the pair until Danna was satisfied with an answer and returned to her friends, but Oscar nudged him and nodded behind them, as if beckoning him to leave. Adrian shook his head, frowning. He couldn’t just disappear and not have someone ask of his whereabouts. 

“For all that is good in this world, just go!” Ruby hissed, huffing dramatically and using all of her strength to push Adrian. “We’ll cover for you, say you weren’t feeling well or something but didn’t want to interrupt.”

Adrian opened his mouth to protest, but she silenced him. Truthfully, he wanted to speak to Nova, at least clear things up between them so that they wouldn’t have to part with her thinking poorly of his character; he had to at least apologize for his actions the night before. 

Surely his parents wouldn’t suspect too much.

[cat-at-dawn]

IN DEFENSE OF THE DEATH OF  ████████ , AND AN ARGUMENT AGAINST SUICIDE

This one’s for the manga readers! Post-volume 19 meta, spoilers aplenty! read at your own risk

Though the literal iteration of the death of Ash Lynx can be viewed as a purposeful shuffle from this mortal coil, a specific decision made with weight to return to the New york Public Library to live out his last moments dwelling on Eiji’s letter only to intentionally fade away, here stands a lonely argument; out of the entire cast, no one person deserves death in the same capacity more than Ash Lynx does, and his death is not a suicide. Let’s break it down.

Out of all of the MANY problematic elements of Banana Fish, not even trying to hazard which offense is worse than the next, we can all simultaneously agree that one of the most heartbreaking twists of the series comes at the end of volume 19, when after receiving Eiji’s goodbye letter, which essentially amounts to an incredibly pure love declaration, Ash allows himself to be mentally distracted long enough for Sing’s brother Lao to deliver a killing stab to his intestines. Though Lao dies shortly after Ash’s retaliation, Ash continues to linger in a liminal place. The question hangs in the mind of the reader, if Ash approached a happy ending, why would he not seek hospitalization? Why would he allow himself to bleed out? The manga strikes back hard at the reader with a quite prolonged death sequence, in which Ash retreats to his favorite place to be alone, the New York Public Library, where, with a smile on his face, he falls into a peaceful sleep and dies at a reading table while clutching Eiji’s now bloody love letter. What is the nature of his mindset which dictates this course of action? Why, with Eiji hale and hearty, would Ash choose death instead of medical treatment and a possibly much happier ending to this tale of woe? At this point, I can only wonder if we, the readership, have read the same story. The ending of Banana Fish is hotly debated, and even though as a queer storyteller myself I fundamentally have trouble with gay death as a narrative element, I can’t help but question why people can’t empathize more with Ash’s decision. When judging the manga as a standing piece, I can’t think of a more satisfying, or simply more correct turn of events.

Directly out of the gate, Ash’s death is foreshadowed in the title of the series. A Perfect Day For Banana Fish is a short story by J.D. Salinger which follows the last day in the life of mentally ill World War 2 veteran Seymour Glass, who befriends a little girl while on vacation at the beach. He invites her to catch bananafish with him, and explains that the greedy fish enter holes to gorge themselves on bananas, but become too large to escape again and instead perish in the hole. Later, Seymour returns to his room where his wife is sleeping, and he kills himself. Salinger relates this as a metaphor for his own personal experience in the war, specifically to his time at the Battle of the Bulge and in Nazi concentration camps. He is quoted saying Seymour is an iteration of himself, and has gone so far as to say that he “found it impossible to fit into a society that ignored the truth that he now knew.”  The point of the story has always been to examine the irreversible damage done to the human psyche by war. The Perfect Day referenced in the title is exactly that; the quest of a broken man lacking the power to overcome his trauma to find exactly the perfect day to die. So it also is with Ash, we understand from the very beginning that making this direct analogy to Salinger means the manga will be the slow disclosure of someone who is irrevocably damaged by their circumstance as they come to terms with the moment of their own death. From the very first panel you see him, Ash’s death is already fated, and truly the most heart-rending struggle of the series is watching him grapple with this identity, up to nearly the very last second. As a reader, we continuously keep hoping and praying that he might, against all odds, find salvation despite literally every piece of contrary evidence suggesting otherwise. We have violent affection for Ash as a hero, and we want him so badly to live on, to make it to the other side. He both finds salvation and doesn’t find it, because like everything else about this manga, Ash operates thematically on contradictory levels all the way through the story and on to the bitter end. Let’s break it down even further, by considering exactly just how fucked Ash really is.

Ash is born Aslan Jade Callenrese, and then quickly discarded. He briefly experiences a short period of normalcy with the love of his brother and distant father before Griffin is drafted. Almost immediately after, Ash is raped by the Bluebeard of Cape Cod and then blamed for it, and from then on, his life is a progression of non-stop horror. He is kidnapped by Marvin who repeatedly rapes him over a period of years. He is sold into sexual servitude at Club Cod. He somehow  manages to avoid getting addicted to the opioids that all the child prostitutes were fed to keep them tame, and when Ash escapes, it is only because he is instead personally taken under Papa Dino’s wing, who specifically sexually abuses him while simultaneously not knowing or caring that Marvin continues to rape Ash, among presumably a handful of other people. Blanca is a small, bright focal point for Ash at age 13 when Ash lets himself briefly believe he has autonomy, and he is released to start his own gang. Ash’s fundamental humanity and inherent leadership magnetically draw people to him, and for the first time in his life, Ash briefly entertains the idea of having a private romantic relationship of his own. He is attracted to a girl he likes very much, but she is murdered almost immediately due to her association with him. He afterward throws himself into the business of his gang without ever fully extracting himself from Papa Dino’s hold. It is only with the discovery of the capsule containing Banana Fish that Ash for the first time in his short life discovers a bit of real leverage he can actually use against Dino. The subsequent drug war sees him beaten, sent to jail, raped many more times, and sent on a cross-country mission on the lam from the law, as well as from Dino’s goons, both Corsican and Chinese. Yut-Lung proves to be a worthy adversary in LA, and his teaming up with Arthur sees Ash murdering his best friend Shorter in cold blood who is forcibly high on banana fish in order to save Eiji from an especially savage disembowelment. Ash is later declared legally dead, sent to a private insane asylum to be experimented on, tortured with the mangled bits of Shorter’s brain, and then after escaping yet again, still forced into a corner when Dino tricks and threatens him into becoming officially adopted, once more in order to prevent Eiji’s death. Ash is drugged, literally blinded, beaten, and emotionally and physically torn down. He nearly dies from intentionally wasting away, and is hospitalized. When he eventually once again manages to escape, it is only to regroup long enough to prepare to engage with his men in actual guerrilla warfare. The mercenary Foxx kills nearly all of Ash’s remaining gang, and once AGAIN, Ash is raped.  Ash is ultimately deprived of his revenge when he then has to witness Papa Dino’s death by the hand of someone other than himself. These are the major plot points, and don’t even touch on the myriad of lesser cruelties Ash has dealt with over the course of his short life, of which there are many, many more.  (See: The death of most of his friends, that fucklord Arthur, everything about Cape Cod, the pain of using his sexual wiles as a weapon, the pain of knowing if he opens up to others that the lives of his friends will be in danger, the pain of being unable to give his loved ones proper burials, his one hundred issues with classism, his complete inability to trust others with important tasks, the list goes on.)

Around volume 10, I started, in a serious way, feeling like Ash deserved death. Not in the way that a dog is put out of it’s misery when it is sick, but more in the way that when the path is this hard, the reward at the end should be equivalent to the struggle. Being a CSA survivor all on its own demands a certain level of understanding, especially when approaching volatile, sensitive subjects like suicide. The act of taking one’s own life is so deeply personal and hotly debated that there is no true narrative argument legitimate enough to address it’s purpose. All of it is too subjective. However, in the case of Ash Lynx as the thematic hero, the case stands that he never, except for perhaps the small corridor between the ages of 0-7, lived a life anywhere remotely near average, so his many brushes with near-suicide are chillingly understandable. At one point, when forced to either shoot himself in the head or watch Eiji die, Ash even goes so far as to grab the gun and immediately try to blow his brains out. When the gun is proven empty, instead of breathing a secret sigh of relief, Ash only demands that Yut Lung give him a bullet. 

Though this emphasizes Ash’s near fanatical devotion to protecting Eiji, whose innocence he both disdains and canonizes, it also represents his constant readiness to die. This flirtation with the reaper is emphasized over and over in the official art, where a sexual element is often present in his interactions with death. Ash wishes for death to embrace him, he literally desires it. This is mostly on a subtextual level, but other times his desire is stiflingly surface-level.

 The extent of Ash’s damage is so severe and was inflicted on him so early that his ability to live a normal life was only ever subject to his situation. An argument can be made that his unusually high IQ kept him from the brink of emotional destruction for the majority of his life, but in spite of his incredible virility and strength of character, Ash’s prospects as he aged were always bleak at best. Ash the adult is almost unfathomable. He was literally never allowed to be a child during a key developmental period, and even the manga infers that Eiji’s presence as a romantic element is strongly tied to Ash’s desire to return to a time of innocence. Ash is permanently trapped in a never-neverland of sorts, sexually defiled to the point where his own sexual awakening has been completely obscured beyond his own recognition. His relationship with Eiji is painfully asexual, one, because literally everything about Banana Fish is painful, but also because it is unclear if Ash may have been naturally asexual in the first place or if he was made into an asexual as the result of his childhood trauma. Either way, he certainly doesn’t have a lot of choice about the way that he is, and that way is, fundamentally, morally, and spiritually exhausted. It is only his tenacious spark, his survivors grip to life, and his affection for others in his life whom he loves that are weaker than him, that keeps him stubbornly clung to his own mortal vessel until the very end.

Eiji’s presence as a guiding light is, in THE definitively heartbreaking turn, the permission Ash needs to allow himself to finally die. He has always known that he would die, probably even thought that he should have already died, many, many times over. He is permanently and irreversibly damaged by the course of his life, and though we scream and cry and pray in the hope that Ash can make it, that he can still pull through and come out on the other side living and thriving in love, he was ultimately just never meant to make it that far. Even when Eiji tries to convince Ash that he is not the leopard, that he can come back down from the mountain, we are distantly still aware that this is not true, despite how difficult it is to accept. This difference of character is most clearly seen in Ash’s foil with Yut-Lung; both boys are the savant products of rape-and-murder-riddled childhoods. However, where Yut-Lung lacked anyone to give him acceptance and affection as he grew, Ash ended his time knowing love. Where Yut-Lung survives to the end and goes on to an even higher position of strength, he still has an emotional arc to complete. Yut Lung must discover for himself the value of human life. Ash already knew this value from the beginning, because his moral compass, which sometimes admittedly became scrambled, more or less always pointed true by the end of things.

The argument can be made that as the embodiment of the concept of Salinger’s short story, Ash is fated to die. Eiji, who in many ways is the window through which we experience this world, refuses to bend to fate. He insists in innocence again and again that Ash can change his fate, and for a moment, when Ash finds the plane ticket to Japan in Eiji’s letter, we really, really want to believe him. So, of course, because this manga is singularly cruel, it is here that Ash is stabbed. Of ffffucking course, after everything, death comes for Ash in a fashion which is completely mundane against the grandiose, bombastic scale of the story. An old grudge settled by someone Ash didn’t even have the time to hate in the first place. Ash let himself believe in a real life with Eiji for a single moment, and that proved to be his downfall. When he let his guard down, he let death in. He realizes his destiny immediately, because he is not stupid. His death is not a suicide, it is an understanding. 

 According to Akimi Yoshida, fate always wins out, but what the manga adds to this sad experience is this; despite everything, unlike Salinger’s broken Seymour, Ash’s heart in the end is full of love. His perfect day to die is the day he reads Eiji’s letter, the letter that declares them permanently bonded. Falling in love allows Ash to let go of himself gently, instead of the infinitely more brutal end he would have met at a villain’s hand otherwise, if he hadn’t fought tooth and nail for his very last scrap of autonomy up until that moment. Eiji’s love as an act of compassion is most perfectly realized; because Ash’s Perfect Day is one of is own making. All the circumstances together form a perfect conclusion. He didn’t see the knife coming, and he didn’t need to. After Papa Dino’s death, after Eiji is gone, Ash can finally stop. He can accept that his trauma is greater than even him. In a life spent being forced back and forth according to the violent winds of his circumstance, he chooses to, (and that’s important, he chooses to,) retreat like a cat to a quiet place of safety to live out his last moments. In this way, Ash’s death is merely a setting down of something unbearably heavy. Because he is loved, because Eiji is safe and far away, Ash is at last released from the prison of his life.

Other Banana Fish Meta: CAPE COD AS PURGATORY AND ASH’S BREAK FROM INNOCENCE

[thisdaynews]

WikiLeaks, dog threats and a fake death notice: Roger Stone's odd friendship with Randy Credico

New Post has been published on https://thebiafrastar.com/wikileaks-dog-threats-and-a-fake-death-notice-roger-stones-odd-friendship-with-randy-credico/

WikiLeaks, dog threats and a fake death notice: Roger Stone's odd friendship with Randy Credico

Credico’s 90-minute grilling by Stone defense lawyer Robert Buschel was high drama. Stone’s team painted Credico as a habitual liar who had repeatedly portrayed himself as someone who actually was in close contact with WikiLeaks and its founder Julian Assange as it mysteriously hinted that a huge dump of politically explosive material was coming.

As Credico and Buschel sparred, the judge presiding over the trial had to intervene multiple times. At one point, the witness simply threw up his hands and shouted back at his questioner.

“OK. I’m the big back channel!” Credico shouted, his answer laced with sarcasm. “I mean, come on, buddy.”

While Stone seems to have been the dominant figure in the relationship between the odd pair, Buschel contended that Credico’s repeated suggestions he had close ties to Assange and his inner circle actually backed up Stone’s case.

“So when Roger Stone got the impression you were an intermediary a go-between between WikiLeaks, you played him,” the defense lawyer said, prompting an objection from the prosecution. “You thought that you played Roger Stone?”

“That I played Roger Stone?,” Credico said incredulously. “I had to get Roger Stone off of my back, my friend.”

Stone and Credico actually have a working relationship going back more than a dozen years. It started with Credico’s work on a third-party New York gubernatorial campaign in 2002, included their mutual interest in reforming the state’s drug laws and later featured the two men appearing on each other’s radio shows as guests even though they are polar political opposites. The ties have also been strained and ruptured on several occasions.

Back in 2011, Stone blasted out on social media that Credico had died of a drug overdose, a practical joke that Credico said alarmed his friends and family. Things kept going south in the wake of the 2016 campaign as Stone started implying that his way into the world around Assange was through someone he eventually identified as Credico.

The claim ended up pulling Credico into a legal thicket that continues to this day. But in the aftermath of a presidential campaign that divided the country, Credico said he feared his standing with his left-leaning friends would be destroyed as the Watergate-era operative and showman pointed to him publicly as his so-called “back channel” to WikiLeaks.

“I can’t work on his level,” the entertainer and activist said from the witness stand. “He plays hardball. He throws a lot of junk and I didn’t want to get hit.”

Stone looked on impassively during Credico’s tumultuous testimony, leaning in to look at exhibits being displayed on a TV monitor at the defense table and occasionally using a Sharpie to jot notes on pink index cards and pass them to his lawyers.

During a rapid-fire series of questions from a federal prosecutor earlier Friday, Credico acknowledged repeatedly that he felt intimidated as Stone urged him in 2017 and 2018 to avoid speaking to congressional and FBI investigators who’d been asking their own uncomfortable questions about Russian interference in the 2016 election.

“I did not want to rile Mr. Stone,” Credico answered near the end of a 90-minute exchange of direct testimony that opened day four of Stone’s trial.

A federal grand jury Washington indicted Stone in January for deceiving lawmakers by concealing earlier efforts to dispatch a right-wing journalist, Jerome Corsi, to gather damaging Clinton emails from Assange. Stone is also charged with pressing Credico to stay silent in the face of government investigations by threatening his omnipresent therapy dog Bianca and making other overtures.

While Credico’s testimony bolstered prosecutors’ allegations that Stone lied and ignored repeated pleas from Credico to retract his testimony, one portion of what the liberal activist said on cross-examination appeared to undercut the most serious of the seven felony counts Stone faces — the charge of witness tampering.

The indictment against Stone treats an email he sent Credico in April 2018 as a serious threat. In the message, Stone calls him “a rat” and “a stoolie” and vows to “take that dog away from you.”

But Stone’s defense managed to get Credico to acknowledge that he did not think Stone would ever actually harm Credico’s dog.

Stone is a “dog lover,” Credico said on the witness stand. “I don’t think he was going to steal my dog. I think he was pretty riled up at that time. … I know he wouldn’t have ever touched that dog. It was hyperbole by him.”

That same email exchange also had another warning: “Lets get it on. Prepare to die, cocksucker.” It’s a statement that also appears in the Stone indictment, but it’s unclear whether prosecutors are arguing that Stone was actually threatening to kill Credico.

Prosecutors alleged that Stone’s effort to pressure Credico included threatening to reveal the role of one of Credico’s longtime friends in their discussions about WikiLeaks. The friend, Margaret Kunstler, was one of many lawyers working with Assange.

Credico testified that he emailed Kunstler at Stone’s behest in September 2016 asking a couple of questions about the possibility of WikiLeaks having some documents relating to Clinton’s Libya policies. Credico said he didn’t treat the request seriously, sending the message to an old America Online account he knew Kunstler wouldn’t regularly check hoping it would get Stone to stop asking him about the topic.

More than a year later, when Credico was considering what to say to investigators and the media, Stone dangled the prospect of making information about Credico’s outreach to Kunstler public.

“She’s a very close friend of mine,” Credico said, struggling to maintain his composure. “She’s an older woman. And, uh, I didn’t want to drag her through this. I didn’t want to drag her name through this.”

Stone, meantime, kept bringing up Kunstler’s name throughout 2018. In one text message from May, Stone wrote to Credico: “You are so full of shit. You got nothing. Keep running your mouth and I’ll file a bar complaint against your friend Margaret.”

Asked if he remained concerned about what Stone could do with respect to Kunstler throughout 2018, Credico replied “yes.” He added later, “That was the crux of it.”

Kuntsler also appeared as a government witness Friday, where she testified she had no inside knowledge about Assange’s efforts during the 2016 campaign. She also testified that she all but ignored Credico’s email asking for her help to pass along a message to Assange requesting information about the Clinton emails. It was an inappropriate thing for an attorney to do, and she said she let Credico know it.

“I told him I was not pleased that he did that,” she said. “The implication of that was he shouldn’t do it again.”

Government prosecutors have released emails and elicited testimony that showed Stone used other tactics to try to keep Credico quiet, including an April exchange where Stone wrote, “I’m going to take that dog away from you. Not a fucking thing you can do about it either because you are a weak piece of shit.”

Credico testified that he had no immediate family besides a sister, and Stone knew the importance of the dog. “I’m sure he did. I was with a dog. I’d been around the dog for the previous 12 years,” he said.

Stone had also tangled with Credico in other ways. On Thursday, the liberal activist said the two men had a falling out in 2011 after Stone sent out word on the internet that Credico was dead. “It caused some problems,” Credico said. “It’s a big practical joke except by my friends and family.”

They talked about another incident in March 2018, after Stone published ablog postthat further explained their relationship. Stone wrote about how he was “probably over dramatizing the role” Credico played as his backchannel to WikiLeaks. He also described in the article a purported incident where Credico did a Stone impression on a late-night voicemail message left for the father of New York Gov. Elliot Spitzer.

On the witness stand, Credico denied that he made any such call to “old man Spitzer.”

“First of all, it was so absurd. Who’d want to do something like that? I don’t even know the guy,” Credico said.

That was one of many incidents between Credico and Stone. “We’ve had many, you know, squabbles,” Credico said.

All that bad blood found its way into court, which Buschel tried to highlight during his cross-examination. “You have lied to him throughout the years?” Stone’s lawyer asked.

“You really want to go into that, about lies?” Credico replied.

At another point, Credico complained that Buschel was hairsplitting and quoting him inaccurately. “Is that the exact words? That’s not the exact words,” Credico snapped. “You’re paraphrasing. Why don’t you just give it to me directly.”

As the two men heatedly talked over each other, U.S. District Court Judge Amy Berman Jackson jumped in to call a time-out.

After Credico apologized, the judge replied, “I’m not saying you did anything wrong. I’m just trying to calm things down here.”

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