Last year, Roger Stone stood trial over obstructing congressional and FBI investigations into Donald Trump’s ties to Russia. Recently, Stone filed a motion for another trial.
The motion alleges that the jury foreperson at his initial trail was biased. A federal judge dismissed Stone’s request, allowing the original trial’s results to stand.
The judge sentenced Stone to a bit over three years in prison for obstructing the investigations. However, as a longtime advisor to President Trump, some expect Stone to be pardoned by the president.
Whether or not Trump will make the move to pardon Stone is unknown, however, as it would be unprecedented for a president to pardon a personal advisor for a lawful conviction.
The lawsuit lawyer firm over Stone’s trial sought a new trial based on what they described as a bias on the part of the jury foreperson, Tomeka Hart.
Hart’s posts on social media indicated that she was politically opposite to Stone. She also made it clear that she finds him morally objectionable. However, federal judge Amy Berman Jackson rejected the defense’s movement for a retrial.
Judge Jackson noted in her opinion that Hart’s posts didn’t contradict statements she made when selected for the jury. Additionally, she pointed out that the defense made no objection to Hart joining the jury when she was initially selected. The defense did not do their due diligence in uncovering that Hart had run for Congress in Tennessee as a Democrat.
Stone, who has long described himself as a “political trickster,” got his start in politics working for Richard Nixon’s campaign in the 1970s. That campaign famously embroiled itself in the Watergate scandal. Unsurprisingly, Stone had shady tactics. Stone hired spies to work for other campaigns during his time with Nixon’s campaign.
Since the 90s, Stone has worked with Trump, originally as a lobbyist for his casino businesses. After Trump filed bankruptcy on those casinos, Stone moved to a role as an advisor to various political candidates.
In 2016, he was an advisor to Trump’s presidential campaign. His ties to the campaign proved troublesome for Trump when, in 2019, the FBI raided Stone’s home and arrested him.
His criminal charges include five counts of false statements, one count of witness tampering and one count of obstruction of an official proceeding. The judge sentenced him to 40 months in prison and a $200,000 fine for his crimes.
