Roger Stone (screen capture)Donald Trump’s longtime friend and ally, Roger Stone, has failed in his quest for a new trial after he was found guilty on seven felony counts including obstructing the congressional inquiry, lying to investigators under oath and trying to block the testimony of a witness whose account would have exposed his lies.
From the New York Times:
The federal judge overseeing the criminal case against Roger J. Stone Jr. refused on Thursday to grant him a new trial, rejecting the defense’s argument of juror misconduct that President Trump has also repeatedly trumpeted.
Judge Amy Berman Jackson of the United States District Court in Washington ordered Mr. Stone to surrender to the federal Bureau of Prisons as soon as he is notified to do so. She also released him and his lawyers from a gag order she imposed months ago.
The judge’s decision appears to end one of the most politically fraught federal criminal cases in recent years. In a last-ditch effort to keep their client out of prison, Mr. Stone’s lawyers had claimed that the jury forewoman had improperly concealed a bias against Mr. Stone, justifying a new trial.
The jury convicted Mr. Stone, 67, in November of seven felonies for an attempt to thwart a congressional inquiry that threatened his longtime friend Mr. Trump, and Judge Jackson sentenced him in February to 40 months in prison.
Additionally, CNN reports, “All 12 of Roger Stone’s jurors wrote in a series of powerful, anonymized statements this week that they feel harassed, afraid and do not want more information about them revealed to the public, especially after President Donald Trump and right-wing media criticized them for their conviction of the longtime Trump friend.”
Donald Trump is certain to pardon Stone. Mark my words.