The judge presiding over Roger Stone’s case ruled that the convicted Trump associate’s prison sentence would be handed down on Thursday and that she would make a decision on his motion for a mistrial soon after.
“I am unable to find any law that would require that such a motion be resolved before sentencing,” Judge Amy Berman Jackson said Tuesday morning, adding, “I think delaying the sentence would not be a prudent thing to do, given all the circumstances, unless I’m required to do so.”
Jackson, who has handled the GOP operative’s case since January 2019, including the two-week trial in November, held a scheduling hearing by phone with Justice Department prosecutors and Stone’s defense team, with Stone listening in.
But she declined to comment on the firestorm of controversies surrounding the case: the DOJ’s recommendation of seven to nine years in prison; the DOJ’s reversal after Attorney General William Barr’s intervention; the resignation of four Stone prosecutors, including former members of special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation; and President Trump’s criticism of the case and her directly.
Jackson also did not delve into the specifics of the Stone defense team’s claims that the conviction should be tossed amid allegations of a biased jury member.
“This call is for purposes of scheduling only,” Jackson said, saying she’d rule on the merits of Stone’s mistrial motion only after she announces his sentence two days from Tuesday. But she assured the defense team that this would not adversely affect Stone and that she would defer executing the sentence and would extend the appeal deadline.
Jackson said she would rule “expeditiously” but did not want it to be “rushed.”
The controversy surrounding Stone juror Tomeka Hart, a former Democratic congressional candidate, kicked into high gear last week when it was revealed she shared anti-Trump posts on social media.
Hart tweeted about Trump dozens of times and was often critical of the president and his supporters, with some comments regarding the targets of Mueller’s investigation. Hart’s tweets include a few about Russian interference and allegations of Trump-Russia collusion.
“Ignoring the numerous indictments, guilty pleas, and convictions of people in 45’s inner-circle, some Republicans are asserting that the Mueller investigation was a waste of time because he hasn’t found evidence of,” Hart wrote in a March 2019 tweet, linking to a now-deleted Facebook post.
It doesn’t appear that Hart tweeted about Stone directly, though she did retweet a Jan. 30, 2019, tweet from CNN commentator Bakari Sellers criticizing Republicans unhappy about Stone’s arrest.
A transcript of the under-oath examination of the jury pool in November shows Hart promised to put aside preconceived notions about Stone and to make her judgment based on the facts. Stone’s lawyers did not make a motion to strike Hart from the pool when given the chance, though it does not appear they were aware of Hart’s social media postings.
Seth Ginsberg, a longtime mob lawyer and new addition to Stone’s defense team, did most of the talking for the defense Tuesday. He argued the sentencing should be delayed until Jackson ruled on the mistrial request, though he conceded there wasn’t any case law that would require her to delay.
“It is our view that it would be appropriate to resolve the motion before sentencing,” Ginsberg said. “We believe that this issue goes to the heart of this case in a fundamental matter. … An additional couple of weeks would not prejudice anyone.”
The Justice Department, represented by prosecutors John Crabb and new addition J.P. Cooney, argued that the sentencing should happen Thursday.
“We’re not aware of any law that would require that delay, and we are prepared to go forward with sentencing,” Crabb argued. “The court has provided ample protection to the defendant.”
“I’m going to keep the sentencing where it is,” Jackson said, adding that “there is no harm that would come to the defendant,” and “I’m willing to make sure there are no consequences that flow from the announcement of what the sentencing would be.”
Jackson said she would carefully review the defense’s motion for a retrial, the government’s opposition to it, and would decide whether a post-sentencing hearing would be necessary before she makes her decision.
Stone, a longtime confidant to Trump, was found guilty in November on five separate counts of lying to the House Intelligence Committee in its investigation into Russian interference, in addition to one count that he “corruptly influenced, obstructed, and impeded” the congressional investigation and another for attempting to “corruptly persuade” a witness’s congressional testimony.
“The Stone case was prosecuted while I was attorney general — and I supported it,” Barr said on Thursday. “I think it was established, he was convicted of obstructing Congress and witness tampering. And I thought that was a righteous prosecution. And I was happy that he was convicted.”
The judge rejected Stone’s previous claim that he was entitled to a new trial. Jackson, an Obama appointee, presided over a number of other spinoff cases from Mueller’s investigation.
