Roger Stone says he is ‘praying for a pardon’ from Donald Trump to save him from jail

Roger Stone said Friday he is ‘praying for a pardon’ from Donald Trump to save him from jail. 

The former political advisor told co-producer of Netflix documentary ‘Get Me Roger Stone’ Frank Morano that the president’s public comments have been ‘encouraging’.  

Stone was sentenced three years and four months in prison after a jury convicted him on November 15 on seven counts of obstruction of justice, witness tampering and lying to lawmakers investigating Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. election.

He saw his bid for a new trial turned down by a judge last week after the veteran Republican operative accused the jury forewoman of being tainted by political bias. 

Stone, who is set to be jailed on April 30, told Morano: ‘I am praying for a pardon. Nobody tells Donald Trump what to do, and nobody tells him what not to do.

‘He will make his own judgment in his own time. His public comments have certainly been encouraging.’ 

Roger Stone said Friday he is ‘praying for a pardon’ from Donald Trump to save him from jail

The president dropped his biggest hint yet that he is considering pardoning Stone after his bid for a new trial was rejected on April 16.

‘This is a disgraceful situation!’ Trump wrote in a tweet late on April 18, as he retweeted a post from conservative activist Charlie Kirk that read in part: ‘RT for FULL PARDON’.

Kirk, the founder of campus conservative group Turning Point USA, had tweeted decrying a judge’s decision on Thursday to reject Stone’s request for a new trial. 

Following Stone’s sentencing the president tweeted: ‘Everything having to do with this fraudulent investigation is badly tainted and, in my opinion, should be thrown out.’

Stone says a prison sentence could be a ‘death sentence’ for him amid the coronavirus pandemic. He said: ‘I’m 67 years old. I had very, very severe asthma as a child. If you look at the profile of those who are most at risk, I think I fit that.’ 

The president dropped his biggest hint yet that he is considering pardoning Stone after his bid for a new trial was rejected on April 16. ‘This is a disgraceful situation!’ Trump wrote in a tweet late, as he retweeted a post from conservative activist Charlie Kirk

U.S. District Court Judge Amy Berman Jackson said Stone’s request for a new trial ‘is a tower of indignation, but at the end of the day, there is little of substance holding it up’,  

The charges against Stone stemmed from former Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s inquiry that documented Moscow’s meddling to boost Trump’s candidacy.

Stone was convicted of lying to a House of Representative committee about his attempts to contact WikiLeaks, the website that released damaging emails about Hillary Clinton, Trump’s 2016 Democratic election rival, that U.S. intelligence officials have concluded were stolen by Russian hackers.

With his motion for a new trial denied, Stone is expected to ask an appeals court to throw out his conviction.

Stone was the sixth Trump aide or adviser to be convicted on charges brought as part of special counsel Robert Mueller´s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election

During a February hearing, Stone’s lawyers presented social media posts by the jury forewoman that they said showed that her lack of impartiality deprived their client of a fair trial.

One of the juror’s posts at issue was a Twitter post on the day of Stone’s arrest that linked to an article about Mueller’s investigation along with the words ‘Brought to you by the lock her up peanut gallery,’ referring to ‘lock her up’ chants by Trump supporters in 2016 about Clinton.

Most of the juror’s posts were not about Stone, instead making reference either to Trump or Mueller’s inquiry, two common subjects of political discussion among Americans at the time they were written. The jury forewoman made Twitter posts during the trial, but all were unrelated to the case.

Trump, who has not ruled out a pardon for Stone, posted a Twitter attack on the forewoman during the February hearing.

Jackson said in her decision that the juror’s opinions about Trump did not translate into bias against Stone.

‘The assumption underlying the motion—that one can infer from the juror’s opinions about the president that she could not fairly consider the evidence against the defendant—is not supported by any facts or data,’ she wrote.

Stone was the sixth Trump aide or adviser to be convicted on charges brought as part of special counsel Robert Mueller´s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election.  

‘His public comments have certainly been encouraging’, Stone said of Trump. The pair are pictured together in 1999

Speculation has been rife that Trump will pardon Stone.

Last month the president said he was considering a full pardon for former national security adviser Michael Flynn, who had pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about dealings with Russia’s ambassador before Trump took office.

Flynn attempted to withdraw the guilty plea in January, saying federal prosecutors had acted in ‘bad faith’ and broke their end of the bargain when they sought prison time for him.

‘I am strongly considering a Full Pardon!’ Trump tweeted. The president also cited an unspecified report that the Justice Department had lost records related to Flynn’s case. 

In response, Flynn’s lawyer, Sidney Powell, tweeted, ‘Thank you, Mr. President’ and said ‘the persecution’ of his client ‘is an egregious injustice.’  

 

 

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk