Trump Responds to Roger Stone Conviction

'What about Crooked Hillary,' he tweets
By Bob Cronin,  Newser Staff
Posted Nov 15, 2019 2:25 PM CST
Stone's Conviction Means Trump Has a Decision to Make
Donald Trump, left, walks to the Federal Courthouse in Newark, New Jersey, with Roger Stone in 1999.   (AP Photo/Daniel Hulshizer)

While facing his own legal issues, President Trump has avoided saying whether he would pardon Roger Stone if his longtime associate were to be convicted. Now that that's happened, the president will have to decide whether to commute Stone's sentence or issue a pardon in the middle of the impeachment inquiry or a presidential election campaign. A White House aide said Trump has not been monitoring Stone's trial because of the impeachment hearings, Politico reports. "He's preoccupied with his own fate," the aide said, adding that Trump probably wouldn't help Stone until after the 2020 election. Stone is out of jail until at least his sentencing in February. He faces up to 20 years in prison for lying to Congress and witness tampering.

InfoWars radio host Alex Jones said Thursday on the air that Stone expected to be convicted and made his hope clear in a message sent to Jones, per Newsweek. "I appeal to the president to pardon me," Jones quoted. Minutes after the verdict was read Friday, Trump tweeted about it without mentioning a pardon: “So they now convict Roger Stone of lying and want to jail him for many years to come. Well, what about Crooked Hillary, Comey, Strzok, Page, McCabe, Brennan, Clapper, Shifty Schiff, Ohr & Nellie, Steele & all of the others, including even Mueller himself? Didn’t they lie?" White House officials said they don't know whether a pardon is under consideration. In February, as Stone's trial began, Trump said he hadn't thought about a pardon, per the Hill. (Stone describes himself as a "dirty trickster.")

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