Jury selection began Monday in the case of US v. Roger Stone.
Opening statements could begin on Wednesday, and the trial should last two to three weeks. Prosecutors said they expect to rest their case by next Tuesday or Wednesday.
Stone pleaded not guilty to charges of obstructing justice, witness tampering and lying to the U.S. House of Representatives Intelligence Committee.
Stone arrived at the DC federal courthouse wearing a gray suit and sunglasses. He entered the courtroom with his wife, Nydia.
Jury selection got off to a seemingly unfortunate start for Stone, with Judge Amy Berman Jackson denying most of the requests made by Stone’s lawyers to exclude potential jurors they think might be biased against Stone.
Out of the entire jury pool of 80 possible jurors [in the DC area] reportedly not one is a registered Republican and almost everyone is Democrat. This is not surprising given the registered voter statistics in D.C.: 76% Democrats, 6% Republicans, 16% Independent, and 1% Other.
Stone is a well known Republican and longtime associate of Donald Trump. Some jurors reportedly said they despised Trump on their jury questionnaires.
Jackson did not feel this was sufficient cause to remove them from serving on the jury. One juror reportedly was a friend of one of the prosecutors who worked toward indicting Stone. This too did not seem to worry Jackson, a staunch Democrat, and an Obama appointee to the United States District Court for the District of Columbia.
Shortly after the potential jurors were sworn in, Stone’s defense attorney Robert Buschel told Judge Jackson, “Mr. Stone is not feeling well.”
After hearing from the first potential juror, Stone was allowed to leave the courtroom to use the restroom. He was looking uneasy. He came back into the courtroom patting his forehead with a napkin.
When he asked to leave the court for the restroom a second time, the judge said they could postpone the proceedings, since he had a right to be in court and face his potential jurors.
“I’m not going to order him to waive his constitutional rights, but we cannot spend a whole day doing what we should be able to do in a short period of time,” Jackson said. “So, let him go, let him come back, and then we’re going to bring in the next juror.”
At one point, the judge offered Stone anti-diarrheal medication.
“I have Imodium in my chambers,” she said.
Later in the morning, the judge said to Stone’s lawyer, “Your client seems to have his eyes closed and his head in his hands. And I just want to make sure we should keep going.”
After a discussion with his client, Buschel asked for an early lunch break.
“I mean, I’m trying to jam along with the court, and I think we’re doing good,” he said.
“I understand. I think everybody is operating in good faith here,” the judge said. “Over the hour, you have the opportunity to consult with – I believe there’s a medical professional in his family and the nurse in this building.”
Prosecutor Jonathan Kravis told the judge, “The government’s position here is the defendant, obviously, has a constitutional right to be present for the proceedings. He can waive that right. But, if that’s what he chooses to do, we want to make sure the waiver is knowing and voluntary.”
During the lunch break, Stone went to the health unit on the first floor, accompanied by his wife.
When court resumed, Stone told Jackson he was suffering from food poisoning and asked to be excused.
His lawyers said they would continue with jury selection without their client.
“I want to apologize to the court. I don’t want to waste the court’s time,” Stone told Jackson, as he waived his right to participate in the jury selection process. “I hope to be better tomorrow.”
“I will excuse you. I hope you get rest,” Jackson told him.
Jury selection continued without Stone.
In lieu of being permitted to turn himself in, Stone was arrested last January in a massive predawn raid by armed federal agents at his home in Fort Lauderdale Florida, which was caught on camera by CNN.
Prosecutors’ allegations include that Stone attempted to learn about stolen emails that, once public, could hurt Trump’s opponent Hillary Clinton in 2016. Stone allegedly communicated with the Trump campaign about his and his associates’ attempts to reach WikiLeaks, which was publishing damaging and embarrassing emails of prominent Democrats connected to Clinton.
It is not known how the emails reached WikiLeaks, although the Democrats’ narrative is that it was definitely stolen by the Russians.
Prosecutors say Stone falsely denied to the House Committee that he had discussions with the Trump campaign and others about trying to reach WikiLeaks.
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What coverage?? this is ridiculous. I am going to die of coronavirus before you update us on the Roger Stone situation,
In the Roger Stone case, the prosecutors wanted to play a film clip from a “Godfather” movie!!!!!
What, isn’t the deck already stacked enough against Roger Stone with a Judge and jury that is clearly biased against him?
Trump should stop this Kangaroo Court by pardoning Roger Trump NOW!
And pardon Julian Assange and Edward Snowden in the bargain.
It is high time for Trump to declare war on the Deep State.
“Prosecutors want to use clip from ‘The Godfather: Part II’ at Roger Stone’s criminal trial”
https://www.cnn.com/2019/07/26/politics/roger-stone-godfather-2/index.html
Does anyone here read the Empty Wheel?
Donald Trump should throw down the gauntlet to the Deep State.
Trump should pardon Roger Stone.
Then Trump should pardon Julian Assange.
To round things out, Trump should pardon Edward Snowden.
The Demoncrats and the Deep State will not rest until they impeach and remove Donald Trump.
Then they will install a system of Censorship that will make any Politically Incorrect expression a verboten criminal act.
In George Orwell’s “1984”, it was called “Wrong Think.”
The American Demoncratic Party is more Authoritarian than the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.
They are fine with elections as long as the people vote only for approved candidates and parties.
And their lapdogs in the media will tell you what is real news and what is fake news.
A billionaire friend of Bill Clinton is caught sexually molesting over a hundred underage girls.
That is by definition fake news.
You want the President to pardon people, just because you like them. What we need is Law & Order. What you dream of is an autocratic USA.
And now stop spinning facts or you start to look like a feminazi. Maybe you should try a save space as well.
From Day One of the Trump Administration, everyone has been trying to obstruct him.
Even before the election, the Obama Administration was monitoring Trump and trying to portray him as a Russian agent.
Every attempt by Trump to enforce the nation’s immigration laws has been blocked by court injunctions.
And Trump is not allowed to fight back?
As far back as 2016, I knew about the special relationship between the Bidens and Burisma, the company that owns oil and natural gas reserves in Eastern Ukraine.
And I knew how Hunter Biden had a 600K per year job with Burisma when he had no training or experience in the energy field.
That kind of deal points to a political pay off.
And Trump is not allowed to investigate this apparent collusion between the Bidens and Ukraine?
Even before the election, the Obama Administration was monitoring Trump and trying to portray him as a Russian agent.
This is nothing but a conspiracy theory. Nothing of this is proven at all and there is even less to it than the Muller investigation. Hell, there is so little to it, even the Trump DoJ does not care about it and does not start to investigate it in three years.
Every attempt by Trump to enforce the nation’s immigration laws has been blocked by court injunctions.
Every law passed by the government needs to be checked if it is constitutional. If it is not, the courts can get rid of it. If you do not like that, change the constitution. It is that easy. Checks and balances.
As far back as 2016, I knew about the special relationship between the Bidens and Burisma, the company that owns oil and natural gas reserves in Eastern Ukraine.
Guess what, people in politics are corrupt. What a surprise. If you want to get rid of all these people you need to start with the guy who uses his office to advertise his son’s book or wanted to use one of his hotels to host a G7 summit.
And Trump is not allowed to investigate this apparent collusion between the Bidens and Ukraine?
No, Trump is not allowed to use state funds for political gains. Corruption is not an option.
He will not have to pardon Roger Stone. Look what is happening to the leftist shitbags in the Flynn fiasco. Stone is going to walk and civil suits will follow.
Don’t believe??? Read my comments a few weeks ago when replying to Anonyfaker
Political opinions aside, the simple reality is that the Feds have a 90%-plus conviction rate in criminal trials. Given the charges Stone is facing, the judge who is presiding over the case, and the make-up of the jury, I just don’t think he has much of a chance here.
Sorry buddy, this came out of a bogus special prosecutor office that was actually part of a treasonous coup Stone will walk and civil suits will follow. Look at the Flynn case, and how it is blowing up in the traitors faces..
To quote Juan Pablo Galavis, “Different people have different opinions, and it’s okay to respect all of them.”
The “good news” is that we’ll likely know how the Roger Stone mini-drama turns out by the end of this month.
I agree Eric. I was the power behind the Mueller facade.
ABC NEWS— no I don’t see any bias here
Fired Roseanne for a tweet
-Shamelessly crucified Kavanaugh
-Aired a fake Syria bombing
-Pushed the Russia Hoax for years
-Peddled the fake Smollet hate crime
-And humiliated Nick Sandmann
But information about the world’s most prolific pedophile wasn’t worth sharing.” (Epstein)
“The entire jury pool of 80 possible jurors are reportedly Democrats.” Cmon “Reportedly”? Can you be more vague? Let’s stick with facts shall we? I’m already skeptical because in the general population — even in NYC — you’re not going to find 100% democrats. Many are independent, undeclared, etc., and so many Americans simply dont vote and are undeclared. Stick with facts. Use annonymous sourcing the way a journalist does. Not like this.
I think you might be right – there may have been a couple that were not Democrats – but my source told me that there were no Republicans in the jury pool – and he thought all were Democrats. But it is possible a few might have been independents etc. In DC there a very few Republicans and this is definitely a challenge for Stone, who also seems to have a partisan judge.
With the trial as with reporting, I hope the facts will do the talking. Not the “alternative facts” as Kellyanne Conway famously said. I don’t care if you’re red, blue, purple, black or white — and by the same token, most jurors are not as partisan as you, or Roger Stone. if you can prove a crime, then he likely did it.
If your source on the jurors’ political affiliation is a lawyer for your friend Stone, then it’s not reliable, I’m sorry. If you think a lawyer for Stone is a reliable source than many will disagree with you, and you should be more transparent on your sourcing so readers can decide for ourselves. As it is now, you are blurring the lines between advocacy and journalism.
poor mr stone. I love his look however. I want to have that style when I grow up.
Why aren’t any republicans helping him?
A political operative is much like a CIA officer, they stay behind the scenes and if they get caught by the enemy, little is said. Besides, everyone knows the real target is Trump, so why put more focus on Stone?
Why put more focus on Stone? Because he lied. LOL. For a website that chastises lying, as exemplified in the recent Toni Natalie posts on FR, both you and Shadowstate seem to be talking out of both sides of your mouths. Nonsense.
That is what the trial is for, to determine whether Stone lied or not. Also, the Dems are putting plenty of focus on Stone/Trump, they don’t need any Republican help: https://www.politico.com/news/2019/11/06/roger-stone-trial-defense-strategy-066638