U.S. District Court Judge Amy Berman Jackson cited Trump’s public comments and Twitter posts.
A federal judge swung back at Donald Trump on Tuesday over his heated criticism of the Roger Stone case, warning that the president’s commentary about his longtime associate’s conviction had helped fuel threats to the jury.
U.S. District Court Judge Amy Berman Jackson cited Trump’s public comments and Twitter posts, as well as an accompanying campaign from the president’s conservative media allies to identify and critique the jury, as one of the reasons for her decision to clamp down on public access to a hearing on Stone’s request for a new trial.
“Any attempt to invade the privacy of the jurors or to harass or intimidate them is completely antithetical to our entire system of justice,” Jackson said before issuing a ruling that cleared the courtroom of any public spectators.
Not long after Jackson made her remarks, Trump tweeted again about the juror. “There has rarely been a juror so tainted as the forewoman in the Roger Stone case. Look at her background. She never revealed her hatred of ‘Trump’ and Stone,” he wrote. “She was totally biased, as is the judge. Roger wasn’t even working on my campaign. Miscarriage of justice. Sad to watch!”
Jackson last week sentenced Stone to more than three years in prison for obstructing the congressional investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential campaign. But the judge, an appointee of President Barack Obama, has also put a hold on immediately locking up Stone until after she rules on his bid for a new trial.
During last Thursday’s sentencing, Jackson made no direct mention of the president’s remarks about the case. But the judge on Tuesday left no mystery that she thought Trump’s comments were a problem.
“The president of the United States used his Twitter platform to disseminate a particular point of view about a juror,” Jackson said. “Any attempt to invade the privacy of the jurors or to harass or intimidate them is completely antithetical to our system of justice…..They deserve to have their privacy protected.”
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Stone’s hearing on the new-trial motion got underway later Tuesday afternoon. But Jackson cited an “extremely high” risk of harassment and intimidation for any juror who gets called to testify as a reason to exclude the press and public from the courtroom for that session. She did allow a closed-circuit audio feed to another courtroom and a media room.
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The defense motion centers on a woman who has identified herself as the foreperson of the jury at Stone’s weeklong trial last November, Tomeka Hart. Hart is an attorney who formerly served on the Memphis school board and mounted an unsuccessful bid for the Democratic nomination in Tennessee’s 9th District in 2012.
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During Hart’s questioning in court before the trial, she mentioned her congressional run amid examination by one of Stone’s attorneys, Robert Buschel. From the thrust of his questions, it seemed evident she had run as a Democrat. Stone’s defense did not move to excuse her at that time, although it’s unclear if they requested her dismissal at an earlier stage of the case.
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A federal judge warned that Trump’s commentary about his longtime associate Roger Stone’s conviction helped fuel threats to the jury https://t.co/L1vB41ZgT5
— POLITICO (@politico) February 25, 2020
We shouldn’t get used to the President of the United States attacking federal judges and jurors. Trump is trying to weaken the institution best equipped to check future attempts to abuse his power. https://t.co/E4EtkFs2Pi
— Renato Mariotti (@renato_mariotti) February 25, 2020
Your deranged panic, lying and obsession with this and Stone tells us everything. You are a stream of consciousness guilt ridden lunatic. https://t.co/y7PemY7I80
— Spiro Agnew’s Ghost (@SpiroAgnewGhost) February 25, 2020
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