In preparation for pardoning some of his cronies-- particularly Roger Stone who has a lot of serious dirt on Trump-- Trump continued pardoning random corrupt people this week, yesterday San Francisco 49ers owner Edward DeBartolo Jr., a real estate developer who was convicted in a huge gambling fraud scandal that sounds very much like something that could have been Trump. He also commuted Rod Blojojevich's sentence yesterday, four years early and pardoned Bernard Kerik and Michael Milken. Last week Caleb Ecarma, writing for Vanity Fair noted that "The standing pardon request line at Fox News, the pipeline through which Donald Trump has granted clemency to everyone from war criminals to racist cops, may be poised for another W. Since the outset of Roger Stone’s legal troubles, which started with the Mueller probe and culminated in conviction on charges of obstruction, making false statements, and witness tampering, Fox’s Tucker Carlson has frequently aired segments vouching for Stone’s innocence and claiming that he’s the target of shadowy, Trump-hating federal law enforcement officials."
Over the past year, a revolving cast of Stone allies has appeared on the network, including his daughter Adria Stone, who used her time on Carlson’s show in November to directly address the president: “Donald Trump-- if you can hear me, please save our family. He does not deserve this. Nobody deserves this.” Carlson also appeared to cite his sway with Trump: “I honestly do think that after watching a series of people, some of whom are not deserving at all, get pardons from this White House, in effect or literally, you know I think people are going to be watching really carefully to see if your dad is pardoned. I’m going to be, that’s for sure.”By all accounts, the ploy worked. After Trump tweeted on Tuesday that the Justice Department’s recommended sentence for Stone-- seven to nine years-- was horrifically unfair, the DOJ rescinded it, causing all four prosecutors on Stone’s case to withdraw. Sources close to Trump told the Daily Beast that Carlson seemed to have a direct influence on this chain of events: after watching Carlson’s pro-Stone segments, the president reportedly approached aides and confidants to ask, “What do you think?”—a phrase that a source noted is actually Trump “code for ‘I’m interested or looking into doing’ this.”But Carlson isn’t content with a reduced sentence. On Tuesday night, he aired a segment condemning “so many on the left, howling for Roger Stone to die in prison. A 67-year-old man with no criminal record caught up in the Russia hoax, farce, caught up in an investigation that proved to be fruitless... this man needs a pardon.” For Stone, there may still be hope. Mere minutes later, the president posted a tweet ripping U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson, who Stone once seemingly threatened by posting a photo of her face under crosshairs, and who will ultimately decide his fate. “Is this the Judge that put Paul Manafort in SOLITARY CONFINEMENT, something that not even mobster Al Capone had to endure?” Trump wrote. “How did she treat Crooked Hillary Clinton? Just asking!” The following day, Trump praised Attorney General William Barr “for taking charge of a case that was totally out of control and perhaps should not have even been brought” and took a shot at the four “rogue prosecutors” in a separate post tagging “@TuckerCarlson.”Carlson’s influence over the president has already been proven; both his show and his personal conversations with Trump reportedly played a role in the White House not seeking further military action against Iran earlier this year. The Fox host also reportedly criticized former national security adviser John Bolton, whose interventionist bent is opposite Carlson’s, while speaking with Trump in the weeks prior to Bolton’s departure from the administration. But when it comes to lobbying Trump for judicial mercy, the appeals have become more and more blatant. Former Trump adviser Michael Caputo, who has appeared on the primetime show to defend Stone, told the Daily Beast on Tuesday that he intended for the president to hear him out. “Tucker has longer segments where he makes convincing arguments about issues the president’s base cares about,” he said. “Nobody knows that better than the president.” Caputo’s most shameless plug came in a Carlson segment that aired in March, in which he said, “Pardon General [Michael] Flynn. Pardon George Papadopoulos. And pardon Roger Stone right now, Mr. President… Do it right now. Do it right now on Twitter.”
Judge Amy Berman Jackson announced yesterday that she'll be sentencing Stone tomorrow, though, she said, "execution of the sentence will be deferred" while she decides whether Stone deserves a new trial. "I’m willing to make sure that there are no consequences that flow from the announcement of what the sentencing will be."Despite all Trump's carrying on and lunatic assertions that the jury forewoman has "significant bias," yesterday DOJ prosectors filed a sealed motion-- with Barr's approval-- opposing Stone’s-- and Trump's-- request for a new trial that.
