Longtime Trump ally Roger Stone has moved to force the presiding judge in his case to recuse herself as he seeks a new trial. In a motion filed late Friday, Stone’s attorneys argued that Judge Amy Berman Jackson displayed bias by commending the jury during his sentencing hearing. They took particular issue with Jackson noting that the “jurors who served with integrity under difficult circumstances cared,” a statement that they claim should be called into question in light of the allegation at the heart of their bid for a new trial: that the jury forewoman was supposedly biased against Stone. “The premature statement blessing the ‘integrity of the jury’ undermines the appearance of impartiality and presents a strong bias for recusal,” Stone’s attorneys wrote. Jackson did not name any jurors in particular when she made the remark. Stone was sentenced to 40 months behind bars earlier this week for obstruction of justice and lying to congressional investigators, but his lawyers immediately filed a motion for a retrial.
