Roger Stone personally thanks Trump for pardoning him

Mr Stone says the president should enact martial law to maintain his office

Roger Stone personally thanked Donald Trump for pardoning him during a dinner at the president's West Palm Beach golf club.

Mr Stone posted photos of the dinner to his social media accounts.  

He said that he encouraged Mr Trump to appoint a White House special counsel to investigate the the president's baseless claims that massive voter fraud has been committed.  

"I thanked President Trump in person tonight for pardoning me," Mr Stone wrote on his social media posts. "I also told the president exactly how he can appoint a special counsel with full subpoena power to ensure that those who are attempting to steal the 2020 election through voter fraud are charged and convicted and to ensure that Donald Trump continues as our president."

Mr Stone was convicted on seven felony counts in 2019 - for obstructing an investigation, witness tampering, and five for lying to Congress - as part of the Robert Mueller investigation, and was sentenced to 40 months in prison.  

The president commuted Mr Stone's 40 month prison sentence in July. A full pardon removes any record of Mr Stone's crimes.  

The longtime political fixer also attended the conservative youth group TurningPoint USA's annual gala at at Mar-a-Lago over the weekend.  

Mr Stone's photos also reveal that the president's daughter-in-law, Kimberly Guilfoyle, and Mary McCarty, a fellow recipient of Mr Trump's pardon, were at the dinner.  

Ms McCarty is a disgraced former Palm Beach County Commissioner and county GOP chair who voted on issues that impacted Mar-a-Lago. Her influence allowed for a $75m settlement between the club and the county over noise restriction violations caused by the aircraft traffic caused by the resort. Mr Trump was granted permission to lease land for a golf course as part of that settlement.  

Both she and her husband Kevin were eventually arrested and imprisoned after pleading guilty to honest services fraud in 2009. Her husband was accused of trying to hide her crimes and was ordered to pay $272,000.  

Mr Stone and Ms McCarty are two of nearly 50 pardons Mr Trump made in the days before Christmas.  

The president was roundly criticised for several of his pardons, including: the father of Jared Kushner, who is married to his daughter Ivanka; Paul Manafort, Mr Trump's former campaign manager who was imprisoned following the Mueller investigation; and four Blackwater mercenaries who massacred 17 Iraqi civilians in 2007.