Roger Stone asks for new trial day after Trump accuses jury of bias

Jury member writes Facebook post after department of justice moves to reduce sentence of president's close ally

Roger Stone has asked for a new trial, a day after Donald Trump accused the jury of bias.

Amid anger and dismay after it emerged William Barr’s department of justice had changed its sentencing recommendations for the veteran Republican operative following comments from the president, papers filed by the 67-year-old’s lawyers indicated he was seeking a new hearing.

CNN said federal Judge Amy Berman Jackson, acknowledged the longtime Trump ally and adviser had again for a new trial, and the justice department had yet to respond to the request. She had previously denied such a his appeal for a fresh hearing.

Further details about his request were not immediately available because the court filings were under seal.

“Now it looks like the fore person in the jury, in the Roger Stone case, had significant bias,” Mr Trump wrote on Twitter on Thursday.

“Add that to everything else, and this is not looking good for the ‘Justice’ Department.”

Mr Trump was apparently referring to a Facebook post that had been written by Tomeka Hart, a former president of the Memphis City Schools Board of Commissioners and unsuccessful Democratic candidate for Congress.

She identified herself as the forewoman of the jury that found Stone guilty last year.

She said she “can’t keep quiet any longer” in the wake of the justice department move to reduce its sentencing recommendation for Stone from the seven-to-nine years recommended by front-line prosecutors.

On Thursday, William Barr, the attorney general and the man who oversaw the decision to reduce Stone’s sentence, gave an interview in which said he wished the president would not tweet about cases.

He denied, however, being asked by the president to reduce Stone’s charge, something that triggered the resignation of four prosecutors linked to the case.

“I want to stand up for Aaron Zelinsky, Adam Jed, Michael Marando, and Jonathan Kravis — the prosecutors on the Roger Stone trial,” Ms Hart wrote in the post.

“It pains me to see the DoJ now interfere with the hard work of the prosecutors. They acted with the utmost intelligence, integrity, and respect for our system of justice.”

On Friday it was reported Mr Barr was also reviewing the case of another Trump ally, former general Michael Flynn, who briefly served as national security adviser but resigned.

He later admitted lying to the FBI about his contacts with Russia’s ambassador to the US.