Attorneys for Stone seek new trial after Trump alleges bias

WASHINGTON — Defense attorneys for Roger Stone demanded a new trial Friday, one day after President Donald Trump suggested that the forewoman in his longtime political confidant’s case had “significant bias.” The legal motion could affect Mr. Stone’s Feb. 20 sentencing date on charges of witness tampering and lying to Congress.

The basis for the request was filed under seal Friday, but its existence was disclosed in a court order by U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson, who gave U.S. prosecutors until Tuesday to respond.

“Now it looks like the fore person in the jury, in the Roger Stone case, had significant bias,” Mr. Trump tweeted on Thursday. “Add that to everything else, and this is not looking good for the ‘Justice’ Department.”

Mr. Trump was referring to Tomeka Hart, a former president of the Memphis City Schools Board of Commissioners and unsuccessful Democratic candidate for Congress. Ms. Hart has identified herself as the forewoman of the jury in a Facebook post, saying 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.

The four prosecutors quit the case when the department reduced its recommendation Tuesday, after Mr. Trump called the initial request “horrible and very unfair.”

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

The basis of the defense motion is not known. However, Ms. Hart’s disclosure led to scrutiny of her past social media commentary about Mr. Trump and special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 election, in which Stone was indicted.

A jury convicted Stone in November on charges of witness tampering and lying to the House Intelligence Committee about his efforts to gather damaging information about Mr. Trump’s 2016 presidential election opponent Hillary Clinton.

Although Ms. Hart was not named at the trial, the juror’s identity was always known to both Stone’s defense and prosecutors throughout proceedings. She disclosed her background, including a bid for Congress, in public pretrial jury selection.

Stone’s defense and his trial judge had the opportunity to question Ms. Hart directly and challenge her eligibility at the time.