A federal judge has denied Roger Stone’s motions to dismiss the indictment brought against him by former Special Counsel Robert Mueller, saying that Stone and his legal team did not demonstrate any legal grounds to achieve that.
U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson, who has admonished Stone on numerous occasions over the course of the legal proceedings, denied Stone’s motions to dismiss, denied a motion for discovery based on selective prosecution, and denied a motion to enjoin the prosecution. The only thing Judge Jackson did grant, in part, was access to some redacted portions of the Mueller Report pertaining to Stone.
“Defendant Roger J. Stone, Jr. has filed a number of motions attacking the validity of the indictment pending against him. He asks the Court to dismiss the indictment, to enjoin the prosecution, and to order the government to provide discovery related to the decision to bring this case in the first place,” the judge began. “While the Court will require the government to provide the defendant with the bulk of the material redacted from the Report of the Special Counsel that relates to him, it concludes that the defense has not identified any legal grounds that would support dismissing or enjoining this action or authorizing discovery into the prosecutors’ internal deliberations.”
“Thus, with the limited exception of the motion to compel the production of the Report of the Special Counsel, which will be granted in part, the motions will be denied,” Jackson added. “This opinion does not assess, and it should not be interpreted as expressing any point of view about, the strength of the government’s case.”
Jackson said that the “lack of a congressional referral does not require dismissal of the case”; nor did Mueller’s appointment violate the Appropriations Clause of the Constitution. In one response to a “novel” Stone argument, Judge Jackson reminded Stone he is “not the President of the United States.”
Despite these other failed motions, Jackson wrote, “Having considered the defendant’s motion, the government’s response and supplemental submissions, and the Report itself, the Court has determined that the defense should have the limited access he requested to some, but not all, of the redacted material” in the Mueller Report. These materials cannot be disclosed to the public, in keeping with the gag order that is in place.
Stone faces seven counts, including obstruction of an official proceeding, five counts of making false statements, and one count of witness tampering. He is still on track for an early November trial.
Judge Jackson’s Roger Stone ruling by Law&Crime on Scribd
[Image via Alex Wroblewski/Getty Images]
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