Federal judge blocks anti-Trump group from filing legal brief opposing Roger Stone’s commutation

A federal judge Thursday blocked a trio of anti-Trump lawyers from filing a legal brief opposing the commutation of Roger Stone’s prison sentence.

U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson said the case is closed and there is no reason for more court filings. Although Stone has appealed his conviction to a federal court, those issues are not before her, Judge Jackson said.

“Here there is no motion or question to be decided pending before the Court — indeed the matter is on appeal and the Court lacks jurisdiction to deal with it,” she wrote in a one-page order.

Judge Jackson said the law is murky on whether the public can file an amicus, or friend of the court, brief in a criminal case, much less one for a case that is no longer before the court.

Ronald Fein, John Bonifaz and Ben Clements head Free Speech for People, which has advocated for President Trump’s impeachment. They sought to file a brief claiming Stone’s commutation was unconstitutional.

In their legal filing, they argued that their brief was necessary because the Justice Department had not questioned the president’s decision to commute Stone’s sentence.

Stone’s attorneys opposed the amicus brief.

Stone was convicted last year of lying to Congress, witness tampering and obstructing a congressional investigation into accusations of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russian operatives interfering in the 2016 election.

Mr. Trump earlier this month commuted Stone’s sentence, which was immediately condemned by left-leaning politicians and media personalities who claimed the move smacked of corruption.

The president argued that it was unfair to have a 67-year-old first-time, nonviolent offender serve time in a federal prison during the coronavirus crisis.