Former Trump campaign aide Roger Stone has dropped his attempt to challenge his conviction for lying to Congress.
President Donald Trump granted Stone a commutation in July, saving him from serving any jail term. But it was not a complete apology, so it did not detract from Stone’s conviction for misleading Congress about his attempt to discover what WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange was planning to do with emails hacked by the Russians of the Democrats and Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign.
Stone has now announced in the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia that he is dismissing his appeal, and is formally terminating further proceedings in the case.
In a statement on his website, Stone Cold Truth, Stone said he was reluctant to make the decision, but decided “it would be impossible for me to ever get an honest hearing” from the DC Court of Appeal.
And even if he continued the appeal and managed to reverse his conviction, the government could try to prosecute him again. He said the case could simply be returned to the judge who handled his case from the beginning, U.S. Judge Amy Berman Jackson. Stone said she “repeatedly proves in my case that she simply can not and will never allow me to have a fair trial in her courtroom.”
Stone also said he could not justify raising hundreds of thousands of dollars to pursue the profession. “It’s time for me to move on with my life with my family, friends and supporters,” he said.
