Trump suggests a desire to forgive Roger Stone as the prison term approaches.

President Donald Trump left little doubt that he wants to forgive ally and confidant Roger Stone a day after a federal judge set a date for him to appear to serve his federal prison sentence. On Saturday morning, Trump retweeted a follower post that linked to an article on a far-right site that referenced the signatures he received a request for forgiveness from Stone. “It’s time for #pardonRogerStone,” reads the tweet from Lori Hendry, who describes himself as a “digital keyboard warrior” for Trump and has 342,200 followers.

Trump backed the call to forgive Stone the day after a federal judge gave the president’s ally two more weeks before he has to appear to serve his federal prison sentence. U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson issued a ruling on Friday requiring Stone to begin his three-year prison sentence on July 14. Stone, 67, had requested a delay to begin serving his sentence until September, citing concerns about the coronavirus. Initially, he was scheduled to appear Tuesday in federal prison in Jesup, Georgia. There are no confirmed COVID-19 cases in prison and Jackson ordered Stone to remain confined to his home until July 14, a move that “will address the medical concerns expressed by the accused” and also “protect the health of other inmates who they share the defendant’s anxiety about the possible introduction and spread of the virus in this now unaffected facility. ” Essentially, the move gives Stone time to quarantine to make sure he doesn’t take the coronavirus from his South Florida home to prison.

Prosecutors had raised no objection to Stone’s call to delay his prison sentence until September 3, insisting that the Justice Department has followed a policy during the pandemic to grant extensions of up to 60 days to defendants who request it, “regardless of age, health, or other risk factors for COVID-19.” Before the judge’s decision, Stone appeared on the Fox Business Network on Friday and suggested that officials were hiding the existence of a COVID-19 outbreak in the prison and asked the president to act. “I think this is a death sentence,” said Stone. “I don’t think I’m going to live to see that my appeal is successful, so I have been very direct about my prayer that the president act.” Days earlier, the judge’s order came days after a federal prosecutor stated in a hearing before Congress that senior Justice Department officials had pressured government attorneys to give Trump’s adviser “a break” in his sentence.

Stone was sentenced to three years and four months in prison after being convicted of lying to Congress, manipulating a witness, and trying to obstruct a House of Representatives investigation into whether the Trump presidential campaign coordinated with Russia to affect the results of the Election. 2016. Trump has made it clear in the past that he disagreed with the ruling and has hinted at a forgiveness in the past. Earlier this month, Trump tweeted that Stone was “the victim of a corrupt and illegal witch hunt” and added: “You can sleep well at night!”