A federal judge on Tuesday refused to delay Roger Stone's sentencing amid the fallout over the Trump administration's decision to intervene in the case against the president's longtime ally.
The sentencing will move forward on Thursday at its originally scheduled time, the judge said, despite a new effort from Stone's defense team to get a new trial.
"I think that delaying this sentence would not be a prudent thing to do under all of the circumstances," U.S. District Court Judge Amy Berman Jackson, an Obama appointee, said during a telephone conference with the two sides.
The original team of prosecutors withdrew from the case last week after the Justice Department reduced their sentencing recommendation of seven to nine years in prison for Stone, who was convicted in November of lying to Congress and witness tampering.
Stone's defense team asked for a new trial in a sealed motion filed last week.
President Trump has ratcheted up attacks on the original prosecution team, which included members of former special counsel Robert Mueller's office, calling the case illegitimate. On Tuesday morning, he suggested suing the officials behind Mueller's investigation.
"Everything having to do with this fraudulent investigation is badly tainted and, in my opinion, should be thrown out," Trump wrote on Twitter.
