The jury foreperson in the criminal case against Roger Stone has been accused of bias after her Twitter history was scrutinized this week.
The woman, former Democratic congressional candidate Tomeka Hart, revealed her role in the trial in a post on Facebook Tuesday amid news that the Justice Department was seeking to reduce the seven- to nine-year sentence recommendation for Stone by prosecutors.
“It pains me to see the DOJ now interfere with the hard work of the prosecutors,” Hart said in the post. “They acted with the utmost intelligence, integrity, and respect for our system of justice.”
Hart’s statement led countless internet users to begin scouring posts on her social media accounts, which uncovered commentary that some say contradicts remarks she made to the judge in Stone’s case during jury selection.
In one instance, Hart told the judge that she could not recall any specifics about Stone other than hearing his name occasionally on the news. Hart went on to emphasize her point by noting that she doesn’t pay “close attention” to the media “or watch C-SPAN.”
A tweet was discovered, however, in which Hart openly discussed watching C-SPAN. The lead juror was also found to have retweeted remarks that were critical of Stone.
Other tweets appear to suggest that Hart closely followed the Mueller investigation and criticized both President Donald Trump and those who had been convicted “in 45’s inner-circle.”
Hart and the rest of the jury convicted Stone on Nov. 15, 2019, on seven counts, including witness tampering and lying to Congress.
Although Stone’s defense knew of Hart’s background and previous political aspirations, they declined to strike her from the jury pool. Stone’s lawyers on Wednesday attempted unsuccessfully to seek a new trial by accusing a juror of bias, but the juror in question was not Hart.
The allegation of Hart’s bias made its way on Thursday to Trump, who opted to weigh in on the matter via Twitter.
“Now it looks like the fore person in the jury, in the Roger Stone case, had significant bias,” Trump tweeted. “Add that to everything else, and this is not looking good for the ‘Justice’ Department.”
It remains unclear whether Stone’s lawyers will seek a new trial based on Hart’s tweets.
READ MORE:
- The far-right is mobilizing to get Roger Stone pardoned
- Roger Stone barred from posting on all social media platforms
- Roger Stone posts, then deletes, Instagram of his judge with small crosshairs next to her
H/T Washington Post
