A federal judge has ordered the Justice Department to turn over any unredacted sections of the Mueller report that relate to Republican political operative Roger Stone.
U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson gave federal prosecutors until Monday to “submit unredacted versions of those portions of the report that relate to defendant Stone and/or ‘the dissemination of hacked materials.'”
Foxnews.com reports: Jackson said she would review the material in private to see if it is relevant to the case and to decide whether Stone and his defense team will have access to the material, likely under strict supervision.
Stone asked Jackson last month to order Justice to turn over a full copy of the Mueller report to his defense as part of discovery.
Federal prosecutors opposed the request, saying the government had no obligation to provide the information Stone sought and claiming they had already given Stone significant information, including grand jury testimony and material that may be favorable to his defense.
The 66-year-old has pleaded not guilty to charges he lied to Congress, engaged in witness tampering and obstructed a congressional investigation into allegations of collusion between Russia and Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign.
The charges stem from conversations stone had during the campaign about WikiLeaks, which published emails stolen from Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign and the Democratic National Committee in the summer of 2016.
Stone’s lawyers claim there are constitutional issues with the Mueller investigation, and have filed motions arguing he was selectively prosecuted, challenging the constitutionality of Mueller’s appointment and insisting that the special counsel didn’t have the ability to prosecute him for lying to Congress.
They allege that Congress did not formally make a referral to the Justice Department about Stone’s testimony, and that Mueller’s investigation was “a violation of the separation of powers.”
Stone is scheduled to go to trial in November.