“A federal judge has ordered Roger Stone to report to prison July 14, granting him a two-week delay because of the coronavirus pandemic, but not the two months that President Trump’s confidant had requested with prosecutors’ assent,” the Washington Post reports.

David Hopkins: “The quadrennial celebration of the key strategists behind the winning candidate as unrivaled masters of the political arts usually reflects an assumption that the outcome proved them to be savvier or more ruthless than their counterparts in the losing camp. But most of the time, there are equally smart and tough people on both sides of a race. One competitor will inevitably be elected and the other defeated—it’s the nature of the business—but that doesn’t mean that the winners are always geniuses and the losers always incompetents.”

“Interestingly, the 2020 election may be the first in a while that has not generated substantial press coverage of the top professional staffers in the two major presidential campaigns.”

Politico: “The Justice Department won’t oppose a bid by Roger Stone, the longtime confidant of President Donald Trump, to delay an upcoming prison sentence until September, federal prosecutors said in a court filing Thursday night, citing department-wide policies implemented in response to the coronavirus pandemic.”

Longtime Trump friend and political adviser Roger Stone must report to prison by June 30, CNN reports.

“Stone is designated to be inmate #19579-104 after a federal judge sentenced him to 40 months in prison for lying to Congress and witness intimidation.”

President Trump’s former campaign chairman Paul Manafort has been released from prison to serve the remainder of his sentence in home confinement because of concerns over the novel coronavirus, ABC News reports.

Roger Stone just filed notice that he’s appealing his conviction from last year with the D.C. Court of Appeals.

President Trump tweets: “Does anybody really believe that Roger Stone, a man whose house was raided early in the morning by 29 gun toting FBI Agents (with Fake News CNN closely in toe), was treated fairly.”

“I am praying for a pardon.”

— Roger Stone, quoted by NBC News.

“A federal judge on Thursday rejected Roger Stone’s demand for a new trial, ruling that the jury forewoman in Stone’s trial was not substantially biased against President Trump’s longtime political confidant,” the Washington Post reports.

Paul Manafort, is seeking early release from prison due to the threat the coronavirus poses to his health, Politico reports.

“Manafort lawyer Kevin Downing made the request to the federal Bureau of Prisons on Monday, asking that the 71-year-old lobbyist and political consultant be transferred to home confinement to serve the remainder of his seven-and-a-half year sentence for a series of convictions on charges of tax evasion, failing to report foreign bank accounts, witness tampering and engaging in unregistered lobbying for foreign interests.”

Judge Amy Berman Jackson sentenced Roger Stone, a longtime ally of President Trump, to 40 months in prison for lying to and obstructing Congress and witness tampering in the Russia investigation, the New York Times reports.

Handing down a 40-month sentence, Judge Jackson said Stone’s behavior inspired “dismay and disgust.”

She added: “The truth still exists. The truth still matters. Roger Stone’s insistence that it doesn’t, his pride in his own lies are a threat to the very foundation of this democracy.”

“The federal judge in Roger Stone’s criminal trial said Tuesday that she will still sentence the Republican operative on Thursday, but may postpone imposing the terms of that punishment pending  resolution of his request for a new trial,” CNBC reports.

“Defense attorneys for Roger Stone demanded a new trial Friday, one day after President Trump suggested that the forewoman in his longtime political confidant’s case had ‘significant bias,'” the Washington Post reports.

“The legal motion could affect Stone’s Feb. 20 sentencing date on charges of witness tampering and lying to Congress.”

“Last night on CNN, Bernie Sanders called me a political hack. That’s exactly who the fuck I am! I am a political hack! I am not an ideologue. I am not a purist. He thinks it’s a pejorative. I kinda like it! At least I’m not a communist.”

— James Carville, in an interview with Vanity Fair.