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.

“Prosecutors have asked a federal judge to sentence Roger Stone, a former informal adviser to President Trump, to seven to nine years in prison for lying to Congress and witness tampering during the Russia investigation,” CNN reports.

“Federal prosecutors told a judge they are prepared to release sealed materials in search and seizure warrants against Roger Stone issued during the FBI probe into the Trump campaign’s ties to Russia,” Courthouse News reports.

New York Times: “Almost immediately after ending his White House employment, Stephen Bannon, the former chief strategist to President Trump, forged a lucrative financial relationship with a mysterious Chinese billionaire who was sought by Beijing for extradition from the United States.”

“China’s government had already accused Guo Wengui, a real-estate magnate also known as Miles Kwok, of money-laundering, bribery and rape when he and Mr. Bannon developed a mutually beneficial relationship that began with a $150,000 loan to Mr. Trump’s one-time confidante.”

“It escalated to a yearlong million-dollar contract.”

Politico: “As U.S. District Judge Andre Birotte Jr. imposed the sentence of nine years and two months on Jeffrey Yohai, the judge blasted the would-be real estate developer as a serial scammer whose ‘horrific’ crimes posed a significant threat to the public.”

“Yohai pleaded guilty to a brazen array of frauds, including renting out luxury homes without the permission of their owners, selling non-existent backstage passes for the Coachella music festival, and pawning band equipment that belonged to someone else.”

Politico: “Call it the Cliff Notes version of the Mueller report. That’s what a new panel of Washington, D.C., jurors heard Wednesday morning as federal prosecutors delivered a tight synopsis of how Roger Stone came to be a defendant in the last indictment to come from the special counsel’s office.”

“It was a powerful moment delivered exclusively to a courtroom audience. Anyone who’s been following Robert Mueller’s work closely would recognize all the pieces of the story. But to the 12 jurors who might be coming in cold, it was a stark and concise opening narrative explaining how the colorful characters in Trumpworld gossiped and plotted around Russia’s digital thefts of Democratic emails during the 2016 election — and the role Stone played in that story.”