Longtime GOP strategist Roger Stone will petition his former boss, President Donald Trump, to pardon the ringleader of a 2014 armed standoff with federal agents.
Stone announced on Twitter Friday night that he would appeal to Trump on behalf of Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy, who will stand trial Oct. 10 for inciting a rebellion against Bureau of Land Management officials that attempted to stop Bundy from illegally grazing his cattle on federal land.
Bundy was arrested in February 2016 on weapons charges and a conspiracy charge to interfere with a federal officer.
He is the last of his family to face trial after his sons, Ryan and Ammon Bundy, were acquitted for commanding an armed takeover of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Oregon in 2016, High Country News reports.
Stone, a former political consultant for and friend of Trump, worked on the president’s campaign during the Republican primary. He separated from the campaign, either fired by Trump or quit himself, in August 2015 during Trump’s feud with Fox News host Megyn Kelly, CNN reports.
At the time, Trump accused Stone of using the campaign as a platform to boost his own image.
“Mr. Trump fired Roger Stone last night. We have a tremendously successful campaign and Roger wanted to use the campaign for his own personal publicity. He has had a number of articles about him recently and Mr. Trump wants to keep the focus of the campaign on how to Make America Great Again,” a campaign spokesperson told CNN in a statement.
Stone denied the accusation, claiming he left because the quarrel with Kelly was distracting and obscuring the campaign’s message.
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