Roger Stone thanks President Trump for pardon in person

The White House declined to comment to ABC News on the matter.

December 28, 2020, 7:03 PM

Roger Stone saw President Donald Trump Sunday night and thanked the president in person for pardoning him last week.

"Yes, I did see the president last night in passing at the Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach," Stone told ABC News Monday. "My wife and I both had the opportunity to thank the president personally for righting the injustice of my conviction in a Soviet-style show trial, which featured the epic bias of the judge who withheld exculpatory evidence from my defense, misconduct by the jury forewoman and substantial misconduct by the prosecutors."

PHOTO: In this Feb. 20, 2020, file photo, former Trump campaign adviser Roger Stone departs following his sentencing hearing at U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C.
In this Feb. 20, 2020, file photo, former Trump campaign adviser Roger Stone departs following his sentencing hearing at U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C.
Mary F. Calvert/Reuters, FILE

Stone told ABC News he and his wife, Nydia Stone, were the guests of Newsmax publisher Christopher Ruddy for the club's buffet dinner, where they ran into Trump, who was dining with family.

"The president decided to dine at the club with his son Donald Trump Jr., Kimberley Guilfoil, Eric Trump and his wife Lara Trump. Because of his decision to sign the stimulus bill, it was unclear whether the president would dine at the club, which he normally does on Sunday nights when he is visiting Mar-A-Lago," Stone said.

The White House declined to comment to ABC News on the matter.

Because the club rules prohibit photographs of diners for privacy reasons, the Stones declined to provide a photo.

However, ABC News reached a source who was present in a dining room of about 100 diners who provided a photo of Trump greeting Stone with a friendly pat on the shoulder.

PHOTO: Roger Stone speaks with President Trump at the Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Fla., Dec. 27, 2020.
Roger Stone speaks with President Trump at the Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Fla., Dec. 27, 2020.
Obtained by ABC News

Stone, a decades-long friend and former campaign adviser to Trump, who's often described as a political "dirty trickster," was charged and convicted on a seven-count indictment of obstructing justice, witness tampering and multiple counts of lying to Congress in special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election in November of 2019.

In July, days before the veteran GOP operative was scheduled to report to a federal penitentiary in Georgia, Trump commuted Stone's 40-month prison sentence.

Trump's full presidential pardon, issued Dec. 23, nullifies Stone's conviction entirely.

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