Roger Stone’s sentencing Thursday is shaping up as a test of judicial independence after President Trump inserted himself in the court’s deliberations over the fate of his longtime confidant.
If U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson sentences Stone in line with the Justice Department’s new and lower recommendation, partisans will see that as caving to Trump, former federal prosecutor Harry Sandick said. If she gives a jail term closer to the maximum, she’ll be seen as defying the pressure.
“Given how polarized the country is, some people will look to Jackson to be a hero and give him a long sentence, and others will look to her to be a hero and give him a short sentence, but she’ll likely come in somewhere in between,” Sandick said. “She doesn’t need to be a hero. She’s a federal judge.”
Jackson said Wednesday that she’ll allow Stone to remain free regardless while she considers his bid for a new trial and any other motions filed after the sentencing. Speculation that sending him straight to prison could prompt Trump to swiftly pardon him rose after the president issued a slate of high-profile clemencies Tuesday in cases often supported by conservatives.
The Stone case stems from the U.S. investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election and was always politically charged. But it turned surreal last week when senior Justice Department officials overruled career prosecutors who had recommended a prison term as long as nine years. The rare step seemed a reaction to angry tweets by Trump. The prosecutors quit the case in response, and Trump mocked them afterward on Twitter.
The about-face over the sentencing recommendation prompted Democratic lawmakers to accuse Trump of using the Justice Department for his own bidding. It also set up a rare clash between the president and his attorney general, William P. Barr, who complained on television that Trump’s comments were harming the public perception of the Justice Department as impartial. Even the chief federal judge in Washington issued a statement affirming that public pressure wouldn’t affect sentencing decisions.
The four prosecutors who oversaw Stone’s case made a comprehensive argument about why he should be locked up for seven to nine years. It was based on sentencing guidelines and details of his case, including his combative and disruptive behavior during the court proceedings. Stone, 67, asked for no prison time at all.
The Justice Department said the line prosecutors didn’t calculate Stone’s offenses correctly and revised the sentencing recommendation to between three and four years. In his tweets, Trump called the original sentencing recommendation “a miscarriage of justice” and suggested the prosecutors behind it were minions of special counsel Robert S. Mueller III, whose probe of Russian interference in the 2016 election he has often derided as a corrupt “witch hunt.”
However she rules, Jackson may use the hearing to grill Justice Department lawyers about the decision-making behind the scenes, given how quickly the prosecutors who were most familiar with Stone’s case were overruled.
Jackson is “entitled to ask DOJ to explain in some way why they changed their position within 24 hours,” said Mimi Rocah, a former federal prosecutor in the Manhattan U.S. attorney’s office who’s running as a Democrat for Manhattan district attorney. “Judges are in charge when it comes to sentencing, so none of this would be out of the ordinary.”
Sharon L. McCarthy, a former federal prosecutor who’s now in private practice in New York, said Jackson could go so far as to ask Barr himself to appear.
“I think what has happened calls for that sort of drastic order,” McCarthy said.
Judges frequently hand down sentences that are lower — sometimes much lower — than what prosecutors suggest, and it’s possible that Jackson would have done so in Stone’s case even if Trump hadn’t weighed in or the Justice Department hadn’t reversed course. The perceived interference from the White House may complicate such a decision in Stone’s case.
Indeed, Trump’s commentary on the case could blow back on Stone if Jackson — who has also been criticized by Trump on Twitter — feels the need to demonstrate her independence by giving Stone a longer sentence than she otherwise would have, said Laurie Levenson, a former federal prosecutor who teaches at Loyola Law School.
“If Judge Jackson were inclined to give a lower sentence, that actually makes it harder for her to do so now,” Levenson said.
Jacob S. Frenkel, a former federal prosecutor and Securities and Exchange Commission trial attorney, said that “the irony of the president’s tweet is that it could end up backfiring.” The judge may decide “that to protect the integrity and project the independence of the judiciary, she may end up imposing a longer sentence than she may have originally intended,” Frenkel said.
Randall Jackson, a former assistant U.S. attorney in Manhattan who prosecuted Bernard Madoff, says the judge isn’t likely to adjust her sentence in response to Trump. Even so, he said, the furor that erupted over suspected interference by Trump and Barr could hurt Stone in court.
“A reasonable observer could question whether this is the type of thing that is going to distract the judge from what most defense attorneys would want the judge to be focused on, which is the mitigating factors for their client that could lead to a lower sentence,” Jackson said.
FROM Three Lions to Vindaloo, England have their fair share of rousing football anthems.
But now that Scotland have qualified for their first World Cup since 1998, proud Tartan Army faithfuls Biffy Clyro are planning their own tune to cheer on their lads next summer.
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From left: Simon Neil of Biffy Clyro, Ben Johnston and James Johnston at the Rolling Stone UK AwardsCredit: GettyLewis Capaldi poses in the winners room with The Artist AwardCredit: GettyAshley Roberts on the red carpet at the eventCredit: GettyJessie J has a new album on the wayCredit: Splash
The trio scooped the Live Act gong at the Rolling Stone UK Awards at London’s Roundhouse on Thursday night and told me they are already putting plans in motion.
Asked whether anyone from the Scottish team had been in touch, frontman Simon Neil said: “Well, we’ve been in touch with them.
“We want to do Scottish Band Aid or Live Aid. This is a historic moment for Scotland.”
But on the team’s chances in the tournament, he said with a laugh: “Ninety minutes after the first game, with all of our heads in our hands, it won’t matter. But see, this next six months is truly magical.
“In this day and age, we all find so many reasons to fall out and disagree that it’s surprising it’s football that’s bringing people together. Lionesses last year, all of England would celebrate.
“I’ve got the lyric for the chorus: ‘The party’s starting because the tartan’s marching’. There you go. That’ll be in your head for now. I want that to stimulate the song.”
Sounds like a belter to me.
Meanwhile, the third annual ceremony was packed with celebs and saw FKA Twigs win the Album award for Eusexua, and Lewis Capaldi the Artist award.
Comedian Mo Gilligan was brought in to present Lewis with the prize, this time pronouncing his name correctly — after accidentally calling him Sam Capaldi on stage at the Brit Awards in 2023.
Jessie J was on top form as she gears up to drop her first album in seven years, Don’t Tease Me With A Good Time, this Friday.
She said: “It has been a long time. I finished writing it in 2022.
“I have a lot of music in my phone. So if someone wants to steal my phone, and put it out for me, it would save me a lot of agg. No, but I’m excited for people to hear it, you know?
“I just want to make people feel something.”
And now that Jessie’s back in the spotlight, she has found that her two-year-old son Sky has a taste for fame.
She added: “Oh, my God, he’s so funny. He’s like, ‘Can I come to work? I love when the people say, yay’.
“It’s so cute. I can’t tell him I’m going to work because he wants to come with me.”
It was typically chaotic, with Danny at one point vaping on stage and later dropping his cigarettes on the floor as he made his way home, despite the fact the whole thing was sponsored by nicotine pouch company Zyn.
He is in the middle of shooting series two of Eighties TV comedy drama Rivals, but promised to get “off his nut” and later celebrated at the after-party until 1am.
IN his opening monologue on the night, Danny said: “It’s been an amazing 12 months because I won a f***ing Bafta.
“There was only one thing that could top that, and that’s the fact that my first-born child married the captain of West Ham United.”
Danny Dyer did a cracking job on hosting duties at the awardsCredit: Splash
Welcoming Mo Gilligan on stage: “It’s the 11th funniest comedian in the country. He’s funnier than Joel Dommett, I can tell you that.”
Before handing out the Film award: “Here’s a fact for you, I’ve been in 50 films, 47 of them are s**t.”
Introducing the Television award: “They didn’t nominate me for this one, can you f***ing believe it? I’ll come down there and put a nut on ya.”
And while presenting the Festival award: “Deep down, we are all dreaming of being in a field somewhere, warm lager in our hand and off our t**s on mushrooms.”
Musicals Greatest Hits was released yesterday and it features a cover of Wicked’s For Good, just as the second film’s soundtrack, also featuring that song, came out.
Ben Forster is going head to head with Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo with his new albumCredit: Supplied
Ben whose roles include playing the Phantom in The Phantom Of The Opera, told Bizarre: “I’m so excited that everyone can finally hear my album. Creating it has truly been a dream come true.”
Ben embarks on a huge tour next year.
He will play theatres up and down the UK from September.
NEIL YOUNG AND THE CHROME HEARTS are performing in the star-studded line-up for the new Blenheim Palace Festival on July 3.
They are joining acts including Katy Perry and Teddy Swims at the series of gigs in Oxfordshire.
ALBUM PERFECT FOR DOJA TAT
DOJA CAT was so impressed with tattoo artist Claudio Traina’s work that she decided to use his design on her latest album Vie.
Claudio, of Sixty Ink in London, told me: “I met her in a house in LA.
Doja Cat was so impressed with tattoo artist Claudio Traina’s work that she decided to use his design on her latest album VieCredit: Supplied
“We were doing tattoos for everyone there, and she got so excited, she decided to get her first tattoo. Two days later she called me for more.”
Claudio, whose clients also include Yungblud and Demi Lovato, added: “Now, every time she’s in London, she comes to the studio for fresh ink.
“She liked the word Vie, meaning ‘life’ in French, and decided to get it tattooed. A few months after, I got a message saying they had used that tattoo I designed for the album cover.”
CHRISTMAS will be arriving early for fans of Jade.
I can reveal that the former Little Mix singer is to announce a bumper deluxe edition of her debut album, That’s Showbiz Baby, which came out in September.
The new album, with fresh songs added, is expected to be available on December 5.
FOREIGN LINGO KEY FOR ALICIA
ALICIA KEYS has teamed up with Italian music great Eros Ramazzotti for his latest album.
But rather than sing in English, the 17-time Grammy-winning Empire State Of Mind singer learned the track in both Italian and Spanish.
Alicia Keys has teamed up with Italian music great Eros Ramazzotti for his latest albumCredit: Getty
Alicia told Bizarre: “We had such a fun time. We’re doing this beautiful song, L’aurora, and I was learning it in Spanish as well as Italian.
“And so, it’s really exciting to be able to sing in a whole different language and poetry and the beauty of how it goes and how it feels coming out is incredible.”
She added: “It felt very easy. It felt natural, it felt fun.”
Proving you may grow older but don’t have to grow up, she added of the 62-year-old Italian singer : “He’s a prankster, a jokester.
“He’s trying to scare me the whole time, but I’m tough. So, you can’t scare me. But it was beautiful. I love it and I’m so excited about this project.”
The record, Una Storia Importante, also features opera singer Andrea Bocelli, and Eros will kick off a tour in Paris on Valentine’s Day.
Forget scrambling for a quick look at Stonehenge down in Wiltshire and instead enjoy a relaxing trip to this Anglo-Viking settlement where you can step back into the past
08:00, 19 Nov 2025Updated 08:34, 19 Nov 2025
This village is perfect for an autumn break(Image: Getty Images/iStockphoto)
For families that loves the great outdoors sprinkled with a touch of mystery, you can’t go wrong with a trip to the north of England.
The Yorkshire Dales in particular is a wonderful place to visit any time of the year with its big skies, sweeping green valleys and stone-built communities that feel frozen in time. One such village is Bursnall, which sits along a bend on the River Wharfe in Wharfedale. The big draw, of course, for visitors these days is Bursnall’s rare Viking and Anglo-Saxon carved stone circles, perched on a low ridge just beyond the village green. True, they’re not as famous as their larger cousins elsewhere in the country – but then again that’s half the magic.
You can wander right up to them – unlike Stonehenge, for example – without feeling you’ve stepped into a coach-load of loud tourists. Locals even say the stones line up perfectly with the sunrise at certain times of year. Whether that’s folklore or fact, you’ll get a cracking photo for the family album. Children love hopping from stone to stone and grown-ups can enjoy the wide-open views that stretch for miles.
Back in the village centre, Bursnall Beck is the spot for a gentle stroll. The path follows the water as it winds behind cottages with leaning chimneys and flower boxes bursting with colour. There’s a tiny wooden footbridge halfway along, ideal for an old-school game of Pooh sticks, which somehow never stops being competitive, no matter your age.
For a breather, head to The Spindle & Spoon, the village cafe smells of fresh bread, strong coffee and warm jam all at once. They do an excellent hot chocolate that arrives piled high with cream Their packed lunches are also a life-saver if you’re heading out on one of the way-marked family trails up towards Bursnall Edge.
While if you’re visiting at the weekend, the Bursnall Market is a must-see. It’s small but crammed with character, including hand-stitched toys, jars of honey from a local beekeeper and fragrant baked pies. Round off the day at the playing field, where there’s a brilliant new adventure frame and plenty of space for a family kickabout. On warm evenings the sunset spills across the hills in a blaze of orange and pink.
For a village that barely makes a blip on most maps, Bursnall feels like it packs in more fulfilment and things to do than places five times its size. It’s perfect for families or those that just fancy a wander in a quintessentially English village.
Gemma transformed into Glinda from Wicked for HalloweenCredit: InstagramShe looked stunning in a bright purple, bedazzled ball gownCredit: InstagramGemma showed off the gorgeous new look on her social mediaCredit: Instagram
“We’re doing a look today for Halloween,” Gemma explained, revealing her sparkling, bedazzled, bright purple ball gown.
Wearing a matching tiara and clutching a magic wand, she sang, “Popular, I’m going to be popular. I love, love, love Wicked.
“Like beyond. I’m obsessed.
“I know the premiere is coming to London, but for Halloween, I thought I’d do Glinda.
She started the NHS-approved Mounjaro weight loss jabs in November 2024.
Gemma previously told The Sun: “For me, taking the jab is more about helping me not to fixate on food, so I actually only eat once a day now and don’t snack.
“I used to fascinate about food all day, but now it’s not a major player in my life anymore, I’ve forgotten all about it.
“If I get a bit hungry, I’ll have something to eat, but it’s just about making smarter choices.
“The jabs aren’t for everyone but it’s a life changing drug for some people if it’s taken correctly and not abused. It has helped me a lot.”
Gemma has been open and honest about her weight lossCredit: InstagramShe started using NHS approved fat jabs last NovemberCredit: GettyShe has now dropped from a size 26 to a size 20Credit: GettyGemma told The Sun that fat jabs have changed her lifeCredit: Getty
![Autumnal trees by an old stone built bridge over the River-Wharfe [stock]](https://i0.wp.com/occasionaldigest.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Picture-perfect-village-with-magical-ancient-stone-circle-no-one.j.webp?w=640&ssl=1)
