Reuters
U.S. President Trump departs Washington for travel to California from Joint Base Andrews, Maryland
President Donald Trump gave a boost to Roger Stone's hopes for a pardon Thursday in remarks delivered in Las Vegas.
Stone - who was sentenced to serve 40 months in federal prison Thursday for obstruction of justice, false statements and witness tampering - is a longtime ally and former adviser of the president during his early political forays.
While delivering a comencement address at a graduation ceremony for former prisoners in Las Vegas, Trump went on a tangent to weigh in on the Stone case.
"I want to see it play out to its fullest because Roger has a very good chance of exoneration, in my opinion," the president said. "I've known - and you people probably understand it better than anybody in the room - I've known Roger Stone and his wife ... for a long time, and Roger is definitely a character.
"Everybody sort of knows Roger, everybody knows him," Trump continued. "And most people like him. Some people probably don't. But I do, and I always have. He's a smart guy. He's a little different, but those are sometimes the most interesting. But he's a good person."