Judge Amy Berman Jackson criticizes Trump's attacks on Roger Stone juror

Jackson read the President's tweet attacking the Stone jury forewoman, as well as commentary from InfoWars' Alex Jones and Tucker Carlson from Fox News, to a federal courtroom, in deciding to hear testimony from jurors while protecting their identities after Stone asked for a retrial.

Making jurors' identities public "would put them at substantial risk of harm," Jackson said. "In a highly publicized political climate ... the risk of harassment and intimidation of any juror" who may testify to the court today "is extremely high."

"While judges may have volunteered for their positions ... jurors are not volunteers," Jackson said. "They are deserving of the public's respect."

The hearing is ongoing, and at least one juror may be called to testify Tuesday afternoon in a closed courtroom.

Questions over the jury forewoman have allowed Stone and Trump to publicly try to muddy his conviction. Stone has pursued the request for a new trial in court and unsuccessfully tried to remove Jackson from handling his case, while Trump has commented on the case several times in recent days, regarding both the judge and the forewoman.

It's unknown what each of Stone's 120 jurors told the court in written questionnaires they filled out before the November trial. The questionnaires asked each their opinions of Trump and Stone, among several other questions. The extent of Stone's request for a new trial also still isn't fully known, though it's clear he's alleged to the court juror misconduct.

At the start of Stone's November trial, both prosecutors and Stone's defense team were then able to question potential jurors and challenge them from sitting on the jury. They questioned the jury forewoman, Tomeka Hart, about her background and her ability to judge Stone impartially, according to a transcript of the trial's first day. Before the judge, she told them she could evaluate the evidence in the case fairly. Stone's team didn't challenge her from being seated on the jury.

Trump has attacked the jury forewoman multiple times publicly, calling the juror's unanimous findings of Stone's guilt on all seven charges he faced "tainted."

"You have a juror that is obviously tainted. She was an activist against Trump. She said bad things about Trump and bad things about Stone," the President claimed over the weekend. "She somehow weaseled her way onto the jury and if that's not a tainted jury then there is no such thing as a tainted jury."

He and Stone's team have latched onto social media posts she made before the trial criticizing Trump and his supporters.

Hart publicly identified herself as Stone's jury forewoman two weeks ago, after the four prosecutors who took him to trial quit his case. The DC District Court has not named her as a juror or as the forewoman.

Once before, Stone asked for a retrial unsuccessfully. He had claimed a juror shouldn't have been selected who worked for the IRS and had read news about his case before the trial, but Jackson found this request didn't merit a new trial.

In a decision this weekend to deny Stone's attempt to remove her from the case, Jackson noted Stone's recent requests of the court may be more publicity stunts than legal pleadings. He had claimed she couldn't evaluate his retrial request fairly because she said jurors had integrity during his sentencing.

"At bottom, given the absence of any factual or legal support for the motion for disqualification, the pleading [asking for the Jackson's recusal] appears to be nothing more than an attempt to use the Court's docket to disseminate a statement for public consumption that has the words 'judge' and 'biased' in it," she wrote.

Jackson sentenced Stone to 40 months in prison last week, for obstructing Congress as a way to protect the President and his campaign's interests in 2016.

This story is breaking and will be updated.