Trump cannot pardon Stone before the election because the optics would be terrible.  Like it or not, Stone has to wait until after the election.  Trump can then pardon him whether he wins or loses.  This is unfortunate for Stone, but I'm sure Stone understands. For those who think Stone is part of the deep state, I encourage you to read his book: "The Man Who Killed Kennedy: the Case Against LBJ".  Published in 2013.  It names names and would be consistent with lots of things posted afterward  6  s by Q  5ffa   and others. Definitely not the kind of book that a Deep-Stater would write.