Longtime political operative Roger Stone is appealing his conviction to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit before reporting to federal prison.

He and defense attorney Seth Ginsberg filed a notice of appeal in trial court, saying he was appealing the judgment in his criminal case, his sentence and U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson's denial of his motion for a new trial.

Stone was convicted by a federal jury in November of lying to the U.S. House Intelligence Committee during its Russia probe, impeding the investigation and witness tampering. Jackson in February sentenced Stone to 40 months in prison.

He recently hired Paul Kamenar, an appellate attorney who represented Stone associate Andrew Miller in the legal fight against a subpoena for grand jury testimony in the Stone investigation.

Kamenar argued special counsel Robert Mueller's appointment was unconstitutional because he should have been subject to Senate confirmation, an argument rejected by Chief U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell, who found Miller in contempt.

Howell stayed her ruling for an appeal to the D.C. Circuit. But after the circuit ruled against Miller and declined to rehear the case, the Stone associate agreed to end the 10-month legal battle and testify in May 2019, months after Stone was arrested in a raid at his Fort Lauderdale home.

Stone said he was "praying for a pardon" from President Donald Trump, who took advice from Stone, but would appeal if he had to. The notice of appeal was filed after documents were released in the case of former national security adviser Michael Flynn, who pleaded guilty to lying to federal investigators.

The papers covered FBI strategizing about Flynn's questioning while he was under investigation. Tweets by Trump about tho documents inflamed speculation that Trump would pardon Flynn.

Stone recently expressed some frustration with his defense team led by Fort Lauderdale attorneys Bruce Rogow and Robert Buschel. Stone told his friend Frank Morano on the podcast "Morano Whenever" last week that he believed he would have been better off representing himself and floated the idea of filing an ineffective counsel claim.

"In the judge's most recent decision, she basically said, 'Your lawyers should have known that.' I think she just bolstered such a claim," Stone said at the time.

Stone tapped Ginsberg earlier this year to file the new trial motion alleging juror bias and misconduct.

The defense alleged bias against Stone based on social media posts by jury forewoman Tomeka Hart, who identified herself after the four prosecutors dropped out of the case after Main Justice interference in Stone's sentencing recommendation.

Jackson denied Stone's motion and called it a "tower of indignation." She found Hart was truthful on her juror questionnaire and not biased against Stone during the proceedings.