WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge on Tuesday brought in nearly all members of the jury that convicted Trump ally Roger Stone on charges related to the Russia investigation in order to answer questions on allegations of juror misconduct.

The revelation by U.S. District Court Judge Amy Berman Jackson was another highly unusual twist in the Stone saga, which has included a barrage of tweets from President Donald Trump, threats by the attorney general to quit and the departure of the entire prosecution team following Justice Department leadership’s decision to back off its sentencing request.

Stone has claimed the jury forewoman was biased and requested a new trial; his first such request was denied.

During a trial, jurors are not allowed to read news accounts or social media posts about the case or discuss it with anyone until deliberations, but after their verdict is rendered, they are released from duty and can speak publicly if they wish.

Jackson told Stone’s lawyers that she had seen nothing to support his claim that something untoward occurred, but because of the unusual circumstances — including the president claiming both the judge and forewoman were biased — she was taking the extra step of questioning jurors.

Eleven of the 14 jurors turned up, and she permitted the lawyers to choose two for questioning on whether anything fishy had happened behind closed doors during trial. They chose a man and a woman, who were questioned by Jackson. The lawyers opted not to question the jurors themselves.

The man said nothing off occurred; they’d weighed the evidence and deliberated to reach a conclusion. The woman said no one brought in a social media post or news article about the case, and no one discussed news accounts during the trial. They both described the process of choosing a foreperson: Several jurors were nominated and the forewoman was chosen by secret ballot.

Jackson later questioned the forewoman, who confirmed she had posted articles critical of Trump’s policies online, but said she had done her job as a juror fairly and did not look at media during the trial. Stone’s attorneys grilled the forewoman on her social media posts.

Jackson said she would rule at a later date.

After Stone was convicted in November, one juror wrote an op-ed for The Washington Post, explaining why he felt they were right to convict. And the forewoman spoke about the case in a Facebook post.

Jackson said jurors had faced harassment even before they commented, and she worried for their continued safety.

She detailed comments about jurors made by Trump in tweets, by Fox News commentator and Trump supporter Tucker Carlson and right-wing conspiracy theorist Alex Jones.

The hearing was initially sealed, but Jackson agreed to open it as long as there was no identification of jurors who would testify.

“I think it’s without question then that this is a highly publicized case in a highly polarized political climate in which the president himself has shone a spotlight on the jury,” she said. “Individuals who are angry about Mr. Stone’s conviction may choose to take it out on them personally.”