Why is Roger Stone campaigning to convince Trump to pardon the Bundys?

For some strange reason, political consultant and longtime Trump confidant Roger Stone is holding a rally in Las Vegas to convince the president to pardon Cliven Bundy, his sons and their armed followers who occupied federal lands in two states.

As Tay Wiles at the High Country News writes, Stone's interest in the Bundy militia doesn't make sense at face value.

"Stone is in many ways an odd bedfellow for the Bundys, since he is a longtime Washington insider with no apparent connection to ranching or public-lands issues," Wiles wrote.

The Vegas rally, which predates Bundy's sons Ammon and Ryan trial at the city's courthouse by a month, could likely be a form a political maneuvering.

"Stone’s appearance in Las Vegas this week will likely stir up a base of supporters for Bundy that could further align them with Stone — and Trump," the write continues. "And that would feed into a complex narrative of mistrust in the federal government."

The rally on Friday will not be the first time Stone has campaigned to "free the Bundys."

"At a Las Vegas rally in July, Stone addressed a crowd of hundreds, saying the 'jackbooted' government had 'lost all sense of law or morality,'" Wiles wrote. "That kind of message would likely play well again, inciting the kind of anger and vitriol that have become the hallmarks of this presidential era."

"Whether it would yield a pardon remains to be seen," the writer concluded.