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Why this Roger Stone commutation is not as controversial as some think

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The commutation of Roger Stone once again sent Washington into vapors of shock and disgust. Legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin declared it to be “the most …
The commutation of Roger Stone once again sent Washington into vapors of shock and disgust. Legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin declared it to be “the most corrupt and cronyistic act in all of recent history.” Despite my disagreement with the commutation, such a statement is almost charmingly quaint. The sordid history of White House pardons makes this commutation look positively chaste in comparison. Many presidents have found the absolute power of pardons to be an irresistible temptation when it involves family, friends, and political allies.
I have maintained that Stone deserved a new trial but not a pardon. As Attorney General William Barr has maintained, this was a “righteous prosecution” and Stone was correctly convicted and correctly sentenced to 40 months in prison. To his credit, President Trump did not give his friend a pardon but rather a commutation. Stone remains a convicted felon.
However, Trump should have left this decision to his attorney general. In addition to Stone being a friend and political ally, Trump was implicated in the allegations against Stone. While there was no evidence linking Trump to the leaking of hacked emails, he has an obvious conflict of interest in the case.
The White House issued a statement that Stone is “a victim of the Russia hoax.” The fact is that Stone is a victim of himself. Years of what he called his “performance art” finally caught up with him when he found prosecutors who were not amused by his antics. Stone defines himself as an “agent provocateur.” He went too far when he called witnesses to influence their testimony and gave false responses to investigators.
However, the criticism of this action immediately seemed to be decoupled from any foundation in history or the Constitution. Toobin declared, “This is simply not done by American presidents. They do not pardon or commute sentences of people who are close to them or about to go to prison.

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