In commuting Stone’s sentence, the president went against the recommendation of his own Justice Department.
Government ethics watchdogs and congressional Democrats were among those outraged late Friday after President Donald Trump announced his commutation of his longtime associate Roger Stone’s 40-month sentence, in what Democratic leaders called a “transparently corrupt” move.
Trump announced Stone would not be reporting to prison four days before he was set to begin his sentence, which was far shorter than the seven to nine years originally recommended by prosecutors.
Stone was sentenced in February after being unanimously convicted by a jury of seven felony counts, including lying to Congress under oath, withholding documents pertaining to the investigation into the 2016 Trump campaign’s communications with Russia, and threatening another witness if he cooperated with the probe.
Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), who led House Democrats in impeachment hearings against Trump over his alleged attempt to pressure Ukraine to aid him ahead of the 2020 election, said the commutation proves that to the president, “there are two systems of justice in America: one for his criminal friends, and one for everyone else.”
Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N. Y.) and Carolyn Maloney (D-N. Y.), who chair the House Judiciary and Oversight Committees, respectively, said they would immediately seek information from the White House Counsel on the circumstances surrounding the commutation and demanded the Department of Justice release materials related to Stone’s communications with Trump.
“The facts are clear: Roger Stone lied to investigators. He threatened to harm a witness to his crimes. A jury of our fellow Americans found him guilty of obstruction of justice,” said Nadler and Maloney in a joint statement.
