In the wee hours of the morning Trump blasted a sentence recommendation of up to nine years for Roger Stone by Department of Justice prosecutors. Stone is being charged with lying to Congress and witness tampering:
This is a horrible and very unfair situation. The real crimes were on the other side, as nothing happens to them. Cannot allow this miscarriage of justice! https://t.co/rHPfYX6Vbv
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 11, 2020
In the last few minutes Jake Gibson from Fox News has reported that it wasn’t just Trump that was upset with the sentencing recommendation, that the DOJ leadership also found it to be extreme and is going to change it:
The DOJ is changing its sentencing recommendation for Roger Stone, according to a Senior DOJ official.
“The Department finds seven to nine years extreme, excessive and grossly disproportionate," the source said, adding the DOJ will clarify its position on sentencing later today— Jake Gibson (@JakeBGibson) February 11, 2020
Here’s more:
FOX NEWS – The Department of Justice is preparing to change its sentencing recommendation for Roger Stone after top brass were “shocked” at the stiff prison term initially being sought, according to a senior DOJ official.
“The Department was shocked to see the sentencing recommendation in the filing in the stone case last night,” the official told Fox News. “The sentencing recommendation was not what had been briefed to the Department.”
In documents filed on Monday evening, prosecutors from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Washington recommended Stone serve 87 to 108 months after being convicted of lying to Congress and witness tampering. The department is now expected to scale that back.
“The Department finds seven to nine years extreme, excessive and grossly disproportionate to Mr. Stone’s offenses,” the source told Fox News, adding that the DOJ will clarify its position on sentencing later Tuesday.
I’m guessing Barr had a lot to do with getting this changed, as he seems like a fair guy. But it does raise into question how these prosecutors come to these sentencing recommendations in the first place. Especially given the statement by the DOJ, I think you’d be hard pressed to argue there isn’t some level of bias here against Stone. In other words, it sounds like Barr needs to do some house cleaning at the DOJ.
UPDATE: Maybe this explains it…
Hearing that some disgruntled Mueller prosecutors made the shocking recommendation — troubling that apparently no one told them to get control of themselves immediately. https://t.co/2SMJ59IzPu
— Mollie (@MZHemingway) February 11, 2020