President Trump Commutes Sentence of Roger Stone
By: Catherine Lucey and Byron Tau (WSJ)
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
WASHINGTON—President Trump commuted the sentence of Roger Stone Friday, wielding his executive power just days before his longtime friend and political adviser was set to report to prison.
White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany announced the move—which all but ends any legal jeopardy for Mr. Stone—in a Friday night statement, declaring that he was a “victim of the Russia Hoax that the Left and its allies in the media perpetuated for years in an attempt to undermine the Trump Presidency.”
Mr. Stone was convicted in federal court in November of making false statements, witness tampering and trying to impede a congressional investigation into Russian election interference. He was set to report to prison Tuesday to begin serving a 40-month sentence.
Mr. Trump called Mr. Stone ahead of the announcement to let him know he would be commuting the sentence. The decision came shortly after a federal appeals court denied an emergency request by Mr. Stone to delay the start of his prison term.
Democrats cast the decision as an effort by the president to undercut the rule of law.
“Commuting the sentence of Roger Stone, a crony who lied and obstructed our investigation to protect Trump himself, is among the most offensive to the rule of law and principles of justice,” said Rep. Adam Schiff, (D., Calif.,) who led the impeachment effort against Mr. Trump.
Mr. Trump’s action brings to a close one of the final remaining cases stemming from former special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential race and whether anyone in the Trump campaign was involved.
A commutation doesn’t expunge the underlying crime for Mr. Stone, but lessens the punishment.
Reached at his Fort Lauderdale home by telephone Friday night, Mr. Stone described his conversation with the president to The Wall Street Journal. “It was a short conversation. He said he decided to use the extraordinary powers of clemency vested in him.” Mr. Stone said he wasn’t worried he would go to prison, adding that he intended to see his court appeal through. “The president said ‘I think you’ve got a great chance of exoneration.’”
“I know Donald Trump is a believer in fairness,” Mr. Stone said. “I could tell from his tweets and his public comments. He said he was following the case closely and he clearly knew I did not get a fair trial. The fundamental problem is if I’m sent to a prison with Covid-19, I won’t live long enough to see my appeal.”
Ms. McEnany said that “Mr. Stone, like every American, deserves a fair trial and every opportunity to vindicate himself before the courts. The President does not wish to interfere with his efforts to do so.”
A spokesman for presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden criticized the move.
“President Trump has once again abused his power, releasing this commutation on a Friday night, hoping to yet again avoid scrutiny as he lays waste to the norms and the values that make our country a shining beacon to the rest of the world,” said Bill Russo.
Mr. Trump had long teased that he was weighing clemency for Mr. Stone, telling reporters earlier in the day that he was still “looking” at the issue.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, (R., S.C.) tweeted earlier in the day in support of commuting the sentence, saying: “In my view it would be justified if President @realDonaldTrump decided to commute Roger Stone’s prison sentence.”
Under the Constitution, presidents have power to pardon and commute sentences related to federal crimes. Mr. Trump has issued high-profile pardons and at least one controversial commutation , but his grant of clemency to Mr. Stone marks the first time he has used his authority to help one of his close associates. His former campaign manager Paul Manafort and former national security adviser Michael Flynn were also charged in connection with the Mueller investigation; neither has received a pardon.
Mr. Trump’s previous clemency moves include pardoning financier Michael Milken, who spent nearly two years in prison for securities-law violations, and commuting the 14-year sentence of ex-Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, who was convicted of trying to sell a U.S. Senate seat.
The jury found that Mr. Stone had misled lawmakers about his efforts to contact WikiLeaks, which had published Democratic emails stolen by Russia. He also was convicted of tampering with and threatening a witness—a former friend and New York comedian who had evidence to contradict Mr. Stone.
That witness, Randy Credico, expressed concern in a phone interview Friday night with The Wall Street Journal about what Mr. Stone might say or do to him because he had testified against Mr. Stone at trial.
“I think that he’s going to whip up a lot of animosity toward me,” Mr. Credico said. “I’m in a no-win situation.” Mr. Credico said that he had left town because he is “paranoid.”
Lawyers for Mr. Stone had asked the court to allow him to delay reporting until September, citing fears that Mr. Stone, 67 years old, could contract Covid-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus. That request was opposed by the Justice Department and rebuffed by the judge who oversaw his case.
The Stone proceeding was unusual from the start. Early on, Mr. Stone posted a video on how to dress for court, and he was banned at one point from using social media after he posted a picture of the judge with a crosshairs near her head. The trial included a dispute over whether prosecutors could play a clip from a mob film and whether Mr. Stone had made threats against a witness’s dog.
Career prosecutors initially recommended that he serve the standard sentence for his crimes—more than seven years behind bars. A day later, the Justice Department asked for less time, an unusual move that prompted the resignation of at least one prosecutor.
Aaron Zelinsky, one of the prosecutors in the case, testified before Congress last month that supervisors in the federal prosecutors office in Washington told him Mr. Stone would receive special treatment “because of his relationship with the president.” Mr. Zelinsky said the U.S. Attorney in Washington was “receiving heavy pressure from the highest levels” of the department to “cut Stone a break.”
The day of Mr. Zelinsky’s testimony, a Justice Department spokeswoman defended the agency’s decision regarding Mr. Stone’s sentence as appropriate and not driven by requests for leniency from the president.
“Roger Stone should not disproportionately shoulder the burden of a corrupt investigation,” Rep. Matt Gaetz (R., Fla.), an ally of Mr. Trump, said in an interview Friday. “Roger is no saint. He says and does things all the time that I don’t agree with, but I don’t believe in putting people in jail because of their politics.”
Mr. Stone has been a Republican operative for decades , beginning in 1972 when he served as a junior staffer on President Nixon’s re-election campaign. He went on to work for Ronald Reagan in his presidential bid. When in New York organizing for the Reagan campaign in 1979, he was introduced to Mr. Trump by attorney Roy Cohn .
Mr. Stone registered as a lobbyist on behalf of the Trump Organization in the late 1990s and early 2000s, according to public records. Around that time, he began counseling Mr. Trump on his political ambitions, and the two became friends.
Although Mr. Stone was sidelined from mainstream Republican politics following salacious revelations about his personal life in the mid-1990s, he continued to advise Mr. Trump for years, including helping to lead Mr. Trump’s aborted 2000 presidential campaign on the Reform Party ticket. He served on the Trump 2016 campaign when it started but severed ties in the summer of 2015.
—Alex Leary and Shelby Holliday contributed to this article.
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The President has learned how to do these things on a Friday night (AKA How to play the game). I'm all for this, not only because of the politicized prosecution of Stone but because of the foreperson juror (former Democratic congressional candidate Tomeka Hart, who revealed her role in the trial in a post on Facebook) who showed bias and the Judge in the case, (the equally biased judge Jackson), who seemed to make it about her vs the President.
A politically driven prosecution topped off with an unfair trial.
Trump's supporters are off topic
"he was a “victim of the Russia Hoax that the Left and its allies in the media perpetuated for years in an attempt to undermine the Trump Presidency.”
This whole fake hoax was the real crime and its organizers and collaborators should be brought to justice by Barr and Durham. I'm sure we will hear from the left wing dupes who will whine and yell Trump being "above the law" and "abuse of power". If judge Sullivan doesn't give up his personal war on Flynn soon, I suspect Trump will pardon him shortly...which is the proper thing to do.
Roger Stone's refusal to cooperate with prosecutors is one reason why Trump was not convicted. Now he is being rewarded for keeping Trump's Russian collusion secrets...
There was no conviction because collusion didn't exist except in the minds of left wing conspirators. No evidence of it was found by the Mueller investigation
EXACTAMUNDO!
This decision will put another nail in Trump's political coffin. Even Bill Barr has said that the prosecution of Stone was fair and just and that it merited the sentence he got.
Since there isnt a chance in hell this will benefit Trump politically, why did he do it? I'm assuming that Stone is blackmailing him by threatening to reveal information about Trump that is worse.
Stone's alleged crime was a left wing fabrication built on lies and untruths....there was NO Russian collusion and it was never proven they engaged in tampering and meddling in our election.
Stone's judge and jury disagree...
The "Fix" was already set before any Trial came about !
"Stone's alleged crime was a left wing fabrication built on lies and untruths....there was NO Russian collusion and it was never proven they engaged in tampering and meddling in our election."
According to Barr's summary which was his resume to be tRump's consigliere. Barr is just one of tRump's 'fixers'
Kinda like Obama's "Wingman"..... "I've got his Back" ............ Eric Holder ?
Do you know who Eric Holder was ?
But, but Obama
But, but Clinton
This is about tRump the traitor.
What was good for the Gooses, is ALWAYS Good for the Gander !
But ..... Traitor for doing what the others did ...... Right ?
You've heard of Robert Mueller right?
LMAO! Ya, Stone is going to do that AFTER the trial!!!
Stone rewarded for protecting Trump's Russia secrets!
There were no Russian secrets. If there were, you should be able to provide us with all the proper documentation and facts.
Why did the DNC refuse to let the FBI examine their computers and servers in order to find evidence of tampering by the Russians?
Mueller's report completely debunks that BS!
Comey disagrees...
Still awaiting all that proof of Trump colluding with the dastardly Russians.
Comey. Rat bastard. Didn't he have a book also?
Government confiscated everything Stone had.
What was this "Secret" again ?
Well - actually, they confiscated everything they could find. Not quite the same thing.
Stones that Good ?
But ...... The Internet !
THE Most Truthful place to find info on the Planet !
It's like folks think every minute detail of any Government action against a U.S. Citizen, is put out there for them to be able to form a finite opinion.
I believe it was Hillary Clinton who taught that lesson.
Yeah....and so does Putin! LOL!
Often claimed, never proven, no evidence ever offered.
Adam Schiff Already had EVERYTHING in his files needed ...... So he kept telling everyone.
Didn't you get the memo? It's ok for a member of Congress to lie to the public, it's illegal for a member of the public to lie to Congress. Please remember for future interactions.
This is offered in sarcasm but the sad truth is this is how it works.
If Congress Lies..... It's "Politics".
If we Lie..... It's "Jail Time" !
Good times..... Good Times !
If you say so, John
Anthony Scaramucci
Wednesday is Prince Spaghetti day!
I'm sure all these conservatives would be singing the same tune if this were a Democrat President. If it had been Hillary who had been investigated after becoming President, then having dozens of her campaign staff and her campaign manager indicted, tried and convicted mostly for lying to Republicans in congress who were trying to investigate corruption, and Hillary was now just summarily commuting sentences subverting the law, I'm sure all these same conservative Republicans would be cheering this decision and claiming Congress shouldn't be allowed to investigate the President or her friends because it's all "politically motivated". Yeah, I'm sure that's what they'd be saying because they aren't monumental hypocrites, right?
Reference Obama and Clinton Pardons and Commutations !
They were the BEST EVER !
I would be shocked to death if any democrat president was ever subjected to one tenth of this BS!
President Obama comes to mind.
He and his administration were above reproach.
Not one single member of his administration was ever indicted.
Unlike the tRump criminal enterprise of an administration.
Really? He politicized and weaponized every agency of government. From his dirty IRS to his shit scum DA's.
All I know Tess is that justice has finally touched Roger Stone;
Bye-Bye
"Justice."
In tRump's world of quid pro quo that is.
jus·tice
/ˈjəstəs/
noun
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No need to quote the dictionary to me. I told you I am quite the wordsmith.
No such thing as justice when it comes to this 'president'. The Law and Order 'president'.
What a fucking joke.
That's for sure.
The "Impeachment Process" was all on the Up and Up !
But, but Obama, but, but Clinton
This is about the traitor tRump and his quid pro quo
It's about actual "Constitutional Law", which allows Trump to do what ALL other presidents have done.
It's not about how one "Feels" (Your Forte') , when someone does what ALL have been doing, because they don't like the One !
No
Oh yes!
Time to do some shopping. I'm using some new ingredients today - a brand I'm using for the first time.
This guy is brilliant. Claim your support for tRump and SOME of his remaining supporters buy the products.
Smart business marketing.
Although I don't believe the majority of his supporters (about 35%) will be buying his products. They prefer twinkies and beer and cheetos and meth.
Too bad that everyone won't be bullied, right Tess?
Bullied? How so?
Speaking of bullies, the 'president' is the biggest bully around. And a coward. And a traitor.
Not aware of what the left and it's terror wing does? You'll find it in the news.
Fux 'news'?
Even the leftist propaganda news reports on how people were bullied. A lot of times it's other leftists.
Here's one for you Tess:
That's the current mayor of LA kneeling down for the thugs of BLM.
"The chattering classes, especially on Twitter, have been obsessed with the fate of writers, editors, and academics who have had their livelihoods threatened or taken away for the offense of treating conservative ideas as worth debating (such as New York Times editorial-page editor James Bennet) or dissenting from the catechism of the Black Lives Matter movement (economist Harold Uhlig) or just using a word other than “black” before “lives matter” ( Philadelphia Inquirer editor Stan Wischnowski). A respected art historian and curator at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art was subjected to a Cultural Revolution–style struggle session and humiliation for the offense of making an oblique comparison between the mobs of thugs pulling down statues in American public squares and Jacobin vandals who did the same in revolutionary France."
news.yahoo.com/left-culture-war-cancels-humble-202951866.html
"Even the leftist propaganda news reports on how people were bullied. A lot of times it's other leftists.
That's the current mayor of LA kneeling down for the thugs of BLM."
I don't see how this is bullying.
That makes no sense.
I'm sorry to hear that.
I'm sure our readers get it.
Sure they do!
And my favorite!
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