Roger Stone on leaving the court November 15, 2018 in Washington. – Jose Luis Magana / AP / SIPA
It is a strong gesture for the independence of the judiciary. Tuesday, four federal prosecutors who had asked for a heavy sentence against Roger Stone, a family member of Donald Trump, withdrew from the case after the intervention of the President, who complained about the severity of the sentence initially required.
On Monday, in their sentencing recommendations sent to a federal judge, prosecutors asked for between 7 and 9 years in prison against this 67-year-old political consultant, loyal to the Republican president, convicted for lying to Congress in the investigation on Russian interference in the presidential election of 2016. But during the night, the latter reacted by denouncing in a tweet a “very unfair situation” and a “miscarriage of justice”.
In the process, the Justice Department published a notice denouncing an “excessive” indictment, stating in particular that the collusion between Roger Stone and WikiLeaks during the publication of emails from the Clinton campaign had not been proven.
Trump claims not to have intervened
In a motion sent to the judge on Tuesday, prosecutor Aaron Zelinsky, a member of the special prosecutor’s team Robert Mueller, who investigated the Russian investigation, announced his withdrawal from the case, without specifying the reason. Immediately afterwards, another prosecutor, Jonathan Kravis also told the magistrate “that he was no longer representing the government in this case”, then a third and a fourth followed.
The Justice Department said the decision was made before Donald Trump’s tweet and without consulting the White House. On Tuesday, the American president assured that he did not “intervene” but considered the sentence requested “ridiculous”.
The Democratic opposition reacted by denouncing a possible “abuse of power”. “If the information is correct, the Department of Justice and Minister Bill Barr are ready to override the advice of career prosecutors (…) after a midnight tweet from the president attacking the proposed sentence period,” said in a press release Adam Schiff, the elected Democrat in charge of the prosecution during the trial for the removal of President Trump from the Senate.
Roger Stone is among six members of Donald Trump’s entourage, more or less close, to have been charged or convicted in the wake of the Russian investigation, which poisoned the first half of the Republican billionaire’s tenure. He will know his sentence on February 20.
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