Trump commutes his friend Roger Stone’s sentence
Decision on friend amounts to historic corruption, says Mitt Romney
Roger Stone has already suffered greatly ... Roger Stone is now a free man!”
White House statement
President Donald Trump commuted the sentence of his longtime friend Roger Stone on seven felony crimes on Friday, using the power of his office to spare a former campaign adviser days before Stone was to report to a federal prison to serve a 40-month term.
In a lengthy written statement punctuated by the sort of inflammatory language and angry grievances characteristic of the president’s Twitter feed, the White House denounced the “overzealous prosecutors” who convicted Stone on “process-based charges” stemming from the “witch hunts” and “Russia hoax” investigation.
The statement did not assert that Stone was innocent of the false statements and obstruction counts. “Roger Stone has already suffered greatly,” it said. “He was treated very unfairly, as were many others in this case. Roger Stone is now a free man!”
Upending justice
The commutation was the latest action by the Trump administration upending the justice system to help the president’s convicted friends.
Democrats quickly condemned the president’s decision, characterising it as an abuse of the rule of law. “With this commutation, Trump makes clear that there are two systems of justice in America: one for his criminal friends, and one for everyone else,” said Representative Adam Schiff, a Democrat from California, a leader of the drive to impeach Trump last year.
Trump’s commutation of the prison sentence of Stone was a case of “unprecedented, historic corruption,” Senator Mitt Romney tweeted yesterday, making his a rare Republican voice raised in criticism of the president.