Las Vegas Review-Journal (Sunday)
Foes livid Stone spared prison
Mueller says Trump aide still a felon; Graham lauds decision
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump commuted the sentence of his longtime political confidant Roger Stone on Friday, just days before Stone was to begin serving a 40-month prison sentence for lying to Congress, witness tampering and obstructing the House investigation into whether Trump’s campaign conspired with Russia to win the 2016 election.
Stone, 67, had been set to report to prison Tuesday after a federal appeals court rejected his bid to postpone his surrender date.
White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said in a statement that Stone 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.”
Reaction from Democrats was swift and furious. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Saturday called it “an act of staggering corruption,” saying legislation is needed to prevent a president from pardoning or commuting the sentence of someone who acted to shield that president from prosecution.
House Intelligence Committee Chair Adam Schiff called it “offensive to the rule of law and principles of justice. Democratic National Committee Chair Tom Perez asked, “Is there any power Trump won’t abuse?”
On Saturday, Trump took another swipe at special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation, which led to convictions for six Trump aides or advisers, including Stone.
“Roger Stone was targeted by an illegal Witch Hunt that never should have taken place,” Trump tweeted. “It is the other side that are criminals, including Biden and Obama, who spied on my campaign - AND GOT CAUGHT!”
Robert Mueller defended his Russia investigation Saturday, saying Stone “remains a convicted felon” despite Trump’s actions.
Republicans largely stayed silent on the issue Saturday. But one loud voice was Utah Sen. Mitt Romney, who was also the lone GOP senator to vote to convict the president during his impeachment trial earlier this year.
“Unprecedented, historic corruption: an American president commutes the sentence of a person convicted by a jury of lying to shield that very president,” Romney tweeted Saturday.
But most Republicans who did speak out about the decision supported it. Sen. Lindsey Graham, a Trump confidant, said Stone was convicted of a “nonviolent, first-time offense” and the president was “justified” in commuting the sentence.