Judge seeks Stone commutation details

WASHINGTON — A federal judge on Monday demanded more information about President Donald Trump’s decision to commute the prison sentence of longtime ally Roger Stone.

U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson ordered that the parties provide her by today with a copy of the executive order that commuted Stone’s sentence. Jackson — who presided over Stone’s trial last year — also asked for clarity about the scope of the clemency, including whether it covers just his prison sentence or also the two-year period of supervised release that was part of his sentence.

There was no immediate public response on the court docket, but the Justice Department’s pardon attorney office posted on its website a two-page order making clear that the clemency extended to both Stone’s prison sentence and his supervised release.

Trump commuted Stone’s 40-month prison sentence on Friday, just days before he was to report to prison. Stone was convicted as part of special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation with making false statements, tampering with a witness and obstructing lawmakers who were examining Russian interference in the 2016 election.

Although presidents have broad authority to commute prison sentences and issue pardons, Democrats lambasted Trump’s decision as undermining the rule of law. Mueller himself defended the Stone prosecution in a Washington Post opinion piece in which he said Stone “remains a convicted felon, and rightly so.”

The president told reporters on Monday that he was getting “rave reviews” for his action on Stone and restated his position that the Russia investigation “should have never taken place.”