President Trump responded Tuesday to federal prosecutors’ recommendation that his longtime associate Roger Stone, 67, face up to nine years in prison, decrying the whole situation as a “miscarriage of justice.”
“This is a horrible and very unfair situation. The real crimes were on the other side, as nothing happens to them. Cannot allow this miscarriage of justice!” Trump tweeted in response to a report by The Daily Caller’s Chuck Ross.
“Prosecutors recommend up to NINE YEARS in prison for Roger Stone,” Ross wrote in a post retweeted by Trump. “They call foreign election interference a ‘deadly adversary’ even though Stone was never accused of working with Russians or WikiLeaks.”
Ahead of his “miscarriage of justice” tweet, Trump retweeted Ross’s follow-up post. “Prosecutors disregard [government] witness Randy Credico’s plea for no jail time for Stone on the grounds that he didn’t take Stone’s threats seriously,” Ross reported.
“It is the threat itself, not the likelihood of carrying out the threat, that triggers the enhancement,” said prosecutors.
This is a horrible and very unfair situation. The real crimes were on the other side, as nothing happens to them. Cannot allow this miscarriage of justice! https://t.co/rHPfYX6Vbv
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 11, 2020
Prosecutors disregard gov't witness Randy Credico's plea for no jail time for Stone on the grounds that he didn't take Stone's threats seriously.
"It is the threat itself, not the likelihood of carrying out the threat, that triggers the enhancement."https://t.co/F1VoGEYmfU
— Chuck Ross (@ChuckRossDC) February 10, 2020
Stone was convicted in November on seven so-called “process charges,” including lying to Congress and witness tampering during the congressional investigation involving alleged “collusion” between the Trump campaign and Russia, of which Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s two-year, wide-ranging investigation ultimately found no evidence.
“Roger Stone obstructed Congress’ investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election, lied under oath, and tampered with a witness. And when his crimes were revealed by the indictment in this case, he displayed contempt for this Court and the rule of law. For that, he should be punished in accord with the advisory Guidelines,” prosecutors said in a sentencing memo on Monday.
The primary rationale for investigating Stone was based on a claim that ultimately collapsed. As Ross reported in the report promoted by Trump, Stone “was never charged with working with Russia to influence the 2016 election. Instead, the charges against Stone involved his testimony to the House Intelligence Committee about his interactions with associates regarding the topic of WikiLeaks, which released emails hacked from Democrats in 2016. Prosecutors said that Stone lied when he denied speaking with anyone on the Trump campaign about WikiLeaks.”
As The Daily Wire’s Ashe Schow underscored, “special counsel investigators found no evidence that Stone or any other Trump associate had direct contact with anyone at Wikileaks involved in obtaining and releasing Democrat emails, which ended up hurting then-candidate Hillary Clinton.”
The recommendations of the federal prosecutors of seven to ten years behind bars are far more severe than those recommended by Stone’s attorneys, who say 15 to 21 months in prison would be more in line with the types of crimes he committed.
“In the end, the investigations yielded no evidence of the involvement of any American with the Russian government or any agent operating on its behalf to interfere in the 2016 election,” Stone’s attorneys asserted. “It is also undisputed that Roger Stone had nothing to do with obtaining the compromised emails or providing them to WikiLeaks.”
UPDATE: The Justice Department is reportedly changing its sentencing recommendation for Stone. “The Department finds seven to nine years extreme, excessive and grossly disproportionate,” a DOJ source told Fox News. A new recommendation will reportedly be issued soon.
The DOJ is changing its sentencing recommendation for Roger Stone, according to a Senior DOJ official.
“The Department finds seven to nine years extreme, excessive and grossly disproportionate," the source said, adding the DOJ will clarify its position on sentencing later today— Jake Gibson (@JakeBGibson) February 11, 2020
Related: Prosecutors Recommend Non-Violent Criminal Roger Stone Get Up To 9 Years In Prison